What an amazing job you are doing with your Pyrs. I am shamed at how particular I have been in adopting a rescue Pyr when I hear of your efforts. In part much has to do with interaction with Kodi, but still.
I know this probably is not recommended and frowned upon but Kodiak used to get one type of ear and skin infection when we got him (10 months-old) and it was slow healing, lingered forever and recurred often. I was deeply concerned it would spread so after a lot of grief, time, worry, money and hassle I used mupirocin ointment. It is most commonly associated with MRSA but I personally used it for something else. It's called Bactroban and I bought mine on the eBay (actually, ebay.uk). I had read enough about it and decided to give it a try. Maybe I lucked out or his condition was misdiagnosed but whatever it was has never come back and he is almost three. I was unsure how he would respond to an ointment with polyethylene glycol so in looking back what I did might have been reckless or toxic / ototoxic.
Anyway, I can only imagine how distressing it must be to have to contend with these things on a daily basis and my hat is off to you.
Christine
From: "Darla Gault" <darla.d.g@sbcglobal.net>
To: pyrnet-l@pyrnet.org
Sent: Monday, November 1, 2010 8:27:32 PM
Subject: [pyrnet] Food
Well, my dogs probably wish they were as spoiled as yours. I have a 4 YO puppy mill girl, who I adopted at 9 weeks. She is some 96 lbs, and has a heart condition called subaerotic stenosis, and she has allergies. I had her allergy tested and there are 24 things in the environment she is allergic to. Dust, human dander, grass. oak and birch trees, you name it. She is on allergy shots and I won't know until next summer if they helped. She is also afraid of eveything that moves or make a noise. Then I have a 3 YO adopted PYR boy, who is pretty normal health wise expect for severe hip dysplasia. He limps every day (right hip) even though I have him on Rimadyl. These are inside dogs and they get Taste of the Wild, Pacific Stream with Smoked Salmon. They eat 2 cups twice a day. In the hot weather, the may not eat all of it. They are inside A/C dogs, but in St. Louis they are loving the cool weather. They will stay outside in an ice store and just love it. Coleene gets severe chronic ear infections (I treat them almost daily) and staph skin infections (antibiotics). I have found that they are much more comfortable if I keep them shaved (I know many of you don't believe in that) but they are indoor dogs and the humidity in St. Louis is 90+ in the summer. It really helps with Coleene's skin infections, and they are so much more comfortable year round. Would be interested in any info you can prove re: ear infections and hip dysplasia.
Darla, Coleene, and Bone