For pet owners...

This was posted on my local community forum, and I thought it was important enough to share.
Lots of us on here have aging pets, and I know we'd hate to do more harm than good.

[I]Please be careful if you give a medication called Gentizol to an older dog for an ear infection. My 13 year old collie was experiencing symptoms of a minor ear infection, so I gave her the medication the vet gave me. I gave her two drops on Saturday morning and two drops Saturday night. When I got up on Sunday morning, I noticed immediately that my dog could not hear. I mean not at all. I checked the package insert and read where in rare occasions, this medication can cause hearing loss in sensitive dogs, (eg. geriatric). My vet immediately called the manufacturer of the drug. Their answer: Yes, it does happen in rare occasions, and that almost always the dog's hearing returns in 4-6 weeks. Incidentally, I gave the same medication to my two younger poodles and they are fine. I post this in hopes that I can spare another dog and dog owner what we are going through right now. In no way do I blame my vet, as this medication is routinely prescribed for ear infections. I blame myself for not having read the package insert, or checking the internet first. I know better than that. As soon as I checked, I saw where other owners on various sites had already reported this as a problem. I hope to heck she is one that will get her hearing back in 4-6 weeks. Otherwise, I'm going to feel horrible and terribly guilty.[/I]

Prayers for your dog to get her hearing back first of all; and thanks for posting the warning about the med - it will help lots of other pets. Keep us posted.

when my elderly dog was having a host of problems, I always tried to take care of things naturally rather than putting harsh chemicals in/on him. One thing I found works well for minor ear irritation/infection was a couple of drops of Neem Oil. You can get that in local health shops/Whole Foods-type stores.

And while I'm on the subject, another natural remedy that really helped us was using activated charcoal if he got into anything he wasn't supposed to. He had colitis, so even little things set him off, but when he had indiscretions picking up garbage on our walks (he was so fast and would never let go once it goes into his mouth), he would just have the worst diarrhea.

The last couple of years of his life, I came across activated charcoal and whenever he ate something he wasn't supposed to, or his stomach was making an awful lot of noise, I gave him one pill and settled his stomach.

If you own a particular breed it's important to know if they have a genetic predisposition to medication sensitivities. Collies, and a number of the other herding breeds, can have a genetic mutation called MDR1 which makes them sensitive to a lot of meds. Ivernectin, the main ingredient in heartworm meds can kill them.

I didn't know this until after Toby got neutered. He had a horrible time coming out of anesthesia. For 24 hours we had to drip water into his mouth. He couldn't get up to eat, drink or pee. Later we found out that he was mu/mu for MDR1 and that he's very sensitive to the anesthesia that they used. We had Cameron tested as soon as we got him. He's also mu/mu, so we had the vet use a different drug when he got neutered.