In this post I will address some of the common questions asked about using the commonly prescribed topical ear antibiotic and antifungal product Mometamax. Given that most dogs with ear infections often have a combination of bacteria and/or yeast, this product is one of the most versatile products available in the veterinary pharmacy and available by prescription from 1800PetMeds. The combination of ingredients not only decreases the underlying allergic reaction, but the overgrowth of various bacteria and yeast involved in the majority of canine or feline ear infections.
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Although it is not labeled for use in cats, (as with many drugs used off label in our pets), many veterinarians have prescribed this product widely to cats without any ill side effects. While it won’t kill ear mites, this product can also be used topically for yeast, local ringworm or bacterial infections. One of the biggest advantages over its nearly identical sister product Otomax, is that Mometamax can be used only once daily, thus increasing client compliance. My two favorite topical ear medicines in our pets include Mometamax and Zymox. |
While Mometamax is a prescription topical antifungal and antibacterial, Zymox is a nonprescription topical which in my experience and opinion is as equally effective through a different mechanism in killing yeast and bacteria in the canine or feline ear canal. Side effects of Mometamax are rare, with the most serious being rare deafness in pets whose ear drum is not intact (this is best determined by veterinary exam of the ear canal before starting this medication), allergic reaction consisting of increased redness, discomfort and ear itching, and even more rare facial swelling.
When used appropriately this product can be used for most common ear infections in our pets, and its long shelf life of at least a year in most cases, makes it a valuable part of the medicine cabinet in those pets with recurrent ear inflammations or infections.
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17 Comments
I have a 11 year old Pekapoo and she is completely deaf after two applications of Mometamax. I specifically asked my Vet if there were any side affects with the drug and she did not tell me that deafness could occur. If I had known that, I would of asked for other options. I would never use this drug ever again and would not recommend it to anyone.
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
April 13th, 2010 at 11:38 pm
HI Micki. I am sorry to hear of your dog’s deafness after application of mometamax. Unfortunately this can rarely occur, and on even rarer occasions can be reversable. I would consult homeopathic vet at http://www.theAVH.org for list of vets in your state who can perhaps help you, as no conventional treatment options in case like this so homeopathy the way to go in my opinion.
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David Max, Ph.D. Reply:
August 18th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Homeopathy is pseudoscience and quackery. It is appalling that a DVM is recommending it.
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After reading you site, Your site is very useful for me .I bookmarked your site!
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
May 31st, 2010 at 11:34 pm
Thank you so much for your kind comment. Please share our blogs with all of your friends and family, as it is meant to provide animal guardians with useful information to make informed decisions when it comes to various health issues and products.
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I don’t know how “rare” this is but now that my own 12 yo lab mix has gone deaf after receiving Mometamax I am furious the vet gave no warning. Our dog went in for a yearly routine check, no hearing or ear complaints, and the doc said a fungus required this stuff.
Pretty easy to find complaints here on the internet. I guess we have to cross check teh vet meds.
FYI the dog has been on 25mg Proin for urinary incontinence for several years.
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
June 30th, 2010 at 12:36 am
Yes rare reactions to the gentacin in the mometamax can occur, as can occur with any medication. Even proin can rarely cause high blood pressure in dogs, and in humans the main ingredient phenylproponolamine was taken off market because of cardiovascular complications in people. Fortunately we have not seen that many problems with proin in pets.
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Deafness from useing Mometamex is not rare. Check the hundreds of blogs on the internet. My 11 year old dog went deaf after useing it for 4 days. The Vet gave us no information on the side affects. I am very upset that this medicine is still on the market. DO NOT USE MOMETAMAX. Deafness is VERY COMMON!
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
December 13th, 2010 at 12:56 am
Thank you for sharing. I am sorry to hear of your canine companion’s reaction to this medicine. Reactions can occur with ANY drug, even holistic or homeopathic medicines. And overall they are rare. If we warned of every “possible reaction” with every medicine, noone would ever accept a prescription medicine that has helped a majority of patients. My own preference is to always try natural meds like zymox otic first. However over my conventional vet career, the overwhelming majority of pets who were prescribed otomax or mometomax did not go deaf, with only a few cases in the thousands of scripts I have written for it.
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I am sorry to say my Jack Russel who is 13 years old was also prescriped Mometamax for an ear infection and we noticed he stopped answering to our calls. My husband just chalked it up to him being older. I decided for the heck of it to look at reviews for this medication. He was prescibed the medication for two weeks and the deafness came on shortly before the two week period was over. We even did a “Let’s go Byebye ” test. Usually he runs to the car. Nothing. I am heart broken and so sad for my sweet Chester. I pray that he will soon hear the birds and sounds of our world once again.
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
March 26th, 2011 at 11:51 am
This is rare side effect unfortunately of this medicine. Do not use again. Sometimes hearing will gradually return. other times hearing loss is permanent. Not alot you can do.
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I brought my 11 year old Collie to vet for a possible ear infection. After her exam the vet said she did indeed have an infection and gave her one dose in the office of mometamax.
Within an hour of being home she slept like she was in a coma. Then I realized that she was totally non-responsive to anything I said…..didn’t react when I called her name, clapped, shook the bell on the biscuit cabinet….nothing. She had gone deaf! This is after just one dose. No warning about this from the vet. Right on the company website it says “may cause temporary or permanent hearing loss/deafness in geriatric dogs.” Why wasn’t I warned about this before they gave it to her??
I washed her ears out with Excel, this is the 3rd day now and she does seem a little bit better but her hearing is still not normal at all. Before this she had no problems whatsoever with her hearing.
I’m so upset about this and if I could sue the company I would.
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
April 4th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
Sorry to hear of the unfortunate issue with your collie. Yes this can be real reaction, although rare. Drug reactions are certainly not discussed enough by vets, etc.
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Sarah Reply:
December 31st, 2011 at 7:26 am
I am so disgusted to see so many pets affected by this drug! It is ridiculous and irresponsible on the part of the drug company and vets for continuing to use a drug with such devastating side effects!
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
December 31st, 2011 at 10:59 am
Thanks for sharing. Certainly not a drug I use as my first line medication in practice.
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I am also heartbroken over my 11 year old yorkie becoming deaf right after using Mometomax for an ear infection.
My vet said that it only happened one other time in his practice. I am so upset and I can only imagine how my yorkie feels that all of a sudden she can’t hear me say \let’s go for a walk\ and all of the other phrases she used to get so excited over. Now I have to teach her sign-language. So sad and it’s so not fair! On top of it all I just got the vet bill and I was charged $53 for those ear drops! He said he’s waiving it. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
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can a dogs ear get read after a weeks usage??? My parents have a 2 yearold Scottish Terrier and she was also prescribed this for her ear infection
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
July 15th, 2011 at 10:29 pm
There can be rare allergic reactions to any topical ear medications.
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My 15 year old lab mix had an ear infection so she was prescribed this medicine. She already had a little bit of a hearing impairment due to old age, but once she started taking this medicine she was completely deaf. We have to shake her to wake her up and it’s hard to call her inside if she can’t hear anything! I just hope she knows we still love her because I miss being able to talk to her. The vet told us her hearing may come back in a month or so. I have my fingers crossed!!!
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
August 24th, 2011 at 10:28 pm
Sorry to hear of this unwanted side effect of this medicine on your pet It is rare but does occur. Will keep my fingers crossed with you .Consider consulting a homeopathic vet http://www.theAVH.org in your state
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Momentex made my dog deaf. No warning from the vet. No excuse. I am so disgusted. She went into kidney failure after being prescribed enalapril. The \vets\ are going to kill my dog.
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
October 22nd, 2011 at 11:15 pm
Sorry to hear about your rough luck with conventional drugs lately. May be good to consider perhaps homeopathic vet consultation to take different approach for your pet’s problems. To learn more about homeopathy see http://www.beyondflatearth.com as well as my website http://www.canineworld.com/drdym Many homeopathic vets like myself do offer phone consultations.
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After reading all of the negative complaints about Mometamax, I thought it was only fair to say that, being in dog rescue, I have used this drug numerous times on many different dogs without ever having a dog become deaf. So, as Dr. Michael Dym has said so many times, any drug can have a rare negative effect and it appears that people who have experienced negative effects are all posting on this site, but I don’t believe that this reaction is the reaction experienced by the majority of users of this medication.
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
October 30th, 2011 at 9:57 pm
HI Linda: Thank you for sharing that comment. Being a conventional practitioner of many years experience as well, I have seen this topical drug, as well as its predecessor otomax, offer far more symptomatic relief to pets than this unfortunate side effect.
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sjs Reply:
November 1st, 2011 at 5:14 pm
It may be true that it helps most pets, but it’s devastating when your dog is the one who has lost it’s hearing because of it, especially when no warning that it was even possible was ever given.
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
November 1st, 2011 at 10:10 pm
I can definitely empathize with your situation. I am so truly sorry. Cases like this are why I also embraced and am so passionate about provding holistic and homeopathic medical treatment options to my clients.
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I brought my schnauzer in for a grooming and was told she had an ear infection. The vet had me put mometamax drops in her ears and now she is deaf! I am so angry that this has happened! It is ridiculous that this medication is being used routinely and causing animals to go deaf so often.
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
December 31st, 2011 at 10:58 am
I am sorry to hear of your pet’s reaction to mometomax. Yes this is a possible reaction which occurs in rare cases.
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My dog is deaf from mometamax, too. I am so angry and sad. The company that issued this drug should be sued!
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
December 31st, 2011 at 10:59 am
Thanks for sharing. This is rare but severe reaction.
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Sorry, but it is NOT a RARE reaction. It’s all over the web, hundreds of entries from people who’s dogs are now deaf bc of mometamax!
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Our 12 year old Yorkie had ear infections and we also were given Mometamax for her. We noticed after about five days she could no longer hear anything. Now besides a cataract in one eye, one developing in the other, she cannot hear because of a medication that was supposed to help her. The vet just brushed it off and said perhaps it was a side effect to the medication but it should be temporary. After reading the other comments, I am very sad and not hopeful. I wish we had been told this could happen.
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
January 21st, 2012 at 12:02 pm
I am sorry to hear of your pet’s unfortunate reaction to this product. This side effect does occasionally occur. In some pets the hearing may come back, while in other pets the hearing loss is permanent.
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Unfortunately I am another negative post. Took my such Schnoodle in for a check and my vet said he appeared to have bacterial infection and prescribed this medication without warning to possible side affect. Within 3 days he became completely deaf. Sad to see because he used to greet us at the door with wagging tail now I have to walk in cautiously not to frighten him. I just wish I would have known of alternative options and long term side affects.
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 5:07 pm
Sorry to hear about your dog. Unfortunately these side effects can occur with these drugs.
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JoAnne Reply:
February 2nd, 2012 at 12:45 pm
Have a rescue cat, approx 3 yrs old, the doctor prescribed Mometamx 1 x per day in both ears, her Left ear has a major ear infection in it. It did have ear mites that due to the rpior owners neglect was left untreated. Now the problem has excalated !!! The cats ears both were “flushed” to get all the “junk” out of them. She came home on this med and Zenequin 50 mg(1/2 pill ) 1x a day w/her food.
Now her face is swollen on the Left side/her left eye has a BLOWN Pupil !! She is walking/eating fine. But her peripheal vision is off because she can only use one eye now.
The side effect for this med show these symptoms on other sites…. but, not the eye issue ?? ALSO _ Other sites Clearly Note not to use this med on Cats ??? Any ideas/thoughts ??
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
February 2nd, 2012 at 12:56 pm
I would take her back to the vet for a recheck. Facial swelling could be allergy or even tooth root abcess as well, in addition to eye will likely need treatment.
My 11year old Shih Tzu was in for her check up Vet said she had a little infection in ear gave me Otomax for her .Put drops in at night dog was total deaf in morning ,Looked up Otomax and found out what it could do ,I flushed out the dogs ears to get the drug out ,took a week dogs hearing is back to about 80% hard to tell but much better ,Going to try Zymox hard to find in BC ,I can not understand why a Vet would not warn people of this obviously not rare reaction could possibly saved a lot of dogs there hearing if people knew what to watch out for
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
February 3rd, 2012 at 11:09 am
Thanks for sharing. At least it sounds like her hearing is coming back, which is great news.
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