Red and itchy inner ear in dog? Happens every couple of months, ideas?

[JustABay]

Every so often, my dog’s right ear (only) gets a bit red inside and she will hold it kind of flat. This is accompanied by her shaking her head frequently. It usually lasts a day or so, and then goes away. I had taken her to the vet who gave me drops to put in, but she would yelp every single time I put the drops in, and now she won’t even come near me if I have the drop bottle in hand. I have a call in to my vet, waiting to hear back from him as to what needs to be done, but I thought I’d ask and see if anyone has any ideas? I’d like to find the cause of this, not just keep treating the symptoms Dog is (approx) 10 year old German Shepherd X female

Thanks!

[Arcadien]

My 6 yo GSD is prone to this. Instead of drops, I have a special Ear Cleaner fluid recommended by my vet, a big squeeze bottle -

I squirt a good quantity in, and massage the base (yeah he doesn’t like it either, but he’s resigned - and I’m determined because I know how much better he’ll feel after treatment!) - then let him shake most of the fluid out - then I take several cotton balls and swab as much as I can - I know it’s tender in there so I try not to be rough, but try to get out what I can - then flush again. I let it dry an hour or so, then my vet gave me an ointment to squirt in - I’ll have to go home to look it up for you, but it’s some kind of antibiotic/anti-inflammatory ointment.

After this thorough treatment his ear always clears up within a day or two. Note, I’ve had him tested for ear mites, he’s negative at every check up, so I think he’s just extra sensitive to dirt & debris in there.

I try to clean ears every month when I do Advantix /heartworm, but the other dogs are fine with swabbing with a treated cloth - the GSD is the only one that needs this thorough flush out, go figure.

[Arcadien]

PS, when I get home I’ll look up the name of the cleaner & the ointment, I think they are both over the counter.

[Wayside]

I also do the regular ear cleaning thing, though it’s my cat Alvin that needs it, not my dog. My technique is similiar to Arcadien’s, with an OTC ear cleaner liquid, drip in, massage, and then clean. Though since my cat is much smaller, I use Q-tips to clean his ears.

Both my cats used to need it done, though Fluffernutters hasn’t really needed his ears cleaned again since the vet did a really thorough job while he was knocked out for a dental.

They were both checked for mites and infections, but other than a small amount of yeast, they were negative for pathogens. So in their case it was really just a matter of keeping those ears clean, or else they’d get red, itchy, and inflamed.

And my cats hate ear cleaning, too. So much so that if we have friends who are allergic visiting, I just set the bottle of ear cleaner next to them, and if the cat gets too close, they pick it up, and the cats BOLT. :lol:

[frisky]

I have a black & tan coonhound with really (really) long ears. She used to have a lot of problems with her ears when she was younger. Now I just clean them out regularly. She loves having her ears cleaned so I just get out a kleenex every week or two sans any liquid and we’re done. I don’t stick q-tips in as they go too deep. I just clean them pretty regularly.

I have a second dog (treeing walker hound) whose ears can get redish and irritated every now and again. I’ve been told that allergies can affect a dog’s ears by making more gunk or something. Again, I just make sure I wipe the ears out fairly regularly.

[akstaj]

My Treeing Walker gets this, vet says yeast infection, regular cleaning and we are good.

[JustABay]

Excellent! Thanks for all the replies - I wasn’t aware it could be a dirt/debris reaction, that makes it so much more preventable!

Arcadien-Thanks so much for the info and instructions, if you can find the name of the product that would be awesome, I’ll pick some up first thing tomorrow and give her ears a cleaning!

[idlemoon]

allergies…

[Long_Spot]

Could also be a yeast issue.

I’ve got a Jack who has food allergies, and a reaction often shows up as a yeast infection in her ear.