[JustTess]

When I raised my Sammies... the only issue I remember having were their allergies to fleas and hot spots. So, I've never really dealt with ear infections.

Now, it seems Lola has another ear infection... crusty on the outside, red and a bit raw in the inside. The vet prescribed some steriods to help with healing and she thought perhaps they might be an allergy. What kind... ? she doesn't know.

So, I'm wondering.... what other dog owners have discovered about ear infections. She's on blue Buffalo and she loves it without any stomach discomfort (she never really had any issues with food except for Nutro that turned her skin very pink and itchy)

 

[cshellenberger]

There are many things that can cause ear infection including allergies. At times environmental and times to foods. You can have allergy tests run or you can try to do a process of elimination.

Your dog could be allergic to rice, chicken, beef, or any of a number of other common ingredients. My pug is allergic to chicken and to rice, so I feed him a food that has niether. Some good foods to check into are Wellness Simple solutions which has only 1 protien source and one carb or **** Van Pattons NAtural Balance allergy formulas, they have a duck nad potato and a fish/sweet potato formula and both are fabulous.

 

[kimsum]

I hear you..loud and clear..and am sending you and yours the best of wishes. It's too bad dogs can't speak a clearer language to make themselves understood. It would make a whole lot of things a whole lot easier.

Amongst other problems..my lil old psycho dog has chronic ear problems. When I got him at the supposed age of 6 he was running in circles and scratching his ears and crying.

I couldn't leave him there.

Imaging mites or some other problem I had him vetted within a day. Their diagnosis was that..while he had a hairy ear canal..his reaction far exceeded any medical problem that they could discern. Perhaps a regular ear plucking would solve the problem.

Not!

After multiple visits each year to "get his ears sorted" they discovered some tumours that were adding flame to the fire. I finally decided to go with a partial ear ablation. My poor guy!! I called him "Frankenpup" for awhile. And while it was a brutal surgery he recovered well..but don't get me started on trying to "cone" him.

As of now..he is well and has no symptoms. He's also on a different food which I hope will add to his success.

I think that food and allergies is a really big factor. I just wish I would have known about the potential impact earlier. Having mis-shapened ear canals and extra hair only adds to the problem.

If you can get things tested perhaps you can avoid a lot of woe and expense.

Good luck and please keep us posted

 

[hsieh]

well if food turned her skin pink and itchy maybe food is causing the ear infections. try a dry dog food and nothing else.

 

[agility collie mom]

I agree with the allergy testing. Remember the inside of an ear is just an enfolding of skin.

 

[JustTess]

Thank you for the replies!

I've heard an interesting reason for ear infections today at the pet store. I was returning a bag of blue buffalo and purchasing solid gold (seems to be the one they do best on) and the cashier mentions tap water may be the reason for ear infections.

He is quite certain that the heavy metals in tap water is causing ears to get clogged and then resulting in an infection because they don't sweat. I'm not too sure if there is any validity to this however, I suppose trying filtered water wouldn't be expensive. Now Ilya has an ear infection too....

 

[cshellenberger]

Well it is spring, so it COULD be a seasonal allergy. I think I'd do the testing to rule out what it isn't at least.