How do you know if your dog is suffering?

Dog ear infections effect up to twenty percent of all dogs and is one of the top ten complaints dog owners have when they visit the vet. It is critical to stop infections early, otherwise chronic dog ear infections can result.

How do you know if your dog has an ear infection? Common symptoms are visible when dogs shake their heads or scratch at their ears. They may even moan or grunt while doing this. In an effort to make it stop hurting, they may rub their head on furniture or the floor. Ear infections often smell bad because of a black or yellow discharge from the ears. After a close examination of the ear, you may see redness and swelling around the canal and ear flap.

If the infection is allowed to progress, it may move from the outer ear to inner ear. If this happens, it can affect your dog’s hearing and may cause deafness. If your dog has an inner ear infection, it may start to feel dizzy and become disoriented. Or it may walk with its head tilted to one side or in circles.

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Why do they occur?

When you first see the symptoms of a dog ear infection, it is important to determine if the infection is due to bacteria, mites or yeast. A veterinarian can help you determine the source of the problem. While dog ear infections can be caused by an assortment of things, dog allergies are a common culprit. Out of the different allergies, a dog food allergy is a good place to start.

If your dog’s ears are infected, be sure to take him/her to a vet. Typically they will determine the cause of the ear infection and recommend a cleaning regimen.

Cleaning the ears

It is normally recommended that a dog’s ears be cleaned daily for two weeks after the dog ear infection is discovered. If you don’t feel comfortable cleaning the ears, you can ask your vet to do it for you. (We usually clean our dog’s ears because it is very easy.)

There are several over the counter ear cleaners that can be found at most pet supply stores.

1. Insert a few drops into the inside of the ear.

1. Fold the ear flap back down (where appropriate) and gently massage the ear flap for a few minutes.

1. Repeat the process with the other ear.

It is important to cure infections when they first start. If allowed to repeat, chronic dog ear infections can result in a hardening and thickening of the ear canal walls.  This means that the canal opening will become narrower and not receive proper ventilation. This, in turn, can lead to more infections.

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I woke up last Saturday to find Shadow, our 11 month old Chocolate Labrador Retriever, with a swollen eye. At first I thought that he and Gunner (the German Shepherd puppy we’ve been fostering) had been playing a little too rough and Shadow gotten a black eye (or maybe in his case a brown eye  : ). After looking a little closer, we decided it was time for a visit to the vet.

Shadow has allergies

It turns out that allergies are common in a lot of dog breeds and symptoms start appearing  around the time the puppy turns one year old. The symptoms are typically different from humans, and are sometimes are easy to miss if you don’t know what to look for. (I’ll admit that I missed them before our trip to the vet.)

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When allergies start, you may see the following symptoms:

• Dry skin (possibly with red, irritate hot spots)

• Itchy face (especially around the eyes) with the dog rubbing his/her face against almost any surface (Shadow likes to rub his head against my leg.) (Please see the picture above for an example (this is not Shadow).)

• Scratching different parts of the body.

• Canine hair loss (usually as a result of the scratching)

• Sneezing

• Eye discharge

In some extreme cases, vets also see dogs with skin lesions (which can lead to infections), bad odor around the areas where they are scratching, diarrhea, vomiting, and ear infections.

What causes canine allergies?

Dogs can be allergic to many different things. Seasonal allergies, typically caused by trees, grass, pollen, or mold. Food allergies, have there been any changes in the puppy’s diet recently? Or, an environmental allergies, for example fabric, rubber, or plastic in toys or maybe even dust or fleas.

For my next article on canine allergies, My Dog Is Allergic, Now What?, I will go into detail on how to troubleshoot different allergens and methods of treatment.  I will also fill you in on how the progress is going with Shadow.

Please feel free to post comments on products you’ve had success with in this area. I would like to provide Shadow some relief as soon as possible. Currently, the vet has us giving him antihistamines twice daily, but I would like to find a better, long term dog allergies treatment.

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