My dog has frequent ear infections. What causes them? How to prevent?

Allergies can cause dogs to have chronic ear problems. You could ask your vet about trying medications for allergies and see if that helps. I would also recommend an ear culture to make sure that he is doesn't have a resistant infection. You could also switch him to a hypoallergenic diet and see if that helps.

Hi there. Recurring ear infections, or persistently itchy, irritated ears, are indeed a common sign of allergies in dogs. This can be due to environmental allergies, a food allergy, or both. Apoquel is usually effective at treating environmental allergy problems - so if it didn't help much, I agree that a food trial with a prescription hypoallergenic diet would be the next logical step. If she responds well to the prescription diet, you may be able to cautiously switch her back to an over-the-counter limited ingredient food for long-term maintenance.

Poor Maggie! This looks like quite a severe ear infection, from what I can see in the photo. Normally, we would treat this by taking a sample of the discharge to look at under the microscope, to see what kind of infection is present - it may be yeast, bacteria, or both. Then appropriate medication can be prescribed to treat the infection depending on what is found. So that is how we would typically treat a current, active infection like this. If her ear infections are not responding well to treatment or keep recurring once meds are finished, then this usually indicates that the dog has an underlying allergy problem of some kind (either food, or environmental). The underlying allergy will need to be diagnosed and treated in order to get the recurring ear problems under control, so that's what I would focus on once the current infection has improved. Your veterinarian should be able to discuss testing and treatment options for allergies, including allergy testing and immunotherapy treatment, daily medication such as Apoquel or Atopica, and/or a food trial with a prescription hypoallergenic diet. You could also seek a second opinion from another veterinarian in your area, or request referral to a veterinary dermatologist, if your current vet doesn't have any concrete suggestions on how to proceed with this.

Hi and thanks for using PetCoach! Sorry to hear about Arnie. Recurrent ear infections (usually otitis externa or external ear infection) are usually due to allergies, either seasonal or non seasonal, among a few other things including foreign bodies, anatomical problems, and even growths/tumors. All of this is most likely due to allergies- Atopy or inhaled allergies, flea allergy, and food allergy are all possible and ear problems (especially recurrent) are almost always associated with allergic skin disease. Your vet can take a sample from the ears and look at it under the microscope to diagnose the infection/cause in the ears. That's usually yeast, bacteria, and other causes such as ear mites. This will address the ear problem and your vet can present a sound treatment plan. As for the allergies, there are skin tests and blood tests to help determine the source of allergies. Again, diagnostics and treatment are often based on severity of signs, duration of signs, etc. Your vet can discuss this complex problem and advise many forms of treatment including ear meds, antibiotics, fish oil, allergy shots or oral drops to treat allergies, antihistamines, steroids, and others. If this is recurrent and severe, maybe it's time to talk with your vet about allergy testing. There are skin tests and blood tests to assess allergies. Some vets refer these cases to a skin specialist known as a veterinary dermatologist. Allergy shots or oral preparations can then be used to hyposensitize the immune system and dampen down the response to the allergens. Treatment involves oral antibiotics, anti itch medicines, ear treatments, immune modulating drugs, special diets, fish oil, allergy shots/oral drops, etc. I would advise checking out the following for fish oil and a skin supplement. http://www.vrshealth.com/canine-products/?petcoach=1977951 Check out the Omega benefits and Cutaneo TruBenefits Good Luck!!!

I would not say that ear infections are common on floppy ear dogs. Some dogs will get ear infections every few years but other dogs will get them often. Typically if a dog has ear infections often it is secondary to an underlying issue like allergies. The most common type of allergies are food, environmental and flea. Until the allergy is regulated the ear infections usually will not resolve or lessen in frequency. It is possible an underlying allergy is also causing eye discharge. I would recommend talking with your vet about working through the allergy issues. I hope that helps

These are definitively signs of a chronic otitis. Most common causes of persistent ear infections are: - underlying allergic disease (usually both ears are affected and other skin signs are present somewhere else); without resolving the allergy the disease will come back again and again; - resistant infections which requires more aggressive and specific treatment; - inappropriate treatment selection; Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. Please find the time to give us a feedback about the consultation as that will be used to improve our service.

I am sorry to hear of Princeton's ongoing war issues. If you are concerned about possible medication side effects I would recommend discussing this with your regular veterinarian. I would also discuss with them the possibility of food allergies. Chronic/recurrent ear infections like you are dealing with for Princeton can often be secondary for a food allergy, a diet change may be what is needed for him. When considering a new food remember that the protein source is typically the thing that causes the allergy-look at Princeton's current dry food to see what the protein source is. You will need to look for a food with a protein source he has not been exposed to (remember that the chicken you feed mixed with his food is a potential allergen as well). Your vet can discuss any particular brands or products they recommend, and be aware that a food trial for allergies can take 6-8 weeks before any effect is seen. Also talk to your vet about culturing the material in Princeton's ears, if you haven't already. Sometimes the yeast or bacteria that is present becomes resistant. A culture will show what type of organism is present, and what medication is going to be most effective. Your vet can then help you tailor a new treatment plan to try and resolve the issue. I also recommend routine ear cleaning at home using a cleaning solution recommended by your vet. Keeping the ears clean of debris can help reduce the number of infections. Good luck-I hope you are able to get Princeton feeling better soon!