Why is my dog's ear still hurting after months of treatment?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The medication has an antibiotic and an antifungal in it. If it didn’t help the infection, she may have a bacteria that is resistant to the antibiotic. I recommend taking her back to the vet for a culture of the bacteria in her ear to determine what medication will treat it. Good luck and kisses to Bailey!

Unfortunately, some dogs do get recurrent ear infections, and from your description, it does sound like Taffy is getting another one. I would take her back into the vet for an exam. If ear infections continue to be a problem for her, I would consider doing a surgery called a total ear canal ablation and bulla osteotomy. This surgery involves removing the ear canal completely, thus eliminating ear infections. It is done on dogs who have continual ear infections where other methods of treating them have failed. It does leave the dog deaf in that ear, however. It could be that Tuffy is not at the point now where that surgery should be considered, but it would be something to keep in mind if she continues to have problems with recurrent ear infections.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! From your description and the pictures, it looks like Bailey has an ear infection. The build up you see can be discharge of bacteria and/or yeast. He is tilting his head because it is painful. Before purchasing a rinse, I would recommend taking him to the vet to determine what is going on inside the ear. If he has a ruptured ear drum some rinses can be contraindicated. They will be able to prescribe a rinse that is safe for his ear after his exam. Good luck and kisses to Bailey!

It looks like Bailey has a skin infection and with how you are describing the smell from his ears he can also have an ear infection. The cause could be from many things like mites on the skin, allergies or even hypothyroidism. I would recommend taking Bailey to a veterinarian, treating the infection, have them perform a skin scraping and blood work to make sure we are testing for different things that can cause skin problems. Once the cause is determined it will be easier to treat or maintain. I hope Bailey starts to feel better soon and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Poor guy. I can understand your frustation here. It seems you will have to be a bit more aggressive with his treatment moving forward. You will have to get an ear bacterial culture done to determine what antibiotic will resolve the infection. Then once you find this combination of antibitoics, they can be used to develop a formula to treat the ear. You may even have to get this formulation compounded through the following compounding companies: roadrunnerpharmacy.com wedgewoodpharmacy.com If this still does not resolve the issue, then surgery is the cure for this. Ear abalation is a surgery where the complete ear canal is removed, which will resolve the ear infections once and for all, since there is no canal for the bacteria to grow anymore I hope that you get some resolve for Bailey soon! Best wishes and take care.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Bella. I recommend that she sees her veterinarian. I agree that her ear is likely infected. The veterinarian will examine her including inspecting the ear canals with a special instrument known as an otoscope. A sample will be taken from each ear canal to evaluate under the microscope. This will confirm an infection and determine the type. For example, she could have a yeast or bacterial infection or a combination of both. In other cases, ear mites are possible. Based on these results, appropriate treatment can be started. An ear cleaner is usually commonly used to cleanse and dry the canal. Then a medication is applied to treat the infection. Ear infections are painful and require prompt treatment. If left untreated, chronic changes can result that will predispose her to future problems. I hope this information helps!

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Barni. The hair could be causing most of the problem right now. 2 schools of thought on hair in ear canals- leave it alone unless it's causing a problem and the other school of thought is to keep them plucked not matter what. Lots of hair in the ear canal can cause excessive itching and can make ear infections worse. Hair is full of bacteria which can aggravate the problem. Normally wax and secretions are produced in the ear canal and those are normally pushed along to the outside of the ear canal. This is a normal process of the ear cleaning itself. Hair causes an obstruction to this process and can lead to problems. Possible reasons for scratching at the ears can be flea infestation on and around the head, too much hair in the canals, an ear infection (ear mites, yeast, bacteria), or some type of skin infection involving the ears. I would advise a recheck with your vet or another vet if you need a second opinion. Typically when I see ears like this and the history you provided, I advise plucking the ear canals and then evaluating the ear canals for signs of problems. Plucking the hair often times requires some sedation/anesthesia due to pain. If there is a discharge in the ears, that should be examined under a microscope to evaluate for ear mites, yeast, and bacteria. If the ears are just inflamed, this could indicate problems with allergies. Once a diagnosis is made or suspected, a sound treatment plan can be implemented. This may include ear plucking, ear cleaning, ear medication, medicine for pain/inflammation, etc. I hope this helps. Good luck with Barni.