My dog's ear is red, crusty, and bleeding. Could it be ear mites?

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Milli Rock. It could be she has an ear infection causing the redness and crusting spot. It would also cause her to itch her ear. Ear infections in dogs can be caused by ear mites, yeast, or bacteria. She does need to see a vet to have this diagnosed and treated. Leaving this untreated can lead to hearing loss. Give her vet a call to make her an appointment. I hope this helps!

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Ear mites generally are noted first with signs of thick, dark discharge which appears a bit "crusty". However-the lack of these symptoms does not mean all is well with the ears of your pup. Dogs can get frequent ear infections, just like we can. I can tell from your photos that your pup has hair that grown down into the ear canals-this will be part of the problem. Those hairs trap debris, water from bathing, extra wax, etc and act as a great reservoir for bacteria to grow. I always recommend to my clients to have the hairs "plucked" by their groomer when they go or to come in to the office so that we can do it. After the hairs are cleared and the ears are cleaned, I like to do an exam of the ear canal and to take a swab of the ears to see what kind of yeast and/or bacteria are present there. It is important to have this exam performed by your vet to verify that your pet's eardrum is intact and not perforated. Likely your pet will get prescribed some antibiotics if your doctor finds it necessary, as well as pain medications or something for that awful itch. After everything is well controlled, it is usually easy to get my owners on a good ear cleaning regimen to keep ear infections at bay. I hope this helps! My best to you and your pup!

Hi and thank you for using PetCoach! I am so sorry to hear that Snoopy's ear is red. It is very possible Snoopy may have an ear infection. Ear infections are most commonly due to underlying allergies such as environmental or food allergies. It is possible Snoopy has mites in that ear but less likely since only one ear is very affected. I would recommend taking Snoopy in to see your veterinarian. They will likely take swabs from both ears and look at a cytology of them (under the microscope) to look for infections. If this is the case, your veterinarian will recommend ear cleaner/ medication. Good luck! Here is an article that describes ear infections in more detail: https://www.petcoach.co/article/middle-inner-ear-infections-in-dogs/

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It looks like Cheekies has an ear infection. I recommend taking her to a vet so they can test the contents of the ear to find out what kind of infection it is. Once they know, they can prescribe a medication to treat the infection and pain. Good luck and kisses to Cheekies!

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Lucy. That doesn't look like mites, but it could be a skin infection. Given that it's growing, I'd have her seen by a vet. The vet can diagnose what is causing it, and can treat it. I hope this helps.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. This could be due to an infection or allergy judging from the photo you provided. I would recommend having a veterinarian examine Paolo if possible to rule out an infection. You can always try an ear cleanser to see if this helps. I would recommend using Zymox otic cleanser, which can be found online. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly!

Hello. Milo is scratching hard enough to damage the skin. It would be best to have him examined by your vet to see if there is a primary ear problem ( infection or ear mites ) or if he has a mild allergy. Different things require different treatments so I hope you can have him seen soon. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.