My dog's ears hurt when touched, but the vet found nothing. What now?

Hi and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If Jax has not had his ears checked by a veterinarian for an ear infection, then he could still have one causing the continued sensitivity near his ears. Your vet will need to look not just at the outside of the ear (the pinna) but inside the ear canal with an otoscope to get a good view of what is going on. A sample of any debris in his ears should be taken to confirm the presence of an infection. If his vet has already rechecked his ears and he is free of infection, then he may still be guarding his ears as this once was a painful or sensitive area. This may be true if he just got over a recent infection. I hope this helps!

Poor girl. She may have an infection that is deeper in her ear canal. This typically won't be as visible to owners, but we can often see evidence of it during an otoscopic exam. However, there is typically a mild odor to the debris. If the infection just started, the odor may not be as evident. The fact that she is also sensitive to the touch, means that the ear is bothering her, which is usually due to an infection. I would recommend taking Molly in to your vet to have a full otoscopic exam done to gather samples of any debris present so that we can find out once and for all if there is truly an infection and then treat it appropriately depending on the type of infection (i.e. bacteria, yeast) present. You can continue cleaning her ears with whatever ear cleaner you have on hand for pets. You mentioned you placed drops in her ears so I'm not sure if this is medication or cleanser. I hope that Molly's ears feel better soon! Best wishes and take care.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. With the symptoms you are describing it, sounds as though he may have something stuck in his ear canals. If the veterinarian is unable to examine his ears with him awake, he may need to be sedated and have a more thorough ear exam to rule out a foreign body in the ear canal. 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.

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Ellie most likely has ear canals infection. The infection and inflammation is usually deep in the canal, so it is not possible to confirm it without looking into the ear with an otoscope. Please, take her to your local vets as she will likely need a course of antibiotics ear drops to get rid of the infection.

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.

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!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Silky! The most common cause for scratching the ears and painful ears is an ear infection. The infection is either from overgrowth of bacteria and/or yeast. This can be from allergies or excessive moisture in the ears. I would recheck with a different vet with in the practice if you were unsatisfied with the first vet. Or go to a different hospital. The Vet should try, if the dog allows them, to look in the ears. They should use a Q-tip to remove some discharge and look at it under the microscope to identify the organism. They they can show you how to clean out the ears and provide you with an ear cleaner and medicated drops to clear the infection. Sometimes dogs with a lot of pain and inflammation deserve some steroids. I hope this helps and I wish Silky a speedy recovery!