Why is my dog scratching his salmon-colored ears without infection?

Ouch, poor Remington! You are correct - most ear infections in dogs stem from underlying allergies. Allergy issues in dogs mostly cause skin problems and ears are skin, after all. The allergies could be associated with environmental issues (atopy), food allergies or flea allergies. I can certainly see the discharge and swelling in Remington's ear. Her excessive scratching obviously indicates that she's quite uncomfortable. Allergy issues cause dogs to itch, which damages the skin barrier and then leads to ear infections from an overgrowth of yeast and/or bacteria in the ear canal. There are no effective over the counter treatments for ear infections. At this point, I recommend taking Remington to her vet for an exam and ear cytology. Your vet will be able to look at her ear discharge under a microscope to determine the type of infection present, and will then prescribe an appropriate medication based on those results. Until you get to the vet, consider putting an e-collar (cone) on Remington to prevent her from causing further damage to hear ears. I hope this helps and that she's feeling better soon!

Itchy ears are most commonly a sign of allergies. Your dog may have food allergies, environmental allergies, or parasitic/bacterial skin infection. If he hasn't had a skin scraping to rule out parasites, or skin cytology/culture to look for bacterial or yeast infection, these things should be done. Some dogs actually have skin tumors or autoimmune skin disease that is causing the itching, and those dogs need to have fine needle aspirates or skin biopsies taken for diagnosis. Also, you should try a veterinary prescription allergy diet like Hills z/d for 8-10 weeks fed exclusively to treat potential food allergies. It's really important to feed ONLY the prescription diet during this time. Also, I have had great success with the oral pill Apoquel for some allergies as well, and this is a medication that is much safer to use long-term than steroids like prednisone. If this course of diagnosis and/or treatment is not possible with your current veterinarian, pursue a second opinion somewhere else. If all of these options are explored and your dog is still itchy, it's time to visit a veterinary dermatologist specialist.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. The most common reason for scratching in the abcence of infection: allergies. It could be food related, environmental allergens, or even an allergic reaction to mites or mosquitos. Sometimes longer term treatment with the ointment, systemic medications, and mite/flea/tick prevention is needed so talk with your vet.

Chronic ear and skin infections may have an allergic component as stated by your veterinarian. It may be fleas, but the likelihood is reduced with regular flea control. Even then though, in a sensitive dog, one flea bite may be enough to cause a serious allergic reaction. The steroid (Prednidale) and antibiotic (Rilexine) are temporary fixes, treating just the symptoms but not the underlying condition. There are also environmental allergies and food sensitivities that may responsible. The sheer number of potential allergens is what makes diagnosing allergies so frustrating. Discuss allergy testing, hydrolyzed diets and food elimination trials with your veterinarian. A consult with a veterinary dermatologist ma be indicated. You should also discuss antihistamine use, either seasonally or year round, with your veterinarian. Atopica and Apoquel are prescription medications that may help treat allergies and can be dispensed by your vet. Consider adding an essential fatty acid supplement, such as a fish oil, to Irish's diet to promote healthy skin and coat. The EFAs may also help some with the itching and inflammation. DermCaps or EicosaCaps are two recommended products.

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.

Oh my, poor Esme! There is no doubt that her ear is significantly inflamed. Even though she is not itchy, my main suspicion is that the redness, scaling, and warmth are inflammatory reactions to an ear infection or allergies. Some dogs are quite stoic when their ears are uncomfortable and may not itch with these conditions. Regardless, I strongly recommend taking Esme to her vet for evaluation. The vet will be able to examine her ears thoroughly, including the lower portions of the ear canal that are not visible to the naked eye. The vet will also be able to microscopically evaluate any discharge present in her ears to determine if infection is present. From there, medication can be prescribed to either treat an infection or to treat this significant inflammation. I hope this helps and that Esme feels better soon!

There are many possible causes for itchy ears but the most common in ears which appear clean and are not infected are allergies and food sensitivities. Specialized skin diets and omega fatty acids can help, prescription antiinflammatory medications may also be required