Ear infection
Yesterday Ginny and I took a trip to see the vet at Pets Unlimited. In addition to identifying her skin problems as a chronic allergy that has probably plagued her all her life, she diagnosed an ear infection. Ear infections are commonly associated with allergies. Ginny’s scabby, speckled skin chronic allergies have probably given her ear infections since she was a puppy.
Ear infections look different. My cat Phoebe also has chronic ear infections which look like she has extra dark brown wax in her kitty ears. The visible part of a normal cat’s ear should be clean; no wax, just healthy and pink. Yesterday I noticed that a client of mine, Moma* (who also has severe chronic allergies), also has an ear infection; his ear was crusty and scabby with a pool of mucus-like wax at the entrance to his ear canal. Ginny’s infection appeared somewhat less severe than Moma’s with dark crusty wax and what looked like severely dry skin around the edges.
Ear infections are frustrating in and of themselves – they can be painful and itchy for your pet. But chronic ear infections also have a sinister secondary effect: they can lead to a ruptured ear drum, deafness or facial nerve paralysis. My theory is that Ginny’s deafness is the result of failure to treat her chronic ear infections because, at the age of 8, she seems too young to have lost her hearing due to old age.
Long-eared dogs and those with hair in the visible area inside their ears are more susceptible to ear infections than those with pointy ears that don’t fold over. Other than allergies, drug reactions, the build up of hair or dead skin, the development of bacteria or fungus or excessive moisture caused by swimming. Common symptoms include pain, head shaking, scratching at the ears and a bad smell. In more serious ear infections, the inflammation spreads to the inner ear and can cause your dog to tilt his head, become uncoordinated, vomit or even develop anorexia.
If you suspect your dog has an ear infection, it is important to have it diagnosed by a vet. For less severe infections that have not entered the middle ear, she will probably prescribe drops to be massaged in to the ear canal a couple of times a day; this is the treatment Ginny is now on. These infections typically clear up in three to four weeks. For more difficult infections, oral antibiotics and/or antifungals may be prescribed.
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