rjand6more Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 My Beagle(age 12ish) has been scratching his ear for months. He has it bleeding daily and most of the hair is scratched off.:( First, I tried a ear cleaning fluid off Amazon. Maybe helped a bit. Then we took him to the vet(love our vet). Vet said it looked OK. Took a sample. Let's try an anti fungal. We did that. Little to no improvement. Took him back. Still scratching. Vet said there was nothing he could see wrong. Said it might be allergies. We switched their food(grain free) However, he does on occasion eat cat poop and definitely eats leftover sandwiches and snacks the kids leave around...so not sure that is really helping. Took him back to check the ear again. Vet said all looks well except maybe a little dirty. I'm afraid to clean his ears aside from wiping them off. I have used a swab but not very far. So, no mites, no fleas, no infection...(didn't ask about mange, but vet would probably recognize that?) What could be wrong? And I saw our other dog scratch her ear a few times!! I think I'm going crazy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 I would try putting a cone on him to see if it might be a habit that needs breaking. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 I’d order some Zymox Otic enzymatic solution from Amazon (or find it in a local pet store) and try it for a few days to see if it helps. If it’s just an itchy ear and no unusual itchiness anywhere else then it’s probably not food related. But I might be tempted to try a food with a different protein source than what he’s currently eating. Grains get vilified but from all the veterinary studies I’ve read statistically meat proteins are much more frequent allergy triggers than grains. My own experience with allergy dogs supports that, too. But again—absent other symptoms I doubt it’s food related. ETA: Did the vet take a good look in the ear with a scope? I’d wonder about something being stuck in it. A foxtail or even something like a dead bug. Because it seems weird that only one ear is affected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjand6more Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share Posted June 22, 2018 1 hour ago, Pawz4me said: I’d order some Zymox Otic enzymatic solution from Amazon (or find it in a local pet store) and try it for a few days to see if it helps. If it’s just an itchy ear and no unusual itchiness anywhere else then it’s probably not food related. But I might be tempted to try a food with a different protein source than what he’s currently eating. Grains get vilified but from all the veterinary studies I’ve read statistically meat proteins are much more frequent allergy triggers than grains. My own experience with allergy dogs supports that, too. But again—absent other symptoms I doubt it’s food related. ETA: Did the vet take a good look in the ear with a scope? I’d wonder about something being stuck in it. A foxtail or even something like a dead bug. Because it seems weird that only one ear is affected. He did look in it with a scope. Zymox is what we tried. We gave it 2 weeks. DH accidently picked up a different meat food this week. We'll try that. It's been 4 months. I would think a bog or something would be gone by now? Wonder if I could flood his ear? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Things I would wonder about: Ear wax built up deep down in the affected ear that needs to be cleaned out. A tumor or growth deep down in the ear canal (that happened to one of our dogs). A skin infection, since you said he scratches so much that the skin is hairless and bleeding. He may have started scratching because of an allergy or whatever reason, and then a skin infection set in and that is what is causing him to be aggravated now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjand6more Posted June 23, 2018 Author Share Posted June 23, 2018 4 hours ago, Selkie said: Things I would wonder about: Ear wax built up deep down in the affected ear that needs to be cleaned out. A tumor or growth deep down in the ear canal (that happened to one of our dogs). A skin infection, since you said he scratches so much that the skin is hairless and bleeding. He may have started scratching because of an allergy or whatever reason, and then a skin infection set in and that is what is causing him to be aggravated now. How would I do this? It maybe a skin infection, but the vet didn't think so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjand6more Posted June 23, 2018 Author Share Posted June 23, 2018 2 hours ago, WendyAndMilo said: My dog would do that when she'd get a piece of cheat grass lodged in her ear. How did you fix it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted June 23, 2018 Share Posted June 23, 2018 5 minutes ago, rjand6more said: How would I do this? It maybe a skin infection, but the vet didn't think so. I would have the vet do it if it were my dog. I’m always leery of poking around in ears! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted June 23, 2018 Share Posted June 23, 2018 If vet didn't see an infection I'd guess allergies. Food allergies are NOT common, pollen allergies and other environmental allergies are. Have you tried benedryl? 1mg per pound, two to three times a day. Any itching anywhere else? Licking or anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted June 23, 2018 Share Posted June 23, 2018 If vet didn't see an infection I'd guess allergies. Food allergies are NOT common, pollen allergies and other environmental allergies are. Have you tried benedryl? 1mg per pound, two to three times a day. Any itching anywhere else? Licking or anything? FYI, for cleaning, no worries about "going too far". A dog's ear canal is L shaped, with a sharp bend before the ear drum. There is no way you could get around it and into the ear drum. Also, for cleaning, more solution is better. The saying is "dilution is the solution to the pollution". you have to put quite a bit in so it can run down past that bend all the way to the ear drum. Then squish the ear around, then wipe out the excess or let the dog shake it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjand6more Posted June 23, 2018 Author Share Posted June 23, 2018 28 minutes ago, Ktgrok said: If vet didn't see an infection I'd guess allergies. Food allergies are NOT common, pollen allergies and other environmental allergies are. Have you tried benedryl? 1mg per pound, two to three times a day. Any itching anywhere else? Licking or anything? FYI, for cleaning, no worries about "going too far". A dog's ear canal is L shaped, with a sharp bend before the ear drum. There is no way you could get around it and into the ear drum. Also, for cleaning, more solution is better. The saying is "dilution is the solution to the pollution". you have to put quite a bit in so it can run down past that bend all the way to the ear drum. Then squish the ear around, then wipe out the excess or let the dog shake it out. Which cleaning solution should I buy? No, no itching or licking anywhere else(except occasionally). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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