My dog has hair growing out of her ears. She is a Poodle. How do I pluck her ears? And what should I use to clean them? They have lot’s of wax in them. Are ears that are floppy dirtier than pointy ears? She scratches at them a lot too. Could the hair and wax be bothering her?

ANSWER:

Poodles of all sizes, Bichon Frise, Maltese and all non-shedding breeds to varying degrees have hair that grows in their ear canal and possibly right up to the eardrum. Without regular plucking, this hair can develop into a matted plug that leads to hearing loss (temporary), infections and overall discomfort for these breeds.

Imagine leaving a cotton ball in your ear for a month and you begin to realize how uncomfortable this would be for these dogs.

If you look in the ears of a Lab, Border Collie, German Shepherd or any of the shedding breeds, you see a canal virtually free of any fur except for a fringe around the edge that helps filter dirt and debris. Not that these breeds are not prone to their own ear problems, invariably they rarely suffer from the same conditions that develop in the non-shedding breeds.

It sounds like your cock-a-poo already has an infection and needs treated by your veterinarian. Before the infection can be resolved, the hair needs removed. Normally this is not an overly painful procedure for the dog but when the canal is already inflamed, it is best to have your dog either put under a general anaesthetic or at least administered a strong sedative. Not only will it make the procedure less painful, it will also lower your dogs stress level considerably as the last thing you want to do is make them nervous about having their ears handled or poked. The vet will then clean out the ear with a solution that helps loosen any particles and dries the canal out so that bacteria does not find a welcome home there. Any goop they pull out is analyzed as there are a number of critters that cause ear infections including yeast. Once they know what set up housekeeping in your dog’s ears, they will prescribe the appropriate medication to exterminate the invaders.

Take home instructions will invariably be to clean the ear with the same solution the vet used once a day and administer the ear medication every twelve hours for anywhere up to three weeks depending on the type and severity of the infection.

Once that the infection is cleared up it is only a matter of making sure that it does not come back. Your groomer should pluck the ears as part of the grooming process and if they don’t, you will need to take him to the vet and have them teach you how to do it. It is not hard but there are some tricks that are best shown versus explained.

The other trick is to continue to use the ear cleaner solution to clean and dry out ear canals about once a week and every time your dog gets wet from either swimming or bathing.

Breeds with heavy earflaps and/or a lot of fur around the ear canal are prone to problems as not enough air can get to the canal to keep it healthy (think athlete’s foot). These breeds generally include Poodles, Cocker spaniels and Labrador Retrievers. Left untreated, the ear will go deaf and eventually there is so much scar tissue that the canal closes up. At this point, there is not much that can be done except to open up the ear canal in a surgery called a bilateral ear excision (bilateral if it is both ears). It is not a nice surgery. If you feel your own ear hole, there is the bit nearest your cheek that sticks out to cover the opening a bit. Put your finger on that and go straight down to where the ear lobe attaches – that is all soft cartilage. Now picture that whole area being removed – ouch! In a dog, it is an even larger area in a dog and the bigger the dog, the bigger the area.

Dogs with pointy or prick ears are prone to ear problems as well unfortunately. Although airflow is far superior, that upright pinna can act like a funnel for debris so regular ear cleaning is necessary.

I have seen a number of ways to help increase airflow especially while trying to clear up the infection. With Poodles and Cocker Spaniels, trimming the ear hair helps immensely but it that is not an option (if your dog is a show dog etc), ask your vet or groomer to show you how to safely wrap the earflap in a product called Vet Wrap so the fur is contained in a sheath.

A warning though: Vet Wrap can self-constrict and cut off blood supply to the ear so do not leave your dog overnight or unattended with their ears bound and check frequently that the wrap is not tightening.

Lastly, if the problems continue and become chronic even after regular cleaning and maintenance, there may some food allergies going on. Talk to the vet about this and see if a hypoallergenic food helps solve the problem.

Good luck and keep on top of those ears!

We rescued a seven year old golden retriever about two years ago. The previous owners were going to put her down for chronic ear infections. My husband sold antibiotics at the time, it seems we were meant to rescue her. She gets an ear infection about every four months, sometimes accompanied by yeast, sometimes not. Sometimes rods and cones, sometimes rods, sometimes cones only in the infection. We have spent a small fortune on her so far. We clean her ears with a vet recommended solution about every 2-3 days. She stays inside 99% of the time, in other words, out of our humid climate in WV. I try to keep the hair inside the ear trimmed for better air flow. She eats Ultra Nutro with MSM and Gluocosamine (for her arthiritis) with Dinovite and lowfat yogurt. The yogurt is to mask the Dinovite and help get “good bateria” in her body. We have seen some improvement with the Dinovite (arthiritis). 100 mg, 2x a day of Hydroxyzine pamoate for allergies. Other recent problems include: an infection on either side of her mouth just behind where the upper cuspids leave an indention on the lower lip (inside a fold), and severe hot spots from the shampoo (we assume) immediately following a new groomer. The hot spots have been cleared up with left over spray from the vet and oatmeal & epsom salt baths for some relief.
What do you think about the ear infections? Best course of prevention? The doctor has suggested various things on the various visits. New anti-histamines, allergy testing, change of food…etc. As this vet has not stayed consistent, I’m not sure what the next best step is. New vet? And I’m just unsure as to how expensive the allergy testing can get.

Angie Mylar
Huntington, WV

ANSWER:

Hi Angie,

First thank you for rescuing this poor dog – you were definitely destined to be a part of her life! You are doing a wonderful job of dealing with difficult, frustrating and expensive ailments and my sympathy goes out to you as allergic dogs can be difficult to say the least.

I would make a few changes to her care with the first two being the easiest.

First is to bump up the ear cleaning to once a day. I am not sure what product you are using but I find Vet Solutions Ear Cleaner and OtiRinse Ear Cleanser are the mildest for daily use and the smell is not too strong. I find with daily cleaning, less cleanser is needed and in a humid environment, it is amazing how fast bacteria can develop.

My other trick to allow better airflow is to not trim ear hair (unless it is extremely thick or the dog is one that has hair that grows in their ear canals like a Poodle) as the sharp ends of the cut hair can irritate the delicate skin. Instead, several times a day when the dog is relaxed, I flip their ears back so the flap is backwards – I jokingly say the dog is now ‘aerodynamic’. Some dogs will walk around for hours with their ears back with no concerns whatsoever – all the better. This allows for periods of excellent airflow without the concern of possibly irritating the skin.

Food is the other change. There are many excellent types of veterinary prescription diets. They are more expensive but you will save money in the long run and your dog will be much more comfortable. The food change alone may make all the difference in the world – it did with my allergy dog with the chronic ear infections! And once she is on a food that agrees with her – stick to it for the rest of her life. You may find she no longer needs any anti-histamines or allergy meds so once she has been on the food for a few months, begin weaning her off the meds while watching for symptoms to return.

Ear meds are a little more complicated. In time, a bacterium becomes resistant to specific medication and the drug is rendered ineffective. Mixing up the meds can make a difference and sometimes a combination is required to completely kill the offending varmints.

Has your vet ever mentioned whether she has narrow ear canals? A narrowed ear canal makes an even better harbor for bacteria and chronic ear infections are almost always the outcome. Worst-case scenario is surgery to open up the canal or, in extreme cases where scar tissues from the infections has closed the canal completely, is to remove the canal entirely. This sounds awful but it gives almost immediate relief and since most dogs are already deaf by this point, it is not like it is damaging their hearing. I have seen dogs that are miserable and grumpy turn into puppies again after this surgery – let’s us know just how painful chronic ear infections can become.

Of course, it is better to deal with it before it gets ugly so keep up the diligence – you are doing a great job!

Allergy testing is an excellent way to fully understand what is going on with your dog’s system and what foods or environmental allergens to avoid. Many veterinary dermatologists still perform the old school skin prick test but I strongly believe the newer in vitro testing is superior. Sounds cooler too! In vitro means within the glass so the testing is done on blood in a Petri dish. It is more accurate then skin testing and your dog does not have to be put under anesthetic or shaved for the test to be performed. The second part of the in vitro testing is the ability for the lab to develop a serum based on the allergens for immunotherapy treatment, which works on slowly building the pet’s immunity to the pathogens that are causing them discomfort. Cool stuff!

The cost of allergy testing may actually be less in the end then doing the trial and error route with different foods and medications. Hard to say but it might be worth the big initial hit to know you are starting off on the right foot!

There are tons of options out there for allergic pets these days and I am happy to give you any further help or recommendations if needed. If your current vet balks at any of these suggestions, many others out there would accept what I have written in stride. Changing vets can be stressful but you must take into consideration what is best for your dog – bottom line, its all about the pooch!