DOG EAR INFECTIONS
When dealing with this type of ear infection, you can seemingly do all the right things – such as keeping the ear clean and dry and remove all excess wax and hair, but still have continual reoccurrences.
The skin in the ear canal hosts many different bacteria, fungi and even viruses. These are all kept in balance to create a healthy and protective skin microbiome, that creates a protective skin barrier in combination with the skin mantle. There are pathogenic species as part of this microbe community, however, the immune system keeps them in balance and under control. When there is inflammation, increased mucous, wax build up, irritation to the skin, or anything else that affects the integrity of the skin, these unfriendly species can proliferate, which leads to infection.
An underlying factor in many ear infections is allergies; known as allergic otitis.
Dogs can experience allergies to something in the environment, in their diet or to fleas. Contact with the allergen causes an immune response that causes inflammation and irritation to the tissues in the ear, with the skin, sinuses, eyes, and ears often being affected. Allergies cause irritation to the skin leading to inflammation, an increase in blood flow, and increase in wax build up which weakens the integrity of the skin. This causes the ears to become hot and creates the perfect environment for an infection to occur.
Dogs with floppy ears are more prone to this type of allergy as air flow to the ear is reduced, creating the ideal environment for infections.
When caused by an environmental allergen, the ear infection is generally recurrent and typically seasonal – however, if the cause is food related then it will occur all year.
When ear infections are not resolved promptly, or when they continually reoccur, there can be tissue damage and scarring in the ear. This can reduce the size of the ear opening and lead to more problems with airflow, congestion and difficulty applying the ear drops where they are needed most.
Symptoms that can be associated with ear infections driven by allergies
- Shaking the head and scratching the ears
- Rubbing their ears and side of the face along the carpet
- Tilting the head
- The ears can be smelly, with or without a discharge
- The ear can feel hot and looks red
- Inside the ear can look swollen and irritated
- Pained reaction when touching the ear, or general patting on the head
General allergy symptoms
- Chewing and licking the paws
- Rubbing of the face and eyes on the carpet or grass
- Uncontrollable scratching, even to the point of skin damage.
- Redness and irritation of the skin
- Licking and chewing any part of the body
- Watery eyes or nose
- Reverse sneezing
- Hives
- Loss of fur
When addressing allergic otitis, it is important to dampen the allergic response, reduce the irritation and inflammation of the tissues, support the immune system, and help to resolve the infection.
We have a core ear infection program which helps to address the infection itself. This includes an internal mix given orally to address and improve clearance of the waste products of the infection. In addition to the internal, we recommend our external ear drops to be used within the ear canal, helping to dry the ear canal and change the pH with the inclusion of Acetic acid inhibiting the proliferation of the pathogenic bacteria and yeasts.
To address the underlying allergy, we recommend our Animal Botanical Allergy. This helps to regulate and balance the immune system as well as assists in reducing the hypersensitivity to the allergens. This can also help to reduce the irritation and inflammation that is occurring within the ear canal.
Colloidal silver can also be useful if the infection needs some additional antimicrobial support to get it under control.
Finding the underlying cause of the allergic response can also be an important part of the protocol. This can be much easier when it is common food ingredient that is easy to avoid, however, this is much harder when it is an environmental allergy that is difficult to identify.
