what's wrong with my dog's ears?

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#1
Hello,
This is my 9 month old lab-mix Elektra:


For the last 2-3 days, she has been scratching both of her ears a lot. Yesterday, she was also shaking her head a lot. We cleaned her ears with Epi-Otic solution. They looked fine. This morning, they look like this:


and she is rubbing her ears on the carpet. They also seem a little bit warm to the touch.

Is this an infection? Could it be an allergy? We switched her food to Hill's/Science Diet I/D this past week on the advice of our vet.

What can we do to help her, especially since today is Sunday and our vet is off.

Any home remedies?

Thanks,
Elektrasmom
 

Baxter'smybaby

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#2
that ear looks inflamed/swollen to me--could be allergies, could be something more--I would get her in to the vets. Food wise, you could do much better than Science diet--what were you feeding before that, and did she have ear problems when on her other food?
 
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#3
Yeah, I'm not too impressed with science diet. I had a previous post under another topic about this. We were feeding her Canidae ALS before that, but the vet seems to think that she may have an intolerance to it. She was getting diarrhea every 3 weeks or so. I'm doing the sciece diet until this bag runs out and then I'm looking for something better.

Elektrasmom
 

noludoru

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#5
Oh my god.. that looks REALLY bad. If your vet just gave you some Science Diet to combat this, you need to yank out the phone book and start calling new vets in your area IMMEDIATELY. Something needs to be done about Elektra's ear ASAP. :( Poor girl... give her a hug for me, and please update us on how she's doing.
 

Doberluv

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#6
Well, I couldn't see the picture. My dial-up is terrible and that just was taking sooooo long. Anyhow....from your description, it could be a yeast infection....very miserable for dogs. Red, inflamed, moist? Do get her to the vet as soon as you possibly can. If it's a yeast, she'll be put on some Ottomax or something like that. But it will require a prescription.

Yes, dump any vet who flat out lies and tells you Science Diet is the cure for something like this, much less anything at all. It's hardly got any meat in it at all. It's terrible food. Check through the food forum and see what you can find.

Hope your baby will feel better soon. It sounds really awful and advanced. Let us know.
 
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#7
that kinda looks like what my dog had when I got her except parts of her ear was scabbylike. They checked for ear mites and there wasn't any but they gave me a steroid cream and it cleared right up. You put it on twice a day and by the next it looked 100% better. I forgot what it was but can tell you tomorrow if you would like. It started with an M, and it was a white cream that was oily in a light blue box. Mitochondrial or something like that. But the vet never figured out what it was that caused her ears to be red and inflamed but gave me the cream to see if it helped and it did.
 

Doberluv

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#8
Ranchnhoney. That was a lucky thing how that stuff cleared it up in your dog. However, I caution the OP to take her dog to the vet. This sounds too serious to guess. And often, using a cream or medicine with some conditions can cause more irritation rather than healing.

When I was a kid, my mom thought I had ring worm and got me some over the counter stuff for that. Well, it didn't clear it up. It got more itchy than ever. Then we went to the doctors and he said it's not ring worm. It's (now I'm not sure I remember how to spell it) peteriasis rosia....something that is not contageous or spreading from one part to another. You can only get it once in your life time and it is mostly on the trunk, not like ring worm...Anyhow, that guessing my mom did (of course it looked somewhat like ringworm) cost me extra days of intense itching because I didn't have the right stuff.

But anyhow, this dog sounds really quite miserable and should be seen asap. If it's a yeast infection, it can cause hearing loss. I know...I had a Lab with chronic and frequent yeast infections. I never have had a lick of trouble with my upright earred dogs.

Hope everything gets better soon.
 

corgipower

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#9
Yes, dump any vet who flat out lies and tells you Science Diet is the cure for something like this
i thought the science diet was for the diarrhea? i wouldn't dump the vet for that, and yea, it looks like an ear infection or yeast. the vet can give you meds for that.

foodwise, I/D isn't great, but it's commonly suggested by vets for dogs with chronic diarrhea.

my dog was on I/D for a few years, because it was the only thing she could tolerate. i have only recently been able to switch her to something better.
 

LuvToyDogs

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#11
Science Diet Frequently uses feed grains not fit for livestock consumption in their food. Consequently these moldy feed grains can cause mold allergies in dogs or yeast infections in flop eared breeds. I would not feed it. I would take your dog to the vet but that looks like a yeast infection.
 
H

HarleyD

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#12
Looks like ear mites or a yeast infection. Sounds like it to - itchy ears, purple/dark pink, head shaking....

vet can give you some stuff that will actually work. had the same thing with one of our dogs. cleaned out the ears and tried otc ear mite solution...didn't work. had to go to the vet.
 

smkie

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#13
If it is tarry and smelly, you have a yeast infection. You need to clean the ears out regularly and keep as dry as possible plus get a perscription from your vet that will kill the yeast. I have to go out and get Mary a bottle of that today. sighs...she has chronic yeast in her ears so twice weekly cleaning is a must. If you don't treat the dog will begin kicking at the ear and that can cause a hematoma which is way more expensive and very painful.
 

carlar

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#14
I vote for a trip to the vet as soon as possible. There are many different things that could be causing this and the poor dog must be miserable.
 

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