Dogs Ear infections

Does the smell of your dog's ears arrive in the room before he does? Does he keep you up at night shaking his head and digging at his ears? He likely has an ear infection.

Understanding canine ear infections won't just make your dog more comfortable or even help you sleep. Their early diagnosis and treatment can prevent a lifetime of ear problems and even save your dog's hearing.

"Ear infections that are not caught early and aggressively treated cause chronic pathologic changes to the lining of the ear canal," warns Dr. Catherine Outerbridge, a professor of dermatology at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine.

Long before the dog is shaking his head or producing that smelly discharge, there are small changes happening inside the dog's ears.

First, the cells of the ear canal - an L-shaped tube that runs from the outer ear to the eardrum - become inflamed and swollen, narrowing the channel.

The ear canal is lined with glands that produce wax and keep the canal moist. A small number of normally harmless bacteria and yeast live in that waxy coating, kept in check by the conditions of the healthy ear canal. When a dog's ear becomes inflamed, that balance is disturbed. The increased heat of an inflamed ear causes the wax glands to become larger and more active, helping create what Outerbridge calls "a perfect incubator" for bacteria and fungus.

If a dog has a single ear infection, diagnosis by your veterinarian and treatment with prescription ear medication can put an end to the story.

But in dogs with underlying conditions that cause inflammation, most commonly some kind of allergy, that's just the beginning.

Every time the dog's ears become inflamed, the ear canal becomes scarred and narrower, while the wax glands become larger and more active.

This sets up a vicious cycle of inflammation, moisture, itching and infection that is increasingly hard to break. Eventually, bacteria and yeast can spread into the inner ear and even infect the bulla, an empty bony space behind the eardrum.

Such infections are painful, can only be treated surgically and can cause deafness.

The key to breaking that cycle is preventing inflammation whenever possible. If allergies are at the root of your dog's ear infections, work with a veterinary dermatologist to bring them under control.

Swimming can also trigger ear infections, but it's probably not the water alone that's responsible. Some of the breeds that love to swim are also those with allergy problems. "Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers," said Outerbridge.

"Highly allergy- prone dogs." Genetics can also play a role in chronic ear infections, and breeds including the shar-pei and the cocker spaniel have more than their fair share of problems. Most people attribute the cocker's problems to his long, hanging ears. But, as Outerbridge points out, bassett hounds have the same kind of ears without suffering from ear infections the way cockers do.

"It's not their big ears," she said. "They seem to have larger and more numerous earwax glands than any other dog breed." Whether the cause of your dog's chronic ear infections is allergies, genetics, swimming or some combination of all three, the cure is the same.

Since heat and moisture are the enemies, ask your veterinarian to recommend a product to keep your dog's ears clean and dry. Use it regularly.

But if you spot signs of inflammation - such as redness, itching or head shaking - act quickly.

Every day that your dog's ears are inflamed and infected causes permanent damage to the ear canal and makes future infections more frequent and severe. Seek veterinary care right away, and be sure to follow through on the course of treatment.

Your dog will thank you.

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