Two weeks ago my dog alarmed me by revealing, when she was in the process of scratching one of her ears, a series of both large and small scabs inside that ear. I immediately checked both, but only the right ear sported any scabs. Neither ear looked too dirty, nor displayed any immediately obvious signs of mites.
Unfortunately, I was visiting friends for the weekend and thus out of town, so because it wasn’t an emergency, I could not seek any veterinary care right away. I used antibiotic ointment on her ears whenever she scratched a scab open (which happened often), bought a cone to discourage the constant scratching, and my friends applied a cleaning solution to her ears that they use on their own dog.
When I finally managed to make a vet appointment for Chihiro a week later (involving a change of vets for me, which is a story for a different article), I learned that Chihiro had a yeast infection.
As it turns out, yeast infections are the most common type of ear infections for dogs. Because yeast is a type of fungus, it seeks out wet areas. The canine ear canal drains downward in such a way that often leaves the canal moist, and thus perfect for yeast. Floppy-eared dogs like Chihiro are especially vulnerable to yeast infections, because dogs with upright ears, like German Shepherds, get more air circulation through their ears.
.jpg)
Chihiro models both common types of dog ears
According to vetinfo.com, some of the other signs of a yeast infection in addition to the red ears and itchiness (and thus scratching and shaking of the head) that Chihiro displayed are a pinkish-brown ear wax discharge and a bad smell emitted by the ear (caused by the gases produced by the growing yeast spores).
If you spot these symptoms you should seek veterinary care for your dog. Yeast infections are easy enough to treat in the early stages, but if they continue long enough for supplementary bacterial infections to set in there can be long-term damage to your dog’s health, especially its hearing.
Chihiro displayed another possible, if less common, side effect of the yeast infection: the infection spread to her right eye a bit as well. On the afternoon before I took her to the vet, I noticed she had some yellow gunk beneath her eye. I wiped it off, but it came back twice more.
I’m used to seeing some clearish gunk under her eye from time to time, usually after she wakes up in the morning, but nothing yellow or that comes back persistently. Thankfully she timed things well, so the vet was able to check out her eye too.
As it turns out, Chihiro had a minor eye infection most likely related to her yeast infection, probably spread from one to the other through her sinuses. Luckily the treatment for that is as simple as for her ear infection; I’ve now two sets of drops, one for the ear and the other for the eye, to administer to her during the day.
I also have an ear-cleansing formula, similar to that my friends used on her earlier, to apply twice a week. Even once Chihiro’s infection clears I will keep using the cleansing formula in both of her ears indefinitely, to prevent future infections.
If you’ve a floppy-eared dog, or really any dog (as all are susceptible, just those with floppy ears more so) you should consider getting an ear cleaning fluid to use on your dog’s ears to help prevent infections. The formula is available at pet stores.
Related Articles:
Dogs and Toddlers: The Uncanny Similarities