Itchy Ears

[Guest TahoeMom]

My 2-year-old greyhound has started scratching his ear so much so that it's very red inside and he cries when he scratches it.

Assuming he has dryness, I put a little vaseline on the redness last night, but he's still shaking and scratching.

Should I try an ear wash and cortisone creme?

Anything else I should do short of taking him to the veterinary which is my next step?

[TheFullHouse]

First I'd make sure there is no infection. Usually if there is you can smell it. If there is no infection, chances are he's suffering from an allergy of some sort. You can dose him with Benadryl 1 25 mg. tablet for every 25lbs. of weight every 4 to 6 hours. It could be seasonal or it could be food related allergies.

[TheFullHouse]

My Gee scratched her ears until they were raw and it turns out she's allergic to grains so we had to switch her to a grain free dog food and that fixed the problem.

[Guest Swifthounds]

Wiping the ears out with a towel and a bit of olive oil, with or without a drop or two of lavender oil (for extra soothing) daily will help soothe the irritation. If it persists, you may want to consider eliminating common irritants like soy, wheat, corn, etc. I would recommend benadryl or other symptom suppressers only if you've determined it's a contact irritation and not a food based irritation. Suppressing symptoms of food irritation/allergies is just band aiding the problem.

[Guest TahoeMom]

Thanks everyone. There are a couple of ideas I'm pursuing: ear mites and allergy to eggs.

The inside of his ear looks scabby and raw, making it painful to even put olive oil on.

When he came into my home a few weeks ago, I found that he enjoyed a hard boiled egg in the morning.

I'm wondering now if he's allergic to that. I'll try switching to something equally enjoyable and see if that helps.

I'll let you know what I find out.

 

Thanks again for all the great advice!

[Guest scfilby]

If he has ear mites the ears will look very dirty with black dirt. Our Cy is going through some ear issues right now. Vet says allergies to ?? causing a slight infection. His ear was dirty with regular brown ear wax dirt.

[GeorgeofNE]

While itchy ears are typically signs of allergies, everyone seems to assume that means to FOOD. Dogs, just like people, can be allergic to pollens, carpets, etc.

 

You need to rule out lots of other things before jumping to allergies. The vet will swab out some goo from the ear and take a look to see if it's mites. Then they'll clean it out really well, and most likely give you something to continue doing so. Possibly some medicated ointment too.

 

I lived through YEARS of ear problems with an allergic dog, and it's no fun, but vaseline and olive oil aren't going to help, as the itching is probably way down deep inside. You could try some 10% cortisone cream (drugstore--Cortaide is one brand) and rub it on the red and raw part. That'll help with inflammation.

[Guest TahoeMom]

his ears are bright red inside from scratching...no dark matter on the outer canal region.

I'll keep giving Benadryl. I'll have somebody at the shelter give it a look this weekend.

 

Thanks!

 

 

[Guest MyBoys]

My bridge boy Seany came to me with itchy red ears, first thing I did was take him to the vet to make sure it was not an ear infection. Turns out his ears were a bit infected but the cause was allergies. I had to do ear drops from the vet for 10 days to clear up the infection. You might want to see your vet because most likely you will need to use an antibiotic if there is any sign of infection then whatever you need to do to help with the allgeries.