Ear Conditions

From Dr. Kathy – Ear issues can be extremely frustrating to both owners AND veterinarians, especially if recurrent. The dog and cat’s ear is a J-shaped tube, so what you can see is only the tip of the iceberg. In fact, you may not see anything because an infection may be deep within the canal. There is no single appropriate treatment for all ear infections. A microscopic examination of the ear debris needs to be performed. Depending on what kind of organism (rod bacteria, cocci bacteria, yeast, or a combination) will determine what medication needs to be used. If the ear is painful or swollen many times we administer a steroid injection and ear medications and wait several days before trying to clean the ear to minimize the pain of cleaning. There is no home remedy for most causes of ear infections, and in fact, there are many 

Google-advised treatments can damage especially the eardrum. Repeated ear infections can be associated with an underlying cause such as environmental or food allergies. Switching from one over the counter pet food to another will not alleviate ear or skin issues if they are associated with the food allergy, as there are often ingredients in non-veterinary non-prescription allergy pet foods to which a dog or cat can be allergic. The most common ingredients for dogs to be allergic are beef, chicken, soy, wheat, eggs, milk and corn. Cat food allergies are usually to fish, beef, chicken, corn, wheat, soy or milk. These are often found, even in small amounts, in over the counter pet foods, even those purported to be for allergies.

Dr. Kathy

**The Vet Corner groups encourage members to establish a relationship with their local veterinarian, don’t wait until an emergency.**