ears / head shakes - anyone?

[dexter1]

Dexter started shaking his head frequently a few moths ago (December). The vet diagnosed him with an ear infection (i.e. “mild yeast and occasional bacteria”). We administered two rounds of Otomax which did not stop the shaking. The vet thinks that it now may be allergy related. Now, the thing that is strange is he never scratches / rubs his ears and there are no signs of redness, swelling or wax buildup. Furthermore, he is great when it comes to cleaning his ears (on a weekly basis) and never shows signs of discomfort during a cleaning or when we pet his ears. He just seems to shake more than normal after waking up and when we go on walks / jogs / activity. Since this could be allergy related, I’ve switched from Eukanuba to Natural Balance, since it “allegedly” contains less allergens.

Anyway, has anyone out there had a similar situation? Any suggestions?

Thanks
John

 

[EmpressEvie]

I took Evie to the vet recently for what I thought was doggie acne. It turned out that she had severe ear infections in both of her ears on top of the hives on her face. The vet told me also that it may been a food allergy. I never noticed her scratching at her ears at all, was cleaning them once a week, and was not sensitive to the touch either. I felt like a horrible mommy when the vet told me how severe this infection was. She has just finished her antibiotics, and I have switched her food over to chicken soup from pro plan large breed (yuck i know). I have yet to see if this helps long term. I have also been told to take my Evie to the vet every 6 months for a general checkup instead of once a year. This way the vet can take a peek into her ear where I cannot see, and we can prevent this in the future.

 

[boxerlver4evr]

ear cleaning

What do you use to clean the ears? My sally did the " hellicopter head" alot when she was younger, then I read about the wonders of apple cider vinegar. I have a fine mist spray bottle that has apple cider vinegar in it. I grab an unsented baby wipe and do an outer clean then a small spritz in both ears and let her shake them out, outside:rolleyes: found that out the hard way. she hasn't had an ear prob. since. and her ears don't really have a smell, but her feet smell like corn chips:D and I can get her to shake by saying "Hellicopter Head", sounds like she is going to take off!:p

 

[basak]

I really do have a weird dog:rolleyes:

I never clip his nails, he does it by himself, I never have to clean his ears, they're always clean somehow!!

A year ago, he had this mild ear infectiion, nothing biggie. Vet cleaned it and gave us a drop, I can't remember the name. I used the drop for only 3-4 days or so and after that, Krosê's ears have always been clean somehow. No infections. Isn't that weird?

basak

 

[acreoaks]

Hi John,

The first question I have is did the drops clear up the infection. If the vet has cleared that up then you know that the problem with head shaking is related to something else.

Often gluten free food is recommended for this type of ear infection. Another cause for head shaking is a different collar or lead.

Cheers
Barry

 

[dexter1]

Thanks for the responses.

To answer a few questions, I use Epi-Otic. It seems to work pretty well. We started off on chorahexadine (spelling? - the blue stuff) and that eventually irritated his ears. I tried the vinegar / water solution but it seemed to cause some redness & irritation. I took Dex to the vet a few days back and they did a check on his ears. The vet said they look good, not irritated and no wax. Her suggestion was to stay consistent cleaning them (1-2 times per week) and if he begins shaking more or pawing at them, then it may be time to do a food trial / switch foods. So, I am going to stick with her suggestion for now and hope for the best.