My golden retrievers ears are always infected. Could this be an allergy?

Question

When I take her to the vet they give her antibiotics and she gets better then it comes right back.Could she be allergic to her food? Is there a dog food for dogs with allergies?I have been to 2 different vets and spent hundreds of dollars and she is not any better.I am not sure what else to do.

Answer 1

Yes, absolutely! I had to deal with this with a very allergic basset hound, there was no way to clear up his ears permanetly until I fixed his diet. His previous owner had spent megabucks at the vet's for both his ear and skin problems.

Allergies are a huge pain. I'll be happy to try to help with what I've learned if you if you contact me.

Answer 2

Did the vet test for allergies? He should have if he didn't.
The long floppy ear flaps prevent air from getting into the ear. Along with the antibiotics, the vet should have suggested that you pull the excess hair out of the ear canal. Groomers do this to most dogs when the bathe them and shave the inside of the ear flap.
If the infections are caused by allergies, then talk to the vet about changing food, but it sounds like they come on from the heavy flaps holding moisture in the ear. This is why vets say don't let a dog sleep on a water bed.
Good Luck.

Answer 3

It could be allergies to just about anything and it could be allergies to vaccinations.
I have one who had ear infections everytime I turned around from the age of 1. I stopped all her vaccinations at the age of 5. She is now 8 1/2 and has not had an ear infection in the past 1 1/2 yrs.
Read up on the duration of immunity on vaccines from the University of Wisconsin. They research the side effects on the net.
http://svmweb.vetmed/articles/68/5/39
http://www.news.wisc.edu/releases/8413.html

Answer 4

Food allergies are very common in dogs. Excessive build up of ear wax is one of the indicators.

There are many foods out there. I have an allergy dog (allergic to chicken, wheat, eggs, lamb, and liver). I also spent close to a thousand dollars at the vet before we figured it out. I feed Natural Balance Venison & Brown Rice Formula. Common allergens in dogs are corn, soy, wheat and eggs. Those are also common ingedients in most dog foods.

If you would like to know the steps for doing food allergy trials, e-mail me through Yahoo!Answers.

Answer 5

Antibiotics treat the infection itself, not the cause. I have a bulldog who had recurring ear infections until we determined it was allergy-based. Tank is allergic to Bermuda grass, and when his allergies kick in, his body would go into protective mode generating additional ear wax. The problem with excessive ear wax is that it traps in moisture, which makes it a wonderful breeding ground for bacteria leading to ear infections.

Find out what her allergy is. She could be allergic to her bedding, the grass in your yard, or dust mites. Change your air filters regularly-this helped greatly!

This is what we did to prevent the infection recurrence. Daily, clean her ears with a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and rubbing alcohol. Take half a cotton ball and roll it until it becomes more football shaped. Saturate it with the solution and work it down into her ear canal. She can either shake her head to get it out, or you can remove it with your fingers. Don't worry, it won't get lost inside her head. Repeat if the cotton ball comes out dirty with ear wax until it's reasonably clean.

The vinegar makes the Ph level in her ears detrimental to bacteria growth and the alcohol will dry the ear canal. It'san inexpensive, simple solution that worked for us.

Good luck!

Answer 6

My dog has allergies that give her ear infections.
Keep her ears clean and try a drying/cleaning soluation for her ears. You can get it from the vet or at the petstore. Smell them from time to time, a sweeter yeasty smell usually means an infection inmy pup.

Answer 7

You need to take her to a really good groomer and have them clean out the hair inside her ears and right below too, some retrievers have extra small hairs deeper inside and it makes the inside of the ear trap air there and stay hot- perfect for breeding infection.

Answer 8

This happens with my golden retriever, too. With my dog, its a reoccuring yeast infection that is common with dogs that have floppy ears, especially in the rainy months. It took ages and tons of different medications to get it rid of it completely; It was persistent, and many of the meds wouldn't do the trick. Finally we found one that zapped it for good. I don't remember the name of it, but it was a thick, brown goo. If you want to know the name of it, send me a message and I'll look for the bottle this weekend.

Answer 9

ear infections are common in those types of dogs with ears like the labs