Ear Shaking

[Mary Lou]

My rottie, Max, seems to have a problem with his ears. He always shakes his head/ears in an effort to relieve itching. He also itches with his paws. It seems as if something has crawled in his ear or something. We did take him to the vet and after an examination she advised that he had some wax build up in his ear and she prescribed panalog ointment. But for some reason I don't think his ears are irritated because of that. When he gets these itching spells it looks like he is very uncomfortable and sometimes whines because its irritating. One night I had to wrap an ice cube in a plastic bag and rub it on the outside of his ear and massaged it and it seemed to soothe his irritated ear. It soothed his ear so much that he fell asleep in my lap . Can it be possible that he is getting flea bites inside his ears? Please help!

[SableMom]

Did the Panalog ointment help any? Did the vet check for ear mites? If the itching continues I would make a return visit for a recheck on the ear. A dog that shakes it's head alot can develop a hematoma (pocket of blood) on the ear from the shaking. These hematomas usually have to be drained during a surgery. I would keep going back to the vet until we could find something that worked to alleviate the itching!

[CarolineS]

Just another thought, sometimes dogs that scratch at their ears and shake their heads a lot have food allergies. My dog shook her head a lot on certain dog foods I tried in the past. When I took her off the food, the head shaking disappeared.

[snakesNxD]

This may be a stupid question, but did the vet clean his ears? Are you cleaning them daily before you put the panalog in?
If the wax inside the ear is very dark, blackish, it could be earmites. If that is the case, I don't beleive panalog creme/ointment will help get rid of them.

[guberdog]

Cain went through a similar situation in the Spring, was diagnosed with ear mites twice, then I found a referral clinic, where he was diagnosed with a yeast infection in his ears. They were thoroughly cleaned, and I medicated his ears for 10 days. He hasn't had a problem ever since. I can tell you what a relief it was for all of us that Cain felt better, he was getting a little cranky, and you know how this behavior manifests itself with these big guys. Ask your vet to check for yeast infection. By the way, many yeast infections are indeed triggered by food allergies, but I would be afraid to self-diagnose until your guy feels better.

[Volunteer]

My Teddy also shook his head a lot. Since I clean his ears once a week, I had noticed that there was a blackish substance in one ear that always seemed to reappear as fast as I cleaned it out (it also smelled horrible when cleaning with the OtiCalm solution!) Fearing ear mites, I took him to the vet where I found out that he had a yeast infection. 7 days on Tresaderm (a liquid medication you squeeze into the dogs ear) and he checked out fine!

I would ask your vet to check for mites or yeast.

Deb

[CricketNCisco]

Insist that you vet take a culture to send to the lab. About 2 months ago Cisco had (another) ear infection. I keep his ears clean, but the head shaking is always an indication that he needs some type of medicine.

First the vet just gave me the same medicine (Lotrimin) he had been on with the last infection about a year ago. After ten days he was just getting worse. They gave him a "broad spectrum" Otamax, and two weeks later he was even worse.

Finally I asked if I could swab his ears and drop of a sample for them to send to a lab. Well "duh"...he had an ear infection that neither Lotrimin nor Otamax would cure. I was pretty miffed that they didn't take a culture in the first place. (Especially after spending over $100 on medincines that weren't right...and the ear culture was only $36.) Cisco had to go on oral antibiotics and yet another ear drop for ten more days, but he finally cleared up.

Cricket

[laurlitt]

As SnakesNxD said it is important to clean the ears in addition to adding the ointment. I just recently have gone thru a similar situation w/ Blaise (and the ear shaking is back again). The vet had me flush his ears every 3 days with 12cc of ear wash and apply the ointment daily. The ear flush helps break up the buildup of wax and ointment that is deeper in the canal. Flush the ear first and let dry before applying ointment on that day. Blaise's ear canal's were swollen mostly shut so that is why the buildup occured. The cause of the swelling was thought to by hypothyroidism (low thyroid levels), but he is still having the itching (and shaking) that seems indicative of allergies. I am about to post a question about this seeking some advice.

[CricketNCisco]

Well, I'm about to take Cisco BACK to the vet for his ears. He was clear only for a few weeks. Now he's shaking his head, has black discharge, and his ears are so full of gunk they "squish" when I rub them.

Y'all wish me luck getting him cleared up. I am planning to switch him to a different dog food as well, hoping that will help.

Cricket