Ear problem - Page 1

Hello all, I live in the Pacific Northwest and my male 2.5 year old has developed an ear problem. The outer perimeters of his ears have developed hair loss and scabs on just the outer edge of his ears. There is no problem inside the ears, no mites, dirt, etc. I have seen this same sort of moth eaten look about the ears of other GSDs in the area and those dogs did not show any pathology, parsitic, fungal or bacterial on veterinary exam. However, the condition is very itchy. I have seen other dogs who scratched so much they got hematoma and had to had a repair of that condition. My dog's coat is very healthy. He is on Timberwolf Black Forest and supplemented with Salmon Oil, glucosamine and Vit C. He has great energy and no itchiness anywhere else. Other dogs (3 or 4)I have seen with this were all males but that may not be relevant. He does not have fleas and there is no other affected area on his skin. He lives most of the time indoors and goes out for a romp in a big field every afternoon. Has anyone encountered this problem and found a diagnosis or solution. If it gets any worse I will take him to the vet and get a scraping, but friends who have had this done have had negative results. They never found out the cause. Any ideas? Thanks.

I quote below verbatim from an e-mail that a former schutzhund colleague sent me when I had a similar problem with my dog. Her identity is being withheld but her wisdom may be of use to you. "Welcome to the world of atopic dermatitis in dogs! When dogs have allergies to pollens, molds, dusts, etc., they manifest it as skin issues, including otitis, pododermatitis, generalized pruritis, etc. The foot licking is a CLASSIC sign of atopic dermatitis, and 'tis the season. It will likely recur yearly, get a little worse every season. It is NOT due to toxins, and is almost never due to contact dermatitis from chemicals. If you want to prove this to yourself, try him on a course of antihistamines or steroids, and see if it doesn't prevent/resolve it. I think vaseline would be a mistake, because it will only serve to keep that area moist, and you really want it to dry out. Usually the pododermatitis is a yeast infection- Malassezia pachydermatis, which is normal skin flora, but overgrows if it gets a chance. SO, his feet are itchy, he licks and chews at them, gets them a little moist, and sets up a perfect environment for a yeast pododermatitis. This is also why it responds to your topical antifungals. Don't worry too much about your yard in particular, the antigens are EVERYWHERE, and even dogs that are primarily inside can get allergic dermatitis, because pollen, molds, etc. are in the air. You can always have him allergy tested if you want to find out what he is specifically reacting to." You may try oral benadryl 50 mg 2-3 times daily coupled with benadryl cream + triple antibiotic cream on the ears. However definitely have a vet examine him.

Both of my GSD's had/have inhalation allergies. Some dogs scratch their ears as does Blitz, some bite their feet, some bite and scratch anything they can reach. Some get hot spots. All get worse with time as they develop new allergies and secondary bacterial infections. Only about 10% of allergies are food related; 90% are inhalation and can be year round if the dog is sensitive to dust, mold, mites. I agree 100% with the above post. Try the benedryl, helps about 30% or, when it gets bad enough that you can't get a full night's sleep or the dog looks moth eaten, have the dog skin tested and desensitize him. He might also need an antibiotic like keflex. Your vet will know what to prescribe and there are many other antihistamines that you can try with dogs in addition to benedryl. Desenstizing works for around 60%, but it can take up to one year to see any results and your dog may still need steriods from time to time. Save you money on blood tests, they are not reliable. For the sake of completeness, scabies (sarcoptic mange) will also cause intense itching and hair loss on the ear margins. Most dogs with scabies will also scratch their elbows and will lose hair on their legs. If you have a dog with scabies, you will probably know it as you too will be itching intensely. The good news is scabies do not live on humans, they bite and fall off seeking a furry animal host instead. Also a few flea dips or ivermectin will kill scabies on the dog. This is the dirty little secret of the GSD world and is a royal PIA. BTW, such dogs should never be bred. These dogs are immune cripples and will pass that fault on to some of their progeny.

If your dog is outside most of the time flies will also do this to the ears.

Allergies are tricky -- one thing that helped my allergic dog is fairly high doses of VITAMIN C - C boosts the immune system and can supress some of these things -- If there's nothing else going on - you seem to have checked out a lot - I would pretend it flies and treat his to protect from them.

I agree with Kevin that flies do this as well. Even if the dog is not out for long periods, certain times of the year, when flies are abundant, this is the most likely cause. I have dogs out and in my area there are a lot of horses and horse flies. They make the dogs and me nuts. So I use a fly repellant and that helps immensely. ' Yes, it could be atopic dermatitis or something else, but start simple first. And do take the dog to a vet for a look. Take photos to document what you see now, and make sure you have something that provides a scale (size) of the area. That way you can tell more easily if it is getting better or worse. Good luck.

I agree with the sarcoptic mange or allergies, if it is scabies, you can also use the product Revolution(selemectin) Instead of using it one vial once per month you use one vial every 2 weeks for three treatments. I have seen one dog that skin scraped negitive but this treatment cleared his ears right up.

What you describe on the rims of your dog's ears is most surely a variant of Staph Pyoderma (often mistaken for flystrike because of its location). I've seen this condition countless times on the rims of ears--sort of a moth-eaten look to it. The affected areas will clear up very readily with a few topical applications of Happy Jack Pad Kote.

Fly strikes are usually limited to the tips of the ears. Thanks for the advice regarding the Happy Jack, Louise. I'm going to try that on Blitz.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think I'll start simple with the Happy Jack and see what happens. If it gets worse I'll go to the vet.