Leeboy
Jun 14, 2008, 08:28 AM
Over the past 6 weeks, my 3 yr old toy poodle (6lbs) has had itchy ears on and off. It started with both of my poodles on the same day. They both had very itchy ears, and kept us up all night scratching. 3 days later, I took the female to the vet to have hers looked in, and they said they only needed to be plucked. I have heard varying opinions on plucking and had decided that as long as her ears stayed clean and dry and I made sure that the hair didn't ball up inside the ear, that the plucking could be done less often. However, that day I had both dogs ears plucked. This helped for a bit and I followed a few days later with Gentian Ear Treatment in both dogs. This seems to help the male, but the female's ears continue to bother her on and off, so I started using Ubavet Ear Solution from the vet. It apparently is supposed to balance the ph in the ear and help prevent yeast infections, etc. This also seemed to help, and if I started to see signs of her itchy again, I would shoot that into her ears and they would feel a bit better. The vet says that I can use this several times a week.
One month ago, my female also had an abscessed anal gland. It took two separate types of antibiotics, over a period of one month to clear it up.
Talking with the vet last week when I was there to check her anal glands, there was discussion regarding allergies, which I think might be related to the itchy ears as I cannot seem to eliminate it. He feels that it is likely an inhalent allergy, not food. He says that only 20% of allergies in dog is related to food... can't she be the 1 in 5? Anyway, suspecting allergies even before visiting the vet, I eliminated all of the dogs treats and put them back onto the same food they were (Innova Evo) on for all of last year, with no problems. My thought was that if it is a food allergy, we will eliminate everything extra, and try to see if only eating that food clears the ears up. Once I do this, how long would it take before I saw a change in the itchy ears? Is it 8-10 weeks before the symptoms should subside? If this food change and treat elimination does not help, do you have any suggestions?
Is it common to have a dog at the age of 3, suddenly get allergies?
Doing a bit of Google research, I also suspect my female dog could be full of yeast? Does anyone have any information to help me figure this out?
Thank you for any help you can offer.
One month ago, my female also had an abscessed anal gland. It took two separate types of antibiotics, over a period of one month to clear it up.
Talking with the vet last week when I was there to check her anal glands, there was discussion regarding allergies, which I think might be related to the itchy ears as I cannot seem to eliminate it. He feels that it is likely an inhalent allergy, not food. He says that only 20% of allergies in dog is related to food... can't she be the 1 in 5? Anyway, suspecting allergies even before visiting the vet, I eliminated all of the dogs treats and put them back onto the same food they were (Innova Evo) on for all of last year, with no problems. My thought was that if it is a food allergy, we will eliminate everything extra, and try to see if only eating that food clears the ears up. Once I do this, how long would it take before I saw a change in the itchy ears? Is it 8-10 weeks before the symptoms should subside? If this food change and treat elimination does not help, do you have any suggestions?
Is it common to have a dog at the age of 3, suddenly get allergies?
Doing a bit of Google research, I also suspect my female dog could be full of yeast? Does anyone have any information to help me figure this out?
Thank you for any help you can offer.