One of my dog’s ears all of a sudden just started bothering her. Please help asap.?
ByHi, my mom just got back from walking our dog…about 15 minutes in she started acting like she was experiencing some discomfort in her ear. Shaking her head about constantly as if trying to dislodge something from her ear. She wasn’t even able to get any of her business done outside b/c of this. This happened out of nowhere, she was not exhibiting any behaviour of discomfort until this point. My mom hypothesized that perhaps a bug flew in, even though she has very floppy ears but she had nothing else to go on. I examined the inside of both ears and they look fine. She’s acting normal too, licking us and wagging her tail about. But she’s still shaking her head, and we can tell her ear (we’re not sure which one) is still bugging her. We know her ears are clean, we take her to the vet regularly and they always tell us how clean her ears are. Is it time for another vet visit? Or is it really nothing too serious? We’re also thinking perhaps a bee stung her or something. Really don’t know. Any tips or advice would be helpful though, thanks.
I was doing some research and it seems that allergies triggered by certain foods can cause ear infections. We bought a new dog food yesterday because our usual brand was not in stock… But like I said, this wasn’t something that was building up. It happened all of a sudden when she was outisde. Thanks.
5 Comments
November 17th, 2011 at 10:35 AM
In California, grass awns called foxtails get into dogs’ ears and cause head shaking, etc. I’d take her to the vet — they have otoscopes to look inside and remove it.
November 17th, 2011 at 11:24 AM
A sudden acute change needs to be examined by a vet.
It absolutely could be the food and being outside had nothing to do with it. The histamine reaction simply kicked in at that time. Or it could be something from the outside got deep into her ear. We just can’t tell from here, sorry!
A bee sting or insect/spider bite would likely leave her head swollen and you would notice a problem.
Call the vet and see what he says.
November 17th, 2011 at 11:58 AM
You are right – this isn’t a food allergy – you said one ear, not both, and it happened while she was outside…
I would strongly suspect a bug bite – could be a bee, a spider, wasp – but anything that would cause that strong a reaction could also cause anaphylactic shock as well, for up to 24 hours from the sting. I would get her to the vet immediately.
It could also be a grass seed called a foxtail – they are very sharp, and can embed themselves in the skin. even worse, they can migrate into the tissue.
Your vet can look her over thoroughly and perhaps find a bite wound with a magnifying glass with a light – they can also give her an injection to ward off a histimine reaction, which could cut off her breathing sooner than you could get to help.
I would get her in now- just to be safe. Really. You don’t want to see what happens if her head starts to swell up – it’s scary.
November 17th, 2011 at 12:07 PM
It could be a bug, or it could be an infection. If the problem persists, have your mom take her to the vet. The food allergy is also a possibility; in the future, make sure that she only eats food without corn, wheat, or soy products.
November 17th, 2011 at 12:47 PM
She might just have an itch. Try some benadryl. Works great.