# Dog with itchy ears? Help?



## Penelepe (Jan 12, 2014)

Hi all. We have a Jack Russel Terrier x 

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## Penelepe (Jan 12, 2014)

Sorry accidentally hit submit. Will continue in next reply

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## Penelepe (Jan 12, 2014)

He has an apparently a common ailment with JRTs. He has very itchy ears. We had him at the vet and he prescribed some meds and when it didnt help he cleaned the ears under aneasthetic (sp?). It worked, for a week, after a week it got itchy again. 

We cant put in some ear drops because he gets snappy. I dont know what it can be. Or how I can help him. 

Please any suggestions will be very helpful! Any home remedies. Any meds we can try. We are going to take him to the vet again but we want to try some things at home. 

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## PaigeRose (Apr 12, 2013)

What kind of food does he eat? It could be a food allergy.


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## Penelepe (Jan 12, 2014)

I thought so too. Im not sure of brand but I know its dry pellet food. W

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## Penelepe (Jan 12, 2014)

I thought so too. Im not sure of brand but I know its dry pellet food. We did have him on a special brand to see if it was allergies, but its super expencive for not so much food, so we let him eat it inside, but when he goes out, he then eats from the other's food as well that may be causing the allergies. I also think it may be an allergy to bread, as the vet suggested once, he said not to feed bread but my mother won't stop sneaking in bread. I'll have to talk to her and ask not to give him bread


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## Pilot. (Feb 11, 2014)

It could be a yeast infection? My lab got yeast infections all the time and her eating bread made it way worse.


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## PaigeRose (Apr 12, 2013)

I would cut out grains first and see if that helps. You dont have to buy special prescription food unless the allergy is really bad. A good brand is Natural Balance, they make limited ingredient foods especially for allergies. They have grain free formulas as well. Its more expensive than regular grocery store food but worth it for saving you vet bills! The best part is, if you have other dogs, you can switch them on it too, it doesnt hurt if they dont have allergies! Its a good food all around. Anything grain-free would just be a start. I would give it about 2 weeks to adjust on a new food and see if the problem keeps happening. And most brands sell treats too.

No offense to vets, theyre wonderful and keep our furbabies alive, but sometimes they'd rather jump for the prescription food because its easier than trying to figure out whats going on and isolating the allergy. After grains, the most popular allergy is chicken. If you cut grains and chicken and still have itchy ears, cut out beef, fish, etc one by one until its better. Perscription foods often cover up the problem and make the symptoms go away but doesnt necessarily tell you much about what the problem is.


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## LeStan82 (Dec 31, 2013)

Some dogs are prone to chronic ear infections. Not much you can do at home. Vet needs to do a ear swab and culture it to see what meds are sensitive to the bacteria.if it is food related allergies, you have to have hypo allergenic food and that is the ONLY thing they can eat. They should eat only hypo allergenic food for atleast a month to determine if it is food related.if they eat anything other than that you wont be able to rule out allergies.


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## Penelepe (Jan 12, 2014)

Thank you all for the replies! The thing is I dont think its ear infection or maybe Im mistaken. But his ears are clear. Not red or raw or discharge. Nothing. The one vet did do a swab and such and gave ear drops but the dog gets snappy and we cant keep him still. But about the food, is it available only in the US? I live in south africa so I dont know if its available here.

Is it possible to make our own home mix? Because the hypo allergens food is expencive. For an 8 kg bag its R250, thats about $25 a bag. And our dogs eat an average of 50 kg a month. Thats a lot of money for us. I really want to help him but dont know how. 

Also what is a yeast infection? How is it treated? 

Thanks all!

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## PaigeRose (Apr 12, 2013)

Try looking for places online you can order from. You can order from the US or UK amazon and it will ship to South Africa. (I think any way, I just googled it so I may be wrong!) A 50 lb (22.5 kg) bag is $50 approx and you can usually find coupons. 

Here is a good article on ears and natural approaches: 
http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/articles/caring-for-your-dog-s-ears-naturally/


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