Allergies Chronic Sneezing Mystery

Hello..My Chihuahua had chronic sneezing for nearly 4 months..and all the different medications the vet has given him have not wirked. Recently he got an ear infection..we took him to the vets and they gave him some antibiotics ear drops. The weird thing is..his chronic sneezing has now gone. How the hell has the antibiotic ear drops cured his chronic sneezing? I know the ears are connected to the nose and throat..is it possible the ear drops could have found their way down to his nasal passages and cleared something up?

Hello there and thankyou for asking about sneezing in your chihuahua.  I'm not sure how old your chihuahua is, but the important thing to note here is that sneezing is a symptom.   So just as limping (another symptom) can be caused by a stone in the shoe, by a muscle strain, by a leg fracture or by having a tumour in the bone or by arthritis or by a snapped tendon - all of which would cause limping - sneezing can also be caused by any of a substantial list of differentials.  It will be your vet's job to pinpoint the correct one.  Sometimes this is obvious after examination, but other times it can take longer.

So;  what are the differentials for sneezing suddenly stopping in a small dog?  Bacterial ear infections in dogs (the sort reactive to antibiotics) are actually very rare and many ear conditions described as infections are actually 'inflammations' or secondary reactions to a virus.  Having ear drops applied can trigger shaking or unusual jerking of the head, making an unintended difference.  It is also very possible that an anti-inflammatory drug in the drops makes the difference, or a movement that occurs around the same time.  It could also be a complete coincidence about the drops.  I know nothing about any mitigating circumstances in this particular situation because I have insufficient familiarity with it, but your vet should be in a position to undrstand the clinical picture much better than me.  We would therefore reccommend speaking to them about possible mitigating links.

Skin inflammation of the ear, for example, can trigger sneezing but the skin aspect not be detected initially.

One way to move speculation to fact in this case might be if anything interesting is seen on a check-up examination of the ear.  It is worth being aware that ear disease tends to be chronic ie to recurr, so a recheck with / chat to your vet about their differentials list now  may prove important later, even if the symptoms seem to have resolved.

Thank you everyone!