Reoccurring ear infection dog

Dog ear infection: I need son advice! My dog continues to get ear infections. She's a mini schnauzer, it doesn't matter if we pluck her ears or not, she always gets an infection. I've been to the vet a couple of times, each time they can see it's red and give some drops (every time, it's different drops). Could someone please give advice on how to solve this? Even just suggestions on tests that I could ask my vet to do would help.

Hello!  This is a common question. Often it's down to a mismatch between the outcome that the client is expecting from ear drops and the result. Most ear disease is skin disease.  All an ear is is skin that goes down a hole (where the tympanic membrane - the ear drum - sits and beyond it the hearing apparatus - but more often than not, it's the external, 'skin' part that's inflamed).  Of course, it's enclosed and poorly ventilated down there and what's more, there are specialised cells in the canal that make extra "wax" when they get upset.  Wax is great food for yeasts and sometimes bacteria, and when the delicate balance is thrown....  well, You are familiar with this. Dogs often scratch their ears, particularly if they have an itch, for example caused by an allergy.  Scratching damages the ear lining. The bacteria and yeasts (which actually live in all ears, quite happily, most of the time) move into the now-damaged ear skin.  This causes infection and of course, makes the skin more itchy, which makes the dog scratch more..... Many vets out there will swab the ear to confirm which, if any, anti-infection drops are needed; others use generic drops that kill a variety of organisms. However, the vital point is that when a dog has eg a skin allergy or eg a narrow ear canal which predisposes to wax build ups, or a combination of these things, they always have them.  The ear may clear up for a while but it will probably come back.  We are all used to the idea that skin allergies are lifelong conditions - and it can be just the same with ears. Allergies are now thought to be implicated in the vast majority of ear disease (dog scratches, damage - are lifelong, chronic diseases). Some owners have to go back to the vets and reapply drops periodically throughout a dogs'  life.  It may be useful to ask the vet if this is the case with your dog. It may also be worth asking if there is a skin specialist you can chat to, in case there's anything else that it may be worth doing to make things more comfortable.   Always ask about the cost in advance. Best of luck.

Ps finally, watch for ear disease in our blog.  There are some good articles!

Hi, thanks so much. I have a couple follow up questions ☺️ These allergies, (1) could this be due to seasonal allergies (its spring here and there's a lot of pollen in the air).? (2) are there tests or can we test what type of allergy it is? This will help us to manage her environment better. (3) Then, regarding plucking the ear hair, is this something we should do or not?   Thanks again so much!

Hello!  Assuming that this were to be due to allergy (in a hypothetical dog - I don't know your dog), there are indeed seasonal allergens.  2). There are indeed.  Some have been disproved or fallen out of fashion over the years. Skin specialists are good people to talk to.  3) I don't particularly advocate this - it goes in and out of fashion - but your vet or specialist would give you up to date information here.  Would love to hear how you get on!