Dog ears flopping violently - Answered by Dr. Van Lienden

[fuze44]

My dog, a half-border collie, half-german shorthaired, has started shaking her head back and forth rigorously, making her ears flop, as if she's tryin to dry off. She'll make them flop about 12-15 times and then stop, and then do it again about 3 or 4 more times. She will then cease for an indeterminate amount of time, and then start over.

This seems like she might have an ear problem, like fluid buildup or something.

Anyone encountered this?

Thank you.

[Beaglemom]

It sounds to me like she is definitely having issues with her ears. Have you looked inside her ears to check their condition? She may have ear mites or an ear infection. What do the inside of her ears look like? Are they red? Any type of discharge? Smell the ears. Do they smell bad?

[Hunter's_owner]

Yeah definetly an ear problem.

I had the some problem with my dog, and it was yeast build up due to the warm moist environment of the dog's ears. I had to take him to the vet many times for the same problem to get some ear drops.

When it was yeast, there would be a brownish discharge and they smelled pretty bad too...

[glasslass]

If it's earmites, it's quite simple and inexpensive to treat. Your vet can alleviate her suffering but needs to examine her ears before he can prescribe the drops.

[Prin]

Dogs' floppy ears tend to close the ear canal and create a moist, warm, dark environment that bacteria and fungi love to grow in. You can buy ear cleaning solution at the vet to help prevent ear infections and ask your vet to show you how to do it. Don't attempt to do it yourself without guidance because it can be incredibly painful for your doggy if you do it wrong, and you can make your dog become afraid of anybody touching his ears very, very quickly.

My vet also said that once the ears are infected, you can't use the regular cleaners because they really sting...

But if you go to the vet, most likely, they'll clean the ears out and if it's an ear infection, you'll get an antifungal, antibiotic solution that you have to administer 1 or 2 times a day for a week to 10 days. You have to be consistent with the treatment though, or you will get resistant bacteria and fungi and your doggy will have chronic ear infections.

[fuze44]

I examined both ears. One has little balls of ear wax, but the other has quite a bit of wax in one area. I'm going to make an appt and take her in to the vet.

Thanks for your replies, everyone. I'll write back and tell you what the diagnosis is.

[petdr]

Many causes are implicated: allergies (whether inhalant, flea or food based), infectious causes (bacterial, fungal, ectoparasite such as earmites, etc.) and irritant type such as foreign body (many weird things become lodged into the ear canal), frost bite, excessively high/low humidity, and the list goes on.

It is time to visit your veterinarian to find an answer and a fix.

Dr. Van Lienden

Dr. Raymond Van Lienden DVM
The Animal Clinic of Clifton
12702 Chapel Road, Clifton
Virginia, U.S.A. 20124
703-802-0490

[fuze44]

Sorry it took me so long to reply. I took her in to the vet immediately following my last post. Her verdict was the dog has allergies which causes her to get flaky skin if untreated. She said that this caused problems in her ears as well by leading to a yeast infection. Anyay, she got a hormone shot to cut down on the irritation and some solution that I've been putting in her ears twice a day. The ear flopping ceased immediately after visiting the vet (except for when I put the drops in...she hates that!)

Thanks for your advice and encouragement, everyone.

[Prin]

Just be careful with the shot. It can make them drink more, so be ready to let her out a bit more often for the first few days. I'm glad it's all good.