Ear allergies?

[StarFox]

Zebs ears have been really red lately and he has been iching at them constatnly. The vet said that he has allergies and gave us some pills and drops to give him. The only problem is the pills make him REALLY thirst...I mean he has to go pee like ever 20 mins and can drink a whole bowl of water in 3 hours or so (It usually takes him 2 days to drink the water). Also I don't know if they are allergies or not because when he gets his regular allergies his eyes get very red but they arn't red now. His ears are SOOO bad though...they have brown buildup and he scratches them till they almost bleed. Uh..any tips or advice because honestly I hate giving him thoes pills. :-?

[TDG]

it's most likely some type of food allergy. you won't get rid of that by cleaning the ears or giving pills, at least not permanently.

have you ever done an elimination diet to try and determine what exactly the problem is?

[rotten_two]

what are the pills? sound like steroids with the excessive thirst and piddles. vets frequently give these for allergies. :roll: does he lick or itch anywhere else?

definitely consider what TDG says with elimination diet -- what kind of food does he get?

[imported_Debbie]

I had that problem with Gretchen (Lab/RottX) the Vet finally attributed her ear infections to food allergy and she now eats IVD (Venison/Potato).
I can only get it through the Vet and it's pretty costly at $40/20lb. bag.
Considering she eats almost 4 cups/day.....

[Sabine]

Yep - I'd definately would go with the elimination diet too ! :wink: Good advice ! :)

[imported_Kat]

elimination diet is the best thing I can think of too. Usually corn/yeast products can contribute to a lot of ear infections from what I've seen. slightly warmed olive oil is the best thing to help soothe ears but if you are very sore, don't attempt to clean them up too much just now. Poor wee Zebra, give him a hug from me :wink:

[StarFox]

I was thinking about the elimination diet. He gets solid gold hound-flocken but I'm going to change that I think. He has been eating the same food for about 2 years. He also gets table scraps and whatever anyone feels like giving him. :x Makeing them stop giving him people food is going to be like trying to get an elephant to walk through a straw...it ain't going to happen.