Red bumps inside both ears

gmccowboy · Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 4:56 pm Post subject: Red bumps inside both ears

Howdy,
Waylon is a 12 week-old blue weim. He is not displaying any signs of being ill, but he has quite a few red bumps on the inside of each ear. One of them was scabbed over, although I never seem him itching his ears.

I'm wondering if it might be ear mites, or an allergy, or something else. We clean his ears at least every other day with some sort of moist wipe or with a wet cloth, and they don't smell.

Any thoughts as to what this might be?

Woof woof,
Dave

versatilek9s · Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:27 pm Post subject:

Sounds like allergies and a secondary infection. Seems like it's worth a trip to the vet.

gmccowboy · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 1:42 am Post subject:

Thanks versatilek9s, we have a regular appointment this coming week.

youhavenoidea · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 2:08 am Post subject:

Also, I would say you're cleaning his ears waaaaayyyyy too often. It could simply be irritation from frequent cleaning.

Weims' healthy earwax is fairly dark naturally, so it's confusing at times, but I clean Slade's ears once a week, MAX.

Basically, I let him tell me when he needs them done. When he starts to itch them more than normal, and make that distinct "groany" sound while he's itching, I know they're starting to bug him, and I give them a quick swipe with gentle ear wipes. But that's IT.

To a certain degree, the ear wants to balance itself naturally, and if you clean too often, it never gets a chance to do that.

gmccowboy · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 2:58 am Post subject:

youhavenoidea, Thx. It's funny how different sources have different instructions. One Weim book I have says that you should integrate ear cleaning into your daily grooming "touch-up" routine... But you have a valid point, so I'll give it a try and see what happens.

waitingonmyweim · Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 9:53 am Post subject:

Lincoln is prone to wax build-up and had a couple mild infections as a young pup, which the vet told me to treat with medication. Hated treating him with it, so I started giving him yogourt.

I definitely noticed a difference in his ears when I added plain yogourt to 2 of his 3 daily meals. Helps keep his ears clean, as I usually only have to wipe them out once every couple of weeks.

One thing too, is to make sure you're drying Waylon's ears out completely if they ever get wet inside (ie. swimming).

momofZaneandWyatt · Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 11:38 am Post subject:

Try the yogurt...works wonders! Keeps the yeast away, and is not harmful to your furkid at all...

Make sure its plain yogurt...

Shannon, Bill and Wyatt

gmccowboy · Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 5:55 pm Post subject:

Well, news flash...

Waylon's red bumps are gone as of yesterday. So whatever it was, it was short-lived and probably unrelated. My guess is he got into some sort of bush or weed that irritated his skin?

Thanks for all the tips though.

Random question re: yogurt though, for those of you talkin' bout it... We used to put some vanilla yogurt on top of his kibble the first few days he was home. I made sure it was not sweetened with artificial sweetener. Why plain though? *feels dumb*

Thanks.

waitingonmyweim · Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 8:45 pm Post subject:

I would say plain yogourt only because there's no need for your dog to have any type of sweetener (whether it be natural or artificial). From my experience, the plain yogourt is just as appetizing to them!