Summer Itch

emaleigh · 08-22-2010, 07:05 PM

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum, this is my first post. So I will better introduce myself and my pups later in another thread :]

I wanted to ask for some advise about my 7 month old Chihuahua X Maltese puppy Daisy. She has summer itch in her ears, which is really irritating her. I did do some research, and compared to the examples given hers is very mild. Just a few scratches and redness in her ears. But I can tell it really bugs her sometimes!

Our vet advised we pick up some 'Wonder Coat' which we did, but did not find it was that effective.

Then we tried 'Sudocrem', which is a babies diaper cream for rashes and irritation. It helped a lot and within 24 hours of application the redness was gone and it healed up quickly. But it always returned quickly.

We are going to pick up some 'Hydrocortisone cream' as her dad has the same thing and they said this works wonders for him.

Just wondering if anyone has any advise, anything I could try.. tweaking her diet, another cream etc. Is this something I am going to have to deal with every summer?

Thanks to anyone who replies!

**fawkese1** · 08-22-2010, 08:06 PM

i've always heard that ear issues like that are/could be diet related... do you think that might be possible? also, if she has long hair on the inside of her ears i think you need to shave it out... to help her ears to dry out better...

emaleigh · 08-22-2010, 08:33 PM

Thanks for the reply!

What kind of foods could be responsible for this? Her dad Tobey has it as well, as well as his dad Tikka. Mom and her brother do not have any skin issues. I was feeding them Purina and Pedigree (urgh I thought it was the best!), but have been switched to Blue Buffalo, with raw meat and veggies for about 2 months now. The ears got no better or worse with the diet switch. I am however guilty of letting her eat scraps off my own plate. But thats usually just a bit of pasta and meat and not that much of it. She gets bones on a daily basis, and raw meat. Could it be an issue with too much protien?
Does her breed have anything to do with it?

I know four generations extensively on dads side, and if the breeder had the correct info stored eight generations on moms side. Theres no history of allergies or sensitivity. Our household doesn't use any harsh chemical sprays or scented air freshener/laundry soap at all since I own pet rats and they are very sensitive.

We have trimmed the hairs away from her ears, but she doesn't have much in there. And most of the time they are up and open like bat ears. We are always careful not to get water in or around her ears as well.

Does any body else have issues like these?

**fawkese1** · 08-22-2010, 08:45 PM

i've only ever had it with floppy eared dogs, i use a cleaner for my dog about once a week, to be preventative... he likes to swim in the lake a lot...

usually it is a grain issue, corn wheat and soy... but i've heard of dogs developing allergies to chicken as well...

pawzaddict · 08-22-2010, 10:58 PM

Has your dog seen a vet? Your vet can run a culture to see what is in the dogs ear, be it yeast or something else and they can help determine if its allergy or another cause. I dont recommend putting anything in your dogs ear that is not recommended by a vet.

Mischief · 08-23-2010, 12:51 AM

I'm corn-fused.....Your Vet suggested you try Wonder Coat for her ears? I thought that was a Coat Conditioner. Did you put the WC in her ears? To my knowledge its really meant for restoring natural oils on the dogs coat/skin. I've never heard it suggested for redness or irritation in the ears but I could be mistaken.

Do you normally have a groomer pluck the ear hair or do it yourself? I've heard that trimming the hair inside the ears rather than using the powder and then plucking can actually cause tiny hairs to fall into the ear canal, which can cause further irritation.

I ditto what Pawz said

I also would suggest having a Vet check her ears and run the appropriate tests to determine the cause, then prescribe something that is intented for it rather than using creams that were meant for other things -- like "happy bums"

Sudocrem is meant for external use only and you should avoid contact with the eyes. Using something recommended by another dog owner may be well and good at times, but I'd be leary of medicating a dog's condition when you aren't sure of the cause.

I hope you can get to the bottom of what is causing it
Ear problems are no fun

and I hope she finds some relief soon

catflwrs185 · 08-23-2010, 11:17 PM

The top three things that dogs are allergic to: soy, wheat and corn. None of these have nutritional values. The number one protein sources is chicken. Here is a list of foods you might want to look into: California Natural, Innova, EVO, Health Wise (all made by the same company Natura) Taste of the Wild, Natures Variety, Wellness, Orijen. I feed my dog raw food (Stella and Chewy) he's never had kibble and has never had a health issue. If you want a spray for the ears, I would use Veterycin... I used it on my cat who chewed is butt and tail raw to the point that blood was dripping out and he had open wounds with puss coming out. He got a shot to ease the itching and I used the spray to close the wounds. I gave the bottle to my friend whose dog had the worst hot spot ever (gone with in a week!) I also used it for a nasty 6 day ear infection that I had and could not get rid of since I had no medical insurance at the time. Veterycin seems to work for just about anything! You can also add salmon oil to her diet to help with the coat... an egg serves the same purpose, my dog eats a raw one every day, he knows when he get it too. Hope this helped a little.

emaleigh · 08-23-2010, 11:29 PM

Thanks again for the replies.

We did take Daisy to our vet, he said it was summer itch, a type of exma (spell?). It is just on the inside of her ear flaps... not inside the ear itself. Her ears are up and open most of the time, but they do go floppy, esp while shes sleeping. Our vet said there was no active infection in the ear itself and when shes scratching its just at the ear flaps, not the side of her head or inside her ear. It was him who first advised we try the Wonder coat.

My sister owns the dad Tobey, he has the same thing. And they use hydrocortisone cream with really great results. Should I try that first, and if it doesn't work back to the vets for a culture test?

I should of been more clear with the treatments I used. I didn't pour it into the ear like a cleanser. I put some on a cloth and wiped it over the irritated spots. With the sudocrem I put a dab on my finger and smeared it over.

Is there anyway to try cure this by trying a new diet or anything?

**fawkese1** · 08-23-2010, 11:32 PM

a new diet will cure it, if it is a diet issue... i would at least give the vet a call and find out what your options are to figure out the cause of the problem then go from there, seems odd that he didn't want to do a skin scrape or anything... i would also get the ok for any creams that you put on it...

emaleigh · 08-23-2010, 11:38 PM

Oh and I cut the hairs in her ears myself, but I get my boyfriend to lay her on her side on his lap and I can sit on the floor and I do it a bit at a time. So most of it falls on the floor... but I'm sure some still might find its way inside. I wipe her ears afterwards to remove as much of the stray hairs as possible. Could hairs falling inside of her ears cause an irritation on her ear flaps? But nothing inside of her ears?

She has been switched to Blue Buffalo for 2 months now. (I thought this was good brand, but I could switch to the ones you mentioned) She gets fed kibble, raw meat and veggies.

I was wondering am I supposed to get the raw meat from pet stores that sell that mushed up stuff in tubes? I get it from the grocery store... same stuff we would eat. So she is getting bones and all. I also occasionally get left over cuts from a farmer I know, so legs, ears and stuff with the skin left on.