Ear infection is back for the 4th time this year — is there an underlying cause?
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mark_pdx·about 2 months·857 views
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My 4-year-old Cocker Spaniel is on his fourth ear infection of the year. We treat it, it clears up with the ear drops, comes back 6-8 weeks later. Vet has been treating each one individually with Otomax.
I'm starting to wonder if there's something else going on. He eats grain-inclusive food (Purina Pro Plan), gets bathed monthly, and we dry his ears after baths. No obvious allergies that I can see.
Is this frequency normal for Cockers? Should I be pushing for a deeper workup or is this just a breed thing?
2 replies
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dr_yamadaVET· about 2 months
Four infections per year is above the threshold where you should be looking for an underlying cause rather than treating each episode in isolation. The most common culprits: environmental or food allergies (even grain-inclusive foods can trigger — the protein source is often the issue), hypothyroidism, or anatomical factors in the ear canal. I'd ask for a referral to a veterinary dermatologist, or at minimum push for an allergy workup and a culture/sensitivity test on the next infection to make sure Otomax is actually hitting the right organisms. Monthly bathing is fine but dry the ears immediately and completely — even slight moisture in floppy-eared breeds perpetuates this cycle.
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vet_tech_alex· about 2 months
The protein source allergy connection is real and under-diagnosed. Chicken is the most common culprit — if he's on a chicken-based food, a 12-week hydrolyzed protein or novel protein food trial can be revealing. It's annoying to do but often the answer for dogs like this.
