Ear ache?

[NewbieShepherdGirl]

Ok, for about...2 or so weeks Sasha will act (only sometimes) like her ear is bothering her. When it first started we were at my mom's house (she's been there a lot, we actually lived there for the first 6 months of having her). I thought maybe it was an ear infection but I didn't see anything, didn't smell anything, didn't feel anything when I rubbed her ear. She had something similar in the spring (I had assumed it was seasonal allergies) and the vet gave us some ear drops and it cleared up right away. So I gave her the ear drops this time and nothing got better. I thought maybe she was allergic to smoke (even though I smoked before when we lived there but thought maybe since I don't smoke at our apartment maybe she'd become allergic?) So I didn't smoke. It was still there. So I don't think it's that. Then we came back to the apartment and it seemed to be gone. But today it's come back.

There have been no changes in environment, she eats TOTW and has since June(ish), nothing in our lives has changed.

Any thoughts on what might be going on?

[Rerun]

Needs to go in for an ear swab. Sounds like it's infected, and the "drops" you were given may or may not be treating what the actual infection is.

[NewbieShepherdGirl]

Originally Posted by Rerun

Needs to go in for an ear swab. Sounds like it's infected, and the "drops" you were given may or may not be treating what the actual infection is.

That's what I was kind of thinking but my mom kept telling me she'd be fine...I may see if I can swing by the vet tomorrow before I go home.

[GatorDog]

Could also be something in the food too. Even though TOTW is a good food, there coul be something in it that she doesn't agree with.

[chelle]

Curious as to what she's doing? Itching? If you handle the ear, does it seem she is sensitive to it? Like it hurts? Boy that's a tough one. You can't see anything wrong at all - no junk, no redness? Hum.

My post is useless, sorry! My oldest (non-gsd) has been thru a number of ear infections, but there were always clues -- redness, blackish junk stuff, sensitivity, etc.

[NewbieShepherdGirl]

Originally Posted by GatorDog

Could also be something in the food too. Even though TOTW is a good food, there coul be something in it that she doesn't agree with.

I understand that, but she's been on it now for....7 or 8 months? and she hasn't had any problems, so it would seem odd that it just started, wouldn't it? (not being snarky just kinda thinking out loud)

Originally Posted by chelle

Curious as to what she's doing? Itching? Yes, but not constant. It's like it will really itch once a day or so (never the same time) and then it's over. And like today there's been no itching at all. If you handle the ear, does it seem she is sensitive to it? Like it hurts? Nope. And it's only one ear and she acts exactly the same no matter which ear I rub (she love an ear/jaw/eye rub, especially when she's sleepy lol! It's almost as good as a butt scratch) but no indication of pain, or like it feels especially good recently. Boy that's a tough one. You can't see anything wrong at all - no junk, no redness? Hum. No gunk, no redness, it's not hot, there's no smell, nothing that would indicate an ear ache or a yeast infection.

My post is useless, sorry! My oldest (non-gsd) has been thru a number of ear infections, but there were always clues -- redness, blackish junk stuff, sensitivity, etc.

No I totally get what you're saying. Monte (my golden) got them quite a bit. Being a soft mouth dog we really had to watch him for them, and he would always act like they would hurt, there would be that blackish gunk, and the redness. This isn't like that, and like I say, some days it won't bother her at all, and some days it will. I didn't get her into the vet today because of trying to get my heater in my apartment fixed, but I guess if this continues I'll take her. Last time I took her the vet couldn't see anything either, but thought maybe it was like a seasonal allergy thing since when she had it last time everything was in full bloom and what not so he gave us some drops and said if it didn't fix it to bring her in and we'd talk about an antihistamine, but the drops either fixed it last time, or it just went away on it's own.