Dr Liesel van der Merwe is a small animal medicine specialist. Send her your questions: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Dr Liesel van der Merwe

Ear flapping is irritating for both the owner and the dog. I’m responding to a reader’s letter regarding a Yorkie with itchy ears. She is asking why the parlour is pulling out the hair in the ears (plucking) and wants to know what she can do to soothe the ears. A veterinary consult is financially out of the question.

Dogs commonly have itchy skin. Our first step is to make sure there are no parasites, such as fleas. Some dogs can happily manage with platoons of fleas and not itch at all whereas others are hypersensitive and just need one flea to start scratching.

Once we’ve ruled out the obvious, then the next most likely cause is atopy. Atopy is a generalised allergy to something in the environment. It is difficult to find the cause and special allergy testing and desensitisation can be done, but has mixed reviews on efficacy. Food allergies are the last on the list, as they occur only in about 20% of cases.

The ears are considered part of the skin, as the entire ear canal all the way down to the ear drum is lined with normal skin. The ears are also a preferred area for the allergic disease to manifest as inflammation and itching. The ear canal then becomes inflamed and swollen, which decreases ventilation and causes exudation and wax production, further predisposing to inflammation.

With long-term or recurrent inflammation, the skin in the ear canal becomes thickened and even calcified and can obstruct the ear canal, which will predispose the ear to ongoing inflammation. Dogs are also inclined to scratch at the ear and shake the ears, which can traumatise the ear flap.

We call infection of the outer and middle ears otits externa and interna respectively. Middle ear infection can damage the nerve running through the ear and affect balance. Ear and skin disease are responsible for decreased quality of life in many dogs.

Some dogs are predisposed due to allergies and other dogs have anatomical issues, which predispose them to ear issues: long floppy eared dogs, such as spaniels and bassets, dogs with very narrow ear canals and dogs with lots of hair in the ear canals. Poodles have a lot of hair in the ear canals but Yorkies less so, just long tufts from the outer portion, whereas hair in poodles goes all the way down to the eardrum.

There is no easy solution – otits is difficult to manage, even with veterinary assistance. My advice: You will need to stop plucking the hair out of the ears as it causes inflammation.

If there is a wax build-up in the ears, this is due to irritation. Wax build-up can clog onto hairs. Rather soften the wax and rinse the ears and work on the cause of the irritation. There are many ear rinses available in vet shops. Ear rinsing should be done regularly but not too often as this, in itself, can irritate the ear canal. Moderation in all. Be careful of what you put into the ear. It is sensitive!

Omega 3 fatty acids are excellent to decrease the reactivity of skin to itch triggers. It is ideal to buy the best food possible – preferably a premium diet – which is designed for skin and joints and has supplemented omega 3 fatty acids. 

If this is too costly, then adding omega 3 fatty acids capsules (1 000 mg /10 kg) daily over the food would work. There are also many over the counter skin supplements, just make sure you purchase one that is for skin health, not just a shiny coat. Omega 3 fatty acids take about two months to work their way into the skin cells where they become part of the structure. It is a long-term solution.

Too much bathing will strip the skin of its natural oils. Do not bathe your pet with shampoo unless it is absolutely necessary, and then use a mild physiological pet shampoo. Allowing the natural skin oils and natural commensal skin bacteria to live undisturbed will also help reduce itchiness in general.

If your pet is predisposed to skin problems, an antibacterial and antifungal shampoo is best. The expensive mild ones are less harsh and stay more active on the skin than the cheaper varieties.