VET'S VIEW: When your pet has ear problems

SINCE this is my first article of the year, can I start by wishing all Mayo News readers a healthy 2024. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, and whilst the weather wasn’t very favourable, I hope you got a chance to get out and about as much as you could with your pets, both in terms of walking and interacting with them.
I thought this year, we might touch now and again on some of the bodily systems that can give trouble in our pets, and this month, we will start with ears.
Ear problems are one of the most common conditions we as vets see in private practice, and by far the most common of these problems relate to what is generally referred to as the outer ear (from the tip of the ear flap in as far as the ear drum), or in technical terms, Otitis Externa. (OE).
We predominantly see acute (rapid onset) OE, but it can also be a chronic condition if left untreated for any length of time. These chronic cases can be extremely difficult to treat and manage. There is a good message in that last sentence: always address ear problems quickly, so as to minimise the chance of it becoming an intractable issue.
There are a large number of causative agents or factors which can result in outer ear problems, amongst which are but not exclusive to, bacterial and fungal infections, parasitic infections, allergies, foreign bodies, systemic diseases such as hypothyroidism (we’ll discuss the function and problems with the thyroid gland in another article during the year), auto-immune diseases, polyps and cancers. As you can appreciate, the list of causative factors is long, and getting to the proper diagnosis early is so important before the problem becomes impossible to deal with.
There are also pre-disposing factors that contribute to outer ear problems developing. These include other systemic disease; the type of ear, size, shape (this is known as the conformation of the ear); lifestyle (regular swimming, over-grooming etc); genetics; humid environment; and middle and inner ear problems concurrent to OE.
Excessive ear scratching, head shaking, discharge and a foul smell are some of the symptoms that your pet will exhibit when they are suffering from OE.
Treatment will obviously be determined by the root cause or causes, and proper prompt diagnosis is therefore essential to ensure the greatest chance of a successful conclusion. This may sometimes involve having to sedate or indeed anaesthetise a patient in order to deal with what can be an extremely painful ear or ears and the taking of swabs, samples or biopsies for analysis.
Unfortunately, sometimes what may look like a relatively benign situation or presentation can result in discovering a more-serious underlying problem, and therefore prompt action when your pet presents with ear discomfort is vital.

Veterinarian Conal Finnerty MRCVS practises at the Skeldale Vet Clinics in Ballinrobe and Belmullet. Follow the clinic on Facebook, or call 094 9541980 or 087 9185350 to make an appointment.