REALLY dry ears...HELP!

[2doghouse]

Our little girl cocoa, she is a 3 year old mini has really flakey dry ears. We have a lotion that we put on them, we also give her fish oil. Nothing is helping. They don't seem to bother her much. I am just concerned cause its making her hair fallout. This has happened before. Mostly in the summer. She loves to lay in the sunshine and I wonder if she just sunburnt her ears and now they are peeling. What can I do!? I want to make them better, but I am not concerned enough to go to the vet. Any suggestions?

[Meemoo]

Have you been bathing her a lot? What food are you feeding? Perhaps also she is reacting to something on the grass or outside? You do need to be careful on how long you let your pupper stay out in the direct sun. They CAN get sunburnt.

[2doghouse]

she isn't outside in the direct sun. She will find the only 6 inches of sunlight coming through a window and lay in it. I can't keep her away. She is on IVET wieght reduction food.

[Meemoo]

she isn't outside in the direct sun. She will find the only 6 inches of sunlight coming through a window and lay in it. I can't keep her away. She is on IVET wieght reduction food.


I found the food you are feeding. Here are the ingredients:

Chicken Meal, Whole Grain Ground Corn, Brewers Rice, Barley, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), and citric acid), Dried Beet Pulp, Flaxseed, Natural Flavors, Menhaden Fish Meal, Dried Egg Product, Brewers Dried Yeast, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganous Oxide, Niacin Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Vitamin A Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Menadione Dimethylpyrimidinol Bisulfite, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Cobalt Carbonate, Ethylenediamine Dihyriodide, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement

It's not a terrible food, but as you can see..the 2nd, third, fourth ingredients are grains..with corn being the 2nd one. Corn is a known allergen. This possibly could be the cause.

[Irminsul]

I agree, a better food would do her good. Does she need to lose weight? Is she getting enough exercise?

I would say, better food, no baths, keep in the fish oil...A little sun time isn't bad for her. I have yet to meet a dachsie that doesn't do it. If she was laying in the yard for hours, that would be a different story.

[2doghouse]

The Vet put her on the that food. I trust my vet, so I don't think its the food. We bathe maybe once a month.

[Meemoo]

The Vet put her on the that food. I trust my vet, so I don't think its the food. We bathe maybe once a month.


I understand you trusting your vet, but honestly, most vets don't know much about nutrition. I'd still suggest a switch in food might be the answer.

[Irminsul]

I have to agree with Meemoo. A lot of vets don't know what to feed. Otherwise Science Diet would be broke.

I would also not bathe once a month. Every six month (exept when they roll in something stinky of course) is plenty. You'll see, the hair gets shinier and they dry off much quicker when they get wet if you don't bathe as often.

[Meemoo]

The Vet put her on the that food. I trust my vet, so I don't think its the food. We bathe maybe once a month.


I forgot to ask also, what do you bathe her with?

[Suzanne R]

The Vet put her on the that food. I trust my vet, so I don't think its the food. We bathe maybe once a month.
I trust my vet, too - she recommended Science Diet for my furkids, which is NOT a good food. As mentioned, vets are NOT nutritionists and although I trust her with my furkids, I do not follow her recommendations regarding their diets. The last time she saw both of them, when they were in for their anal glands, nail trim, etc., she made a point of telling me how great they looked, how good their weight was, and whatever I was doing, to keep on doing it! I feed them 1/4 cup 2x/day Natural Balance Reduced Calorie Kibble (which I get from Petco), along with 1/2 can of no-salt-added green beans for each meal. Twice a week I give them each 1/2 can of sardines packed in water (for their coats, which are nice and full and shiny); occasionally I give them a raw egg in with their regular food, and occasionally I give them raw veggies and fruit. Vets are not the best when it comes to doggie diets, no offense to your vet (or mine). I trust and value the opinions of those dachsie lovers with 30 years of experience with the breed. They know the good food versus the not-so-good food! Check the labels - you can do that yourself.

[Schatz's Mom]

I was looking back at your previous posts and I see that with Skip you have had sneezing, stinky breath, overall body odor and now with Cocoa you have dry skin and hair loss. These all indicate that a change in food may be in order. I would most definitely find a premium food with little or few grains. What would it hurt to try a better food? You may just find that a switch will take care of all the issues you have posted about.

[2doghouse]

Skip isn't on the same food. I will think about switching her food but I dougt I will. We just went to the vet for her weight specifically and we talked about nutrition etc. My vet actually has 3 dachsies so I am feeling pretty good about him. I appreciate the feedback. To say vets don't know much about nutrition I think is a bit of a stretch though.

[maddoxies]

The dry ears seem to be seasonal (summer). I suspect an environmental allergy.

[Cocoa and Me]

I'd say almost every vet I've been to has always sold Science Diet, and hasn't instructed me to use anything else. I do not use Science Diet because there are ingreidents in it that just don't look as healthy as other dog foods. I know you trust your vet, but maybe ask his opinion about trying another dog food. You could also try another dog food for a few weeks and see if it works. PetCo will return your dog food even if it has been opened if you didn't like it for your dog. I did that a few times until I found the "perfect" food. I noticed a world of difference from going from an OK brand to an excellent brand of dog food.

Oh and corn is a huge allergen for dogs. :( Which Science Diet has...

[Meemoo]

Skip isn't on the same food. I will think about switching her food but I dougt I will. We just went to the vet for her weight specifically and we talked about nutrition etc. My vet actually has 3 dachsies so I am feeling pretty good about him. I appreciate the feedback. To say vets don't know much about nutrition I think is a bit of a stretch though.


Just because your vet has dachsies, doesn't mean he knows it all. It's great you have such confidence in your vet, but you really need to do your own research too. Have you read about what's REALLY in dog food? Check out this article http://www.api4animals.org/facts.php?p=359&more=1 and then tell me you still want to feed that food?! It's true..most vets DO NOT know much about nutrition..and what they do get is sponsored by Science Diet- which is why they are always pushing for it.

[soph & li mom]

Vets get a maxium of 2 weeks of one class on animal nutrition...and that is all animals... They rely on what they are told - often by sales reps when it comes to food... This does not make vets bad, and there are some that pay attention to more than just sales reps but they do have extremely busy brains and have to know a ton of things.

[Suzanne R]

Just because your vet has dachsies, doesn't mean he knows it all. It's great you have such confidence in your vet, but you really need to do your own research too. Have you read about what's REALLY in dog food? Check out this article http://www.api4animals.org/facts.php?p=359&more=1 and then tell me you still want to feed that food?! It's true..most vets DO NOT know much about nutrition..and what they do get is sponsored by Science Diet- which is why they are always pushing for it.
I totally agree - it's so simple: JUST READ THE LABELS ON THE DOG FOOD. The first 3 ingredients should NOT be corn or other fillers!

[Lowrider_156]

I have been going thru this with "Skeeter" for the last year. We changed his dog food to Eagle Pack Holistic Select that has Anchovy, Sardine & Salmon meal Formula with Oatmeal plus started him on Derm Caps 10's. We also seen a vet and had thyroid test done and it is okay, they decided to try him on a anitibotic called SIMPLICEF 100mg (1/2 a pill a day) and within 2 weeks his hair started coming back on his ears. They believe it is a staff infection and didnot think the antibotic would work but gave it a chance and IT WORKED!!! So he gave us more antibotics for 40 days. Finally his hair is growing back and we are sooooo happy.

[Lowrider_156]

How is Cocoa's ears coming along ... did you try anyones remedies, find any that worked for her? Keep us posted on how she is doing. Take Care.