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My dog keeps getting ear infections. How can I prevent them?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Male | unneutered | 2 years and 3 months old

How to avoid ear infection in the future? Is there any particular diet or treatment or is it enough that his ears are clean?

4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on May 12th, 2017

Most pets that get frequent ear infections have an anatomical abnormality with the ears themselves that causes these. Therefore, the only thing you really can do to help limit future infections with Mike is to clean the ears on a weekly basis and sometimes twice a week if the ears get particularly dirty. Also I would rule out any underlying causes of your infections such as Thyroid disease by doing a thyroid screen through your veterinarian. If there is underlying thyroid disease then treating for it directly will in turn help prevent future ear infections. I hope you get a handle on Mikes ears soon and I wish you all the best moving forward.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Angel Alvarado, LVT

    Licensed Veterinary Technician

    Published on

    Regular ear cleanings are the best way to prevent infections. Use an approved ear cleaner and dry the ear thoroughly afterwards. Allergies are thought to play a role in recurring infections, so if you can rule them out or keep them under control, that will help as well.

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    Answered By Dr. Strydom, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on December 29th, 2017

    It is hard to give much advice without more information. How many ear infections has Bindi had? Bacterial infections or yeast infections? Did they clear up easily with treatment by your vet? Does she have underlying allergies? This is really a question you should be asking your vet. Since they know Bindi's medical history they will be able to advise you better. Without more information all I can tell you is that you should do maintenance ear cleanings with a medicated ear cleaner you get from your vet (depends on what type of infections she had). You can over clean the ears and make it worse so be careful. I would say routine cleaning once a week would be helpful unless she has underlying allergies which would require other treatments as well.

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    Answered By Ana M, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on March 25th, 2018

    I'm sorry to hear that Storm is having recurrent ear infections. In this case, she needs to be evaluated by her veterinarian to see if there is an underlying cause. There could be something in the environment or her diet that she is allergic to, a growth in her ear or the conformation of the ear themselves. If something can be identified, it can be managed making infections less likely for her. Each time she has an infection, a sample from her ear should be looked at under the microscope to determine the type of infection. The medication must be given precisely as directed. Before the medication is stopped, another sample should be looked at under the microscope. If the medication is discontinued prematurely, the infection will relapse. Finally, the ears need to be cleaned regularly for maintenance to help prevent infections from occurring. I hope this information helps. Chronic ear infections are very frustrating!

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