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My dog's itchy, smelly ears & discharge won't heal. What to ask vet?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Labrador Retriever | Male | neutered | 2 years and 7 months old

Our black lab has increasingly itchy ears, bad ear odor, and a thick, deep brown, waxy discharge for over 3 months. Our vet tech proffered treating it with one solution before switching to EcoEars; it improved for a bit, but now it's worse than ever - constantly head-shaking, and crying when being treated or scratching his ears until they bleed. What should we ask or have the vet himself do in order to reach a resolution?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Daniel Fonza, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on August 7th, 2017

Hello! Thank you for your post! It sounds like junior is suffering from quite the ear infection?! If jr. Has been dealing with this for several months, what might help identify the responsible organisms would be a culture of the ear material. This would help determine which antibiotic is going to be most efficacious in resolving this infection. There are multiple ear medications and depending on the Animal Hospital, all vet clinics carry different types of ear medications. If he is so itchy, there are medications that can also help with that. Apoquel is an anti itch drug which may provide junior relief from the itching. I would ask you vet if this is an option. As for the ear infection, you should really consider a culture to pinpoint what bacteria is responsible so it can be treated appropriately. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please feel free to contact me with further questions or concerns. I am also available via consultation

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Other Answers

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    Answered By David Darvishian

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Junior, he sounds miserable. All of this is most likely due to allergies- Atopy or inhaled allergies, flea allergy, and food allergy are all possible and ear problems (especially recurrent) are almost always associated with allergic skin disease. Your vet can take a sample from the ears and look at it under the microscope to diagnose the infection/cause in the ears. That's usually yeast, bacteria, and other causes such as ear mites. This will address the ear problem and your vet can present a sound treatment plan. As for the allergies, there are skin tests and blood tests to help determine the source of allergies. Again, diagnostics and treatment are often based on severity of signs, duration of signs, etc. Your vet can discuss this complex problem and advise many forms of treatment including ear meds, antibiotics, fish oil, allergy shots or oral drops to treat allergies, antihistamines, steroids, and others. Good luck and hang in there.

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