My dog has ear issues, now his face is swollen. What should I do?

Question

My lab Max has always had problems with one ear and infection. Recently he got over one, had brown stuff coming out of his ear. We kept cleaning it out and his ear was clear, no redness, no discharge. About a week later we noticed him rubbing his ear again on the rug, his ear looked clean no discharge. A few days later my son noticed that same side of his face was swollen near the ear & muzzle. Looks like a hamster on that side only. Draining mix of liquid & light bloody discharge from muzzle.

Destini R. Holloway, DVM · Accepted Answer

Oh my, that does sound like he is suffering from a major infection. With ear infections you have to be very careful, because things can look ok from the outside, but the inner ear canal could be full of debris that has just gotten pushed down in there and is harboring bacteria, yeast or both. Your pet needs to be seen by a veterinarian for this and the ear examined using an otoscope. It also sounds like he has a major infection and inflammation now that has traveled to his muzzle causing pain and discomfort. He needs to be placed on both antibiotics (prescribed by your vet) and pet friendly anti-inflammatory medication. Also a culture of the discharge may be needed as well, depending on how badly the ear looks in person and its response to the antibiotics. For future ear infections you almost always have to have not just an ear cleaner, but also an ear medication prescribed by a licensed veterinarian. Just using a cleaner isn't enough.

My dog has ear issues, now his face is swollen. What should I do?

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