A good dog for a wheezy kid?

PAMPERED PETS

QMy German shepherd dog has been treated four times for ear problems, the last being only a month ago, and the problem is returning again. He is raw fed and has had no spot-on treatment. We have been told about allergies, which seem to be a minefield. What do you suggest we do?

AGerman shepherd dogs have well-designed ears, with generally good ventilation in comparison with dogs with floppy ears.

This means that ear problems should rarely be a problem due to poor drainage, for example. Your vet has cleaned the ear canal under general anaesthetic, sent off swabs to identify yeasts and bacteria, and used standard ear preparations to treat these.

The fact the problem keeps occurring after such thorough investigation and treatment suggests an underlying cause that may need further investigation.

There have been tremendous advances recently in the understanding of ear diseases as a result of clinical research by veterinary dermatologists.

Nowadays problem ear cases are usually referred to dermatologists.

Your vet has suggested underlying allergies, and this would be a sensible starting point.

There are various allergies and fortunately all specialist veterinary dermatologists are well aware of these.

You could perhaps discuss a referral with your vet as an option for your dog. This involves additional expense, of course, but the specialist will have time to rule in or out the likely underlying causes, and is usually cost-effective.

Investigations follow a logical stepby-step approach to arrive at a diagnosis and are not as much of a minefield as you fear.