Michelle asks:
How do puppies get ear mites? Why do adults get them, and how can we prevent them? They are being passed back and forth in my dogs, and I’d like to get rid of them for good.
Also, I have a Standard who keeps getting a hematoma on his ear. He does not have an infection in the ear but keeps shaking his head until he makes the ear flap bleed. I drain the hematoma daily using a needle and syringe, but the next day it is filled up again. Is there a safe way I can tape the ear up to make him stop flapping it until it heals? If so, what do you suggest I use to tape it with? He is a kennel dog, and I can’t be with him every moment.
Dr. Joe answers:
Ear mites come from other animals who have them. They are very contagious. Dogs and cats can “share” them with each other. We have never been able to prove that ear mites can survive anywhere other than on an animal. No one has found the ones that can affect dogs and cats on any other kind of animal. I personally suspect that there are animals who can be “carriers.” These animals have ear mites, but they usually don’t have a clinical case of ear mites. They do have enough to share with their friends. If there are not carrier animals, then the mites have to be able to survive off of the animal in some way. Otherwise, we cannot explain how they can be transmitted and why they are so commonly a problem.
You cannot just treat the animals with clinical signs of ear mites. If you want to get them under control, you must treat EVERY dog and cat that you have, all at the same time. You must limit their contact with other animals, at least until you have the problem controlled in ALL animals. You can successfully use some non-prescription products that are made for ear mites. Buy a lot of it! You need to treat every animal once a day for a week, then once a week for a month. Some prescription products may decrease your work, but you should use them every 7 to 10 days for at least four treatments (of EVERY animal).
Then to keep them controlled (you can only hope to control them, not totally prevent them), you need to treat all animals at least once per month (just like you are treating intestinal worms each month with your heartworm-prevention). In addition, it is helpful to use an ear cleaner on ALL animals once each week, and you can also put some mineral oil (which can suffocate the mites by clogging their breathing pores) into ALL animals’ ears once a week as well.
As to your Poodle, he has some problem with his ear, and you need to have your veterinarian determine what that problem is. Dogs do not shake their head to the point of making their ears bleed unless there is a problem. Your dog may not have an external ear infection, but he may have a middle ear or internal ear infection that you cannot see.
Also, hematomas do NOT form unless there is some type of ongoing inflammation that makes the blood vessels easy to “break” and start bleeding. Just as there is a reason that someone bruises too easily, there is a reason your dog’s ear is getting blood vessels that are “breaking” and bleeding between the ear cartilage and the skin of the ear.
Draining a hemotoma with a needle will not prevent the area from filling back up. If you attempt to tape it over the head tight enough to prevent the area from filling back up, you run the risk of taping it so tight that you could cause the ear to lose circulation and die. The only way to successfully treat a hematoma is to suture it together (like quilting) in a suture pattern that will not interfere with normal blood circulation in the ear, or to place a drain in the hematoma, or to do a combination of both these procedures.
I urge you to see your veterinarian to determine the root cause of the head shaking, and then to treat it as well as treating the hematoma properly. I am very sorry, but there is no successful home remedy for this one.
Sharon asks:
I have a dog with a lot of allergies. My veterinarian said it could be food allergy. How do I find out what food my dog is allergic to?
Dr. Joe answers:
There are only two ways I know of to test a dog for food allergy. The tried and true method is basically a trial and error method. The first step is to place the dog on a truly hypoallergenic diet. There are many different ones, but basically they consist of a single source of protein and a single source of carbohydrates. The first hypoallergenic diet was produced in 1965 by the Hills Company. It was called d/d and was a lamb and rice diet (this should not be confused with the lamb and rice foods found on the shelves). It consisted ONLY of lamb and rice. Because there are so many brands with lamb and rice, this particular one from Hills is not as useful. You see, the hypoallergenic food MUST NOT contain a protein or carbohydrate source that the dog has already eaten. Today’s versions of hypoallergenic diets have ingredients like duck and potato, fish and potato, venison and rice, etc.
There are two very special hypoallergenic diets from Hills called Z/D and Z/D Ultra. They both use chicken protein that has been chemically broken down to amino acid “chains” (long amino acids are what make up proteins) that are too “short” to be recognized by the immune system as proteins, and if they do not appear to the immune system as proteins, they cause no immune reaction. The difference in Z/D and Z/D Ultra is that the carbohydrate source for Z/D is potato, and the carbohydrate source for Z/D Ultra is purified corn starch. Potato has a small amount of protein in it, and some dogs can react to that protein. Purified corn starch is just that, only starch, and the immune system does not react to it in any way (dogs can be allergic to corn, but purified corn starch does not have any corn protein, just the starch from the corn).
After feeding a hypoallergenic diet for a period of time, and confirming that the dog did have a food allergy (because the symptoms have either completely resolved or significantly improved), then suspected proteins are added to the diet one at a time to see which ones cause a return of the allergy symptoms. Basically, you would add corn for a few weeks; if no reaction, add wheat, etc. Anytime you get a “positive” reaction, you must go back to only using the hypoallergenic diet for a while (until the symptoms resolve again), and then try another type of protein. This trial and error method is quite time consuming, and it can be ruined by feeding any kind of food or treat that contains anything other than the ingredients in the hypoallergenic diet.
Another way is to do blood testing. This method is somewhat controversial among veterinary dermatologists. A blood sample is obtained and sent to a special laboratory (there are several that do this testing, but the “big three” are Heska, Greer, and Spectrum). The laboratory generally uses special methods to extract and identify the antibodies in the dog’s blood, specifically the antibodies that are involved in atopic dermatitis (inhaled allergies) and in food allergy. This will provide some guidance in selecting the food substances to avoid and may allow you to use a less costly (than the hypoallergenic diets) dog food.
Many veterinary dermatologists are skeptical of testing for food allergy because the results are never clear cut and may give false positives. I have found them useful if they are used with careful planning. Some owners elect to just use the hypoallergenic diets (since they can have a very profound positive effect on the allergic animal), but other than the Z/D Ultra product, allergic dogs may eventually develop reactions to the ingredients in the particular hypoallergenic diet, and the owner will have to switch to a different set of ingredients or possibly even move to the Z/D Ultra.
For more information:
www.heska.com/allercept/index.asp
www.greerlabs.com
www.vetallergy.com
You might also want to search the Hills and Eukanuba web sites.
Barbara asks:
Can fleas become immune to such products as Front Line?
Dr. Joe answers:
Yes, fleas can develop resistance to any product. The most common reason for this happening is having fleas exposed to inadequate levels of the product. The fleas that survive long enough to produce eggs are by definition more resistant to the product than the ones that die before they lay their eggs. Therefore, almost all of the next generation of fleas (from those eggs) is at least as resistant as the parents who survived long enough to lay eggs. The major reason for this occurring is owners who are either late in applying the product or are deliberately trying to stretch the time between applications.
Frontline Plus was formulated to attempt to avoid this by including an insect growth regulator that hopefully prevented the hatching and maturation of the eggs produced by the most resistant fleas. Unfortunately, Frontline (without any growth regulator) was still produced, and a growth regulator was never added to Frontline Spray. So, there was the possibility of resistant fleas producing ever more resistant generations of fleas.
In my opinion, plain Frontline should have been removed from the market and Frontline Spray should have had a growth regulator added to it. Unfortunately, economic forces did not allow this to happen. I really believe that every veterinarian who sold plain Frontline because it was cheaper was doing a disservice to his clients. Of course, Frontline was also available from non-veterinarian sources as well. And, Advantage never had a growth regulator and could be significantly reduced in strength due to washings and getting wet. It really is no wonder we seem to be seeing resistance to these products developing. This has been a pattern throughout the history of flea control products from malathion, through Sevin, through the pyrethrins and permethrins, and now through the next generation of flea control products.
Now for the good news.
Advantage and Frontline are 100 times safer than previous insecticides, and I believe that their companies will do testing at an increased dose and eventually release some “double strength” formulations that may be able to overcome much of the current resistance (but they better do it quickly as each generation of fleas has the potential to be more and more resistant to these products).
There is a new flea control product called Promeris that is different enough from Frontline and Advantage that there is no current resistance to it. Another new product is called Comfortis. It is given orally once a month. Unfortunately each of these products has some potential drawbacks. Many veterinarians have some concerns about giving this type of drug systemically (all of them except Comfortis are topically applied). Liver testing should be done before using Comfortis as dogs with existing (but possibly hidden) liver disease may have problems when given the drug. The problem with Promeris is that the canine formula includes Amitraz. This drug can cause drowsiness, lethargy, and sometimes vomiting if it enters the bloodstream. The maker of Promeris, Fort Dodge, feels that they have only had reactions to the Promeris formula (which includes Amitraz) when dogs have ingested it. Many veterinarians, myself included, feel that some dogs can have absorption of the product through the skin. While it does not appear that there have been any fatalities with this product, dog owners can often be very upset when their animal is very lethargic and/or vomiting, especially if that occurs at a time when their veterinarian’s office is closed.
The real problem of fleas developing resistance to flea control products is that we as owners are trying to have a “magic bullet” for flea control. Too often, we have placed these very effective products on the dog and ignored controlling the other parts of the life cycle of the flea. The fleas you see are only about five percent of the total population. The egg, larval, and pupal stages make up 95 percent of the population, and good flea control involves controlling these stages as well. All that these flea treatments control are the adults (with some control of the other stages present in Frontline Plus). We should have been continuing to treat the environment as well as the animal. Those who have experience with animals before the modern chemicals will remember having to bathe and dip AND spray the yard and house quite frequently. The new products were so effective in the beginning of their use that we got spoiled and didn’t have to do the work we used to do. I also believe that these companies should have made environmental treatments to complement their on-the-animal treatments. If they had promoted a “total” flea management program (including some new environmental products to go with their on-animal products), we might not be seeing the resistance beginning to develop.
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