Why do ear infections happen?

Ear infections do not spontaneously occur. Some event or underlying disease must precipitate it. In many cases  pets get ear infections because of allergies.

Allergies may be triggered by ingestion of certain foods, like beef, dairy products, chicken, lamb, fish, eggs, corn, wheat, and soy. Allergies may also be triggered by allergens your pet’s skin, eyes, ears and nose may come in contact with – like tree pollen, grasses, house dust, molds, weeds, perfumes, aerosol home cleaning products, insects and wool.

In the unlikely event that allergies are not the underlying cause for your pet’s ear infection, then suspect the following predisposing factors: high moisture (swimming), poor ventilation (big floppy ears), suppressed immune system (like pets with hypothyroidism and Cushing’s Disease), mites, foreign bodies (like plant material) and poor conformation (like narrow ear canals found commonly in Chinese Shar-pei, Pug and Pekingese dogs).