Ear infection causing floppy ears?

Question
I have a 4.5 month old husky puppy. His ears were floppy when I got him at about 8 weeks old.  They gradually started to stand up and at about the 12 week point they
were both straightened out and have been straight ever since... until
yesterday.  In the morning both ears had gone back to being slightly floppy
like they were from the 8 week point to being straight at 12 weeks.  By
the evening however they were floppier than they had ever been.  Just
like a labs ears and he was shaking his head constantly.  I took him to
the vet and he has an ear infection that is being treated with ear
drops.  I asked the vet if his ears going floppy was due to the infection
and if they would ever go straight again and she said she was unsure.
 She said that it is common for puppies to have their ears go up
and down before 5 months but my concern is that it is the infection
causing this and that it may cause permanent damage to his ears and they
will never go back to standing up.  I guess my questions are can ear
infections cause the ears to go floppy and if so, can this cause the ears
to stay floppy permanently or will they stand back up once the
infection is gone?  Thanks


Answer
The ear infection itself, no it won't cause the ears to be floppy. If the puppy is itching it profusely, doing a lot of shaking and dragging its head. That can cause the ears to become floppy. The cartilage in the ear is what holds the ear in the upright position. A lot of scratching and messing with the ears will cause blood vessels in the ears to rupture, and this causes the cartilage to break down. I have seen this happen to a husky, if serous the ears begin to shrivel up this condition is also called califlour ear.
But what you are describing seems perfectly normal. If the pups ears are growing faster then the cartilage is developing you will have floppy ears. I will warn you that not all huskies will have ears that stand upright I have seen a few that got great big ears to big to stand upright (you will also see this sometimes in German shepherds). You should not have to worry about this if you bought your pup from a reputable breeder who knows what they are doing. If you are concerned with how your pups ears are developing you can do what people do with the great Dane pups after they get their ears cropped to make them stand up right (please do not get them cropped). You can take popcical sticks and tape the ear to them (Your pup will try to get them off for quite a while but learn to ignore them if left on long enough) This will help the development of cartilage in the pups ear as well as train the ear how to stand. -Michelle B ^^