Frequency of Malassezia spp. in dogs presenting external otitis

The external otitis is defined as an inflammation of the dog external ear canal and it is considered a common disease in dogs.  It is a disease of multifactorial etiology, where one of the main microrganisms associated to the illness is the Malassezia ssp. Therefore, this work aimed to determine the frequency of Malassezia spp. by auricular cytology in dogs that present clinical signs of external otitis. Were used 23 dogs attended in a veterinary clinic located in Sinop-MT. The material was collected using a dry swab, where each extremity was inserted in one of the auditory canal (right and left), which was rotated, removed from the ear and rolled on the glass slide. First the glass slide was microscopically observed (objective 4X), for viewing mites, and then, the sample was fixed by heat and stained with Panoptic. Once stained, the glass slide was examined (objective 40X and 100X). Among the 23 dogs evaluated, 60.9% were positive for Malassezia spp., 8.7% were positive for the Otodectes cynotis mite, and also 30,4% of the animals showed mixed infection with Malassezia ssp. and bacteria. With this study, it can be concluded that Malassezia ssp. was found more frequently in at the auditory canal of dogs with that presents external otitis, associated or acting alone, indicating the importance of this yeast in cases of otitis.