dog ear infections......

[amity3520]

If there was grass growing in my dogs ear and you've actually seen pus I would take it to the vet ASAP. That's not something, personally, that I would mess with on my own. Good luck!

 

[()relics]

sometimes an ear infection or dark red black ear wax can be caused by ear mites. A simple treatment, for mites or for dry ears, is to fill the ear with mineral oil, available at any pharmacy. I fill the ear and massage the ear canal then try to VERY carefully clean whatever "junk" I can get out without diving to deeply into the ear. Use several Qtips ad only enter once with each. After I get the ear cleaned up as best as I can I refill the ear with oil. Then let the dog loose and Stand Back...the dog "ear flaps" all the extra liquid out everywhere. Do this every day until the ear is better. Even if it is infected mineral oil will not hurt but I don't think it will clear the infection up. I want to second the Food Change...You might be surprised at the results you see. I have a dog that when fed only one type of ration is perfectly fine but if she is given ANYTHING else her ears are a mess for weeks. I have bird dogs and ear care is very important. After every hunt I carefully check their ears and clean if necessary...ears can go from ok to horrible in a few days when left attended. I use mineral oil even in dogs with clean ears as a lubricant....itchy ears lead to dirty ears which lead to bloody ears which lead to....Well you already know

 

[Brody's Broodello]

Quote:
That stupid grass has cased more problems here. My son had one of those seeds get flipped into his eye. Took to the clinic which said it was a scratch and he had conjunctivitis,gave him some drops. I was like it isn't conjunctivitis, but did the drops. About a week later i see something red on the side of his eye. So off the the eye specialist. You guessed it, he had one of those seeds, lodged behind his eye in the socket! I have tried to kill that crap off. No critter will eat it, salt has worked somewhat! That stuff is out of here, I could just murder the person who thought to plant it here, before we bought the farm!

 

[Mak]

My chocolate Lab had ear infections since we adopted him five or six years ago. I had him to the vet every month or six weeks, at $90-100 a pop, and the stupid things just kept coming back. Heck, he even had a standing 'script at the drug store for ear drops! The vet was sure it was allergy related, but none of the "usual" suspects seemed to be it. We eliminated soy, wheat, beef, and more from his diet, one thing at a time, and still the ears would get infected. Finally, I was at a local pet (small, independent) pet store, picking up a some cat food, and the owner asked if I'd ever tried the Chicken Soup brand. I said no, and he explained that it was all natural, no chemical preservatives and stuff like that, and said people find it good for cats with allergies. So I asked if there was a dog food- yep, there is. Started Murphy on that, and his ears cleaned up beautifully. We have since started him on Blue Buffalo brand food, just because I think it is a bit better (but that could be just me!). I truly think it was all the chemical junk in the dog foods we'd been buying that were irritating him. I've not had him to the vet except for his yearly exam in at least 2 years. I do clean his ears regularly, just to keep them good.

 

[hvl25]

Quote:
the gentian violet is nasty stuff.

 

[hvl25]

Quote:
i feed fromm food. he has all this goopy blackish stuff in there, doesn't smell too bad but he is scratching at it too. i keep cleaning the stuff out of his ears daily and putting an ear wash in since noticed it.

 

[hvl25]

Thanks for everyones replies. I am going to keep cleaning it out and try the vinegar/water tonight and maybe go to petsmart tomorrow after work and pick up some of that other stuff!

 

[drafthorse39]

My dog had a yeast problem in his ears. I used zymox otic with hydrocortisone. It did clear up but it came back, so I did this. I bought a vinegar solution in the woman's isle, (you see where I'm going with this) unscented. I squirted that inside with a bit of pressure to remove the buildup. Used q-tips to remove as much gunk as I could, then I used rubbing alcohol. For a yeast infection, this is the most crucial part IMO. The alcohol will dry out the excess water. Since yeast grows in damp ears, you really should use the alcohol. I was hesitant to use it myself since my dog scratched a nice chunk of skin from the inside of his ear. Just squish it around in there for a while. I hold it in the ear for 30-60 seconds then let the dog shake it and remove as much as they can by themselves. I would keep this up depending on how severe the problem is. If it's really bad, I would seek a vet but since you asked here, this is what I personally suggest. Good luck!!

 

[dela1991]

Chronic ear infections can also indicate hypothyroid disease. My Dane lived with ear infections, even though I was keeping his ears clean, till he was diagnosed and put on medication for his thyroid. His blood level is checked every 6 months but there are times when he needs his dosage increased before the six month mark. I can usually tell because he starts scratching at his ears. It originally took a while to diagnose him because he didn't have any of the other visual symptoms. He was not overweight at all but he started getting dry patches on his skin that he wouldn't leave alone.

 

[bt03]

I know this is an old thread but I have a couple of questions about some of the posts. She tilts her head just slightly more to the right but there is nothing that we can find in her ears.

We did recently change her food but we can change it back if this is an allergy. We changed her feed about a week ago, would it take a week for the symptoms to show up? Nothing we did yesterday seemed to help alleviate the pain. Is there anything we can giver her for it? We tried putting a bit of olive oil in her ears to try and sooth them but it only seemed to work for about and hour or so. Someone mentioned a vinegar wash. How would I do that? DO I need any special tools for it? Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Her vet is about 2 hours away and with no days off for another week we are really worried and her vet won't consult over the phone

I know she needs another vet but we can't seem to find one that anyone recommends in our area.

I forgot to mention, my husband was told she is a chi-poodle when his ex gave her to him, but I'm not to sure. She looks a lot like Toto from The Wizard of OZ but has larger floppy ears, and has a much leaner body.