Nasty Dog Ears

[Damummis]

Poor Spike has some NASTY ears going on. I have been cleaning them with olive oil but they are really gross. Crusty, cracking and smell horrid.

Any advise. I would prefer NOT taking him to the vet. I is poor.

 

[Knight Hawk Ranch]

Bad smell usually inicates yeast infection.

Flush his ears with vinegar/water solution.

After baths, use a bit of alchol to make sure the ears will dry out in case any water gets in there.

 

[jerseygirl1]

Quote:
I have been putting wild salmon oil in his food for mine, not sure if it will help, but it may be worth a shot
The weird thing about mine is that the yuckies alternate ears every year - one year left ear, next year right.

 

[booker81]

Black yuck inside?

Most likely yeast, and yeasty yuck is a good sign that they are having issues with some sort of allergy, most likely food. Try switching to a higher quality food, or one without corn, or at most, one without grains.

If it's just really dry and owies, and he's got dry skin too, get a big ol' bottle of Vit E caps, and either give a couple a day, or squeeze them out over his food (ours eats them like treats, I give them to her in the winter for dry skin).

 

[Judy]

Petsmart sells an ear drop that is supposed to be even better for yucky dog ears than the stuff the vet sells, which is pretty darn good, by the way.

Of the home remedies above, vets will tell you to skip the alcohol. I used to use it, too, but besides being painful, it is too drying to the tissues.

What gets going in there is a mix of fungus, mold, bacteria, ear mites and their poop, etc. Look for drops with several ingredients.

 

[naturalfeddogs]

Yeast thrives on carbs, and all commercial dog food has carbs. Get rid of carbs, and you will probably get rid of yeast. Feeding a raw diet of only meat, bones and organs will totaly clear up bad ears.

 

[FourPawz]

A couple of things to do. Dogs with bad ears commonly come from breeds that are drop eared and that have hair growing in the ear canals. Typically poodles, cockers and their mixes are notorious for the problem. The hair traps moisture and allows nasties to grow. If your dog has hair in his ear canals, you must get it removed on a regular basis, either by a vet or groomer. You can do the procedure yourself, if you get some kelly forceps and if your dog is cooperative. You can get kelly forceps from eBay or Amazon. Some pet supply houses carry them. Get someone (vet or groomer) to show you how to pluck the ears yourself.

Dogs can have ear infections without the hair of course. One of the main causes involves allergies, usually to food. You may need to change diet to keep the problem from coming back.

Here are a couple of homemade ear washes that are effective and relatively inexpensive:

1/3 c rubbing alcohol
1/3 cup Witch Hazel
1/3 cup distilled white vinegar
a few drops of Tea Tree oil (the expensive kind from a health food store)

Put in an applicator bottle and squirt some in the ear then use cotton swabs
to clean out the mess this loosens. A few times of using this and the ears
are clean and clear of yeast infections.

The other is a blue ear wash:

16 oz. of 70% isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol
4 tbsp. of boric acid powder
6 drops of 1 percent gentian violet solution
Substitute witch hazel for the alcohol is the ears are severely inflamed or
sore.

Mix and add a squirt to each ear. Gentian violet is a dye and will stain hair and skin, so be aware.

 

[booker81]

Quote:
For those that have never purchased it, just go to your local drugstore (I've gotten mine from RiteAid), and ask the pharmacist. If they don't have it, they will order it.

 

[FourPawz]

Here's a you tube video on how to remove doggy ear hair:

 

[equine623]

What kind of dog? How is the skin generally on the whole body? Is it a black goopy discharge or a tannish discharge? Is he itchy?

Pulling ear hair, if he's a breed with ear hair isn't always recommended - depends on the particular dog. Used to be vets and groomers yanked all ear hair but times have changed. Sometimes you increase the irritation and cause more problems doing that. But sometimes it needs to be pulled to increase air flow. So that's a case by case basis.

If the ears are irritated and cracked, alcohol is way too drying and will hurt! Please avoid using anything like that unless the ear is completely normal and you are doing routine cleaning, and even then doing that can upset the natural balance of a healthy ear and initiate a problem. People will swear it works, and I've used it for routine cleanings occasionally but then its at most a 10% solution, never full strength.

You may not need a vet, but you need to have a better idea of what the problem is before you just go wild cleaning and putting stuff in there.

Good luck... ears can be such a pain (for you and the dog!)