Ear cleaning

[jabear]

Bear has very long, heavy ears that have gotten infected a few times. We have to clean them often but there are times when it seems as though nothing can keep them clean. The wax build up appears daily and its gross. Maybe it is the warmer weather, maybe its just bad hygene on our part, but any advice on what works for you would be greatly appreciated.

[kildeskennel]

I have found with my Kuv's who love water and have ears that "hang" infections, or "bacteria" in one form or another is often present.I spent much money and time on treatments until I found a vet who explained things to me.  Here is what I have learned.

I clean ears once weekly with Otic Calm and a Q tips.  I fill their ears and "squish" it around then use a Q tip to clean and dry the ear.  They hated it at first, but love it now.  Usually is yeast we find that grows ina culture by the vet, but unless they are "symptomatic" such as whining scratching the ear, or inflammation we don't treat with antibiotics.  Dark brown "gunk" on the Q tip is usually present in dogs who don't have regular cleanings performed, not neccessarily indicitive of infection.  Once you start regularly cleaning ears, the Q tips often present clean or very light brown.  NORMAL!  Dark is also normal UNLESS accompanied by pain with cleaning, drainage present on the hair around the outer ear, or Odor.  A dogs ear, as I am sure most know is shaped so that when you insert a Q tip you will not touch or damage the drum.  I spent months with a vet as a new owner who cultured Beauty's ears as a routine check I requested with yeast.  Hundres of dollars literally in antibiotics and visits with no resolution of the cultures.  DAMN!  i WAS TOTALLY HORRIFIED  As a nurse I know that yeast is always present in one form or another in healthy individuals and only causes trouble when illness, excessive use of antibiotics, sensitivity, or depressed immune systems are present.  My dogs, I never thought of it!     I was introduced to my vet, Andy Pillar a few years ago, and I asked him if he had ever met a Kuv, "No"  (here are none in Northern Minnesota)( another post)  He checked and cultured her ears and asked lots of questions,  took her off of the meds for her ears she had been on for 2 months and said "For heaveans sake, you are a nurse, and I am a vet it is YEAST!"  "Is she bothered, hearing funny, hurting, if not just clean her ears weekly!"  I think I TOTALLY went off subject but weekly cleaning with a solution that "dries"  works wonderfully. 

[mastiffmommy]

Since I have worked as a groomer, I have come across a lot of ears lol.... bad ones and worse ones. Always the dogs with hanging ears are worse to deal with, they get infection easier than the ones with standing up ears. You may already have tried this. But if you really really neatly clean them out, with plenty of q-tips, one for every time you go down there, go pretty far down, use a good earcleaner, and really swab around both inner and outer ear. I find that with large dogs it is sometimes as easy to use papertowel and your finger, at least the first batch, then use q-tips for where you cant reach. When you are pretty certain it is clean, drop a little cleaner, or even the cleaner that has the protection against earmites. Rub it in and let sit for a couple of min. Then go down and clean again, this way you should be able to get everything up that is even far down. Now you got a clean ear. With long coat, I would put his hears up, pin them together over his head with some kind of hair clip. Just long enough for them to really dry out. The most common reason for infections are moist environment in the ear. When you know your ear is completely dry, or even inbetween cleanings, you can use an antiseptic ear powder, that will help the ear stay dry. Just make sure you dont mix the wet from cleaning with the powder that will make some kind of not so healthy "juck". I have adviced a lot of people with dogs that have problem ears to do this, and if they do it fairly regularly it helps quite a bit most of the times.

Good Luck

Marit

[Sullivan]

Ahh I know the ear infections too well.  We alwasy know when we have one on our hands b/c he smells like stinky cheese or feet.  We use epi-optic which was prescribed to us by our vet.  We cover a circle guaze pad and use our finger tips.  I feel like it works really.  I'd be too scared to stick a q-tip in his ear for fear of stabbing something.  My vet said that we should do it as often as we can, especially everytime his ear gets wet.  We find that if we keep up with it and do it at least once a week he avoids infection.  I've never used anything else, but we are happy with it.  I hope this helps!

[kildeskennel]

Don't be afraid of stabbing anything, you can't unless you have some stragely curved and jointed Q tip!    A dogs ears are designed as such that their ear drum is protected "down around the bend"  You can only clean up to the bend.  I use regular adult q tips, there are longer ones made for dogs, but I find the regular ones work just as well!

[Lucy]

Oh! I'm so glad I saw this, because I just found the best remedy! It was actually a vet that I met at church who gave me this when I was complaining about having to put Max and Ella on Otomax...AGAIN . It's called Blue Ear Power treatment..? and it's something you can make at home and keep around. At first I was leary of any homer treatment, but I'm a total  believer now...(although please note I'm not endorsing it by saying it takes the place of a vet, because then...well I'd be an idiot:) but they have had the same ear infection/yeast nasties happen since I've had them...I know exactly what it is by the smell, so I'm very happy to have the "recipe".  My pooches started showing improvement within two days, but I had to be really consistent. I bring out the treats with the drops..fill ear canal, annoy dog, bribe with nessesary treat.
I found the recipe on several dog sites, all with the same ingrediants and most of them say to warm it up before putting it into the ear, which is what I do. The smell is GONE..yay, ear looks normal, not puffy red, and they are not scratching, or shaking etc. Hope it helps someone else.
 Here's the link with directions   http://www.mariebennett.com/blueear/

[jabear]

Thanks for all of the wonderful advice guys! My hubby is actually the one who does the ear cleaning so I'll have to tell him to be more consistent and use the q-tips often. Or maybe I'll just have to learn how to do it and over come my fear. 

[mastiffmommy]

I may be repeating what the website said, but when I clicked the link it said "error", I will try again later, because I love sites where you get new tips and ideas. Meanwhile, my breeder gave me a recipe for ear treatment.

16 oz rubbing alcohol
4 tablespoons Boric Acid
16 drops Gentian Violet

Mix it well before use, in a squirt bottle so it is easy to put it in the dogs ear.

Squirt it in the ear and rub for a little while, then wipe the inside of the ear with paper towel, no need to clean it out way down there. Use this for 7 days, if ear is well by then, use it about once a week as a prevention

Marit

[aedingto]

 :)Thanks for this info cause I'm dealing with a nasty ear infection right now in my Lab.  I'll try the paper towels.

[aedingto]

Thanks for the info, I just spent 80 bucks on stuff for my labs ears.  She will get a good ear cleaning once a week now. 

[aedingto]

Thanks so much.  Alaine

[aedingto]

BTW....what is the gentian violet stuff??  Never heard of it.  Alaine

[mixedupdog]

We call the gentian violet solution "purple power" a Lab friend turned me on to it.  You can substitute witch hazel for the alcohol, which is more soothing if the ears are already irritated.  I use those round cotton makeup things. I soak them in the ear stuff, then stick them down into the dog's ears and let him shake them out.  They stay in long enough for the medicine to ooze down into the ear, no fuss, no fighting, and you don't really need to physically get all that gunk out, once the underlying condition is taken care of it will clear up on its own.
Two or three days and everything is back to normal.
The reason it works is that the Boric Acid kills bacteria, and Gentian Violet is a powerful antifungal. Real often what happens is it starts out as one, and then a secondary infection develops as a result of the irritation and imbalance of the natural enviorment in the ears.  A lot of treatments only address one issue.

[GreatDanz]

I use a solution of equal parts alcohol, apple cider vinegar and water.  My fawn has a reoccuring yeast infection in his ear, and that causes really goopy stuff.  First I wipe out the goop with a cotton pad, then I pour some of the solution down the ear, massage for as long as he'll let me, then let him shake it out. (Do this outside!  )

This ACV solution has all but eliminated his infection.

[doglover]

We use Vet Solutions Ear Cleansing Solution and cotten balls once a week and it works great and last a long time. It is also great for cats ears too. You only have to use a small amount and rub it around then clean the ear.