EAR INFECTIONS

[Sally Lehman]

Does anyone elses doodle suffer from ear problems?  Harley gets groomed on May 10 so when she pulls the hair out, I will be treating his eyes with Animax that I have from the last time at the vets.  He seems to have these problems on and off.  Does anyone have something that they do or use to help prevent ear problems from happening?  He seems to be shaking his head lately..............

 

THANKS!!

 

Sally and Harley

[Wendy and Myla]

Sally, my last dog Zak had quite a few ear infections - I ended up using Pro-Otic Ear Cleansing/Drying Solution on her weekly so that we didn't have to keep giving her anti-biotics. You just squirt it in the ears and massage it until you don't hear the liquid anymore.   Myla, has never had an ear infection but because of Zak, I still give her Pro-Otic maybe every two weeks but when she swims, I give it to her that evening, just as a preventative.  I love the smell of the product on her BUT she hates it.  When she sees I have the bottle in my hand, her tail goes under her and she tries to go away from me, but after the initial squirt, she LOVES the massaging!!   I buy it at my vet's and it's not expensive at all.  I'm in Canada so I'm not sure if it's available in the USA but I have seen many posts on here and all of the ear products sound the same. 

[Sally Lehman]

I have a product from my vet called Epi-Otic from Virbac which sounds like it might be like what you are describing.  I guess I need to do this a couple times a week to prevent this from happening.  Thanks for posting to me about this............I really appreciate it!!

[Wendy and Myla]

Yes, I'm pretty sure it's the same!  On the bottle is says it contains 10% Ethanol, 1.78% lactic acid, 0.15% benzoic and 0.!% salicylic acid.  The only thing my vet had told me with Zak was to put in her ears whenever we bathed her or she swam, otherwise once a week.  Myla swims constantly and doesn't seem to have the same problems with ear infections, BUT Zak started having problems when she was around 2 years old  - that's when she also developed her EPI.  Myla is only one year old so that is why I am using preventative measures.

[Heather & Brinkley]

This is what I have for Brinkley.  I do it once or twice a week and his ears have been much better.  We haven't had ear issues since he was a puppy. 

[Ginny Nightingale]

Lots of doodles have ear problems! I have a few things to add that MIGHT help--first of all, when the doodle is groomed, have the groomer clear the area under the ear (on the neck of hair--an area about an inch by an inch --shave that with the clippers--the ear will come down and cover it but it will allow more air to circulate--and remove some hair from the inside of the ear flap if the dog has a lot of hair on the underside of the earflaps--I also layer the hair on the outside of the ear, so that the ear still looks long, but the weight of the ear is lighter and doesn't block air flow as much. Your pup looks just like my Lyric and she has a lot of hair on her ears!

Now this second thing might be totally off, but Lyric has runny eyes and ears when on chicken or turkey based food--it is an allergy--and gunk that fills up the ear  can add to the chance of ear infections.

Maybe this is a factor for your guy too--thought I would throw it out there.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

My Murphy is the king of ear infections. If I neglect to treat after a single bath or swimming he is off and running towards an infection. I use Epi-Otic, by Virbac, as a preventive cleaner whenever he gets wet in between infections and then I use whichever medication the vet feels is appropriate. Last one was mometamax (sp?). And it took 4 weeks to clear up!
I do get the Epi-Otic on line. Amazon I think. I treat once a week and I pluck ear hair about once a month. That is something that can set him up for an ear infection too, so I have to do it very carefully, a few hairs at a time.
I have only used Animax for skin abrasions or irritations, so if the hair pulling irritates the ear, it should certainly help. Good luck

[Seamus & Haidee]

I use Pro-Ear once a week on Seamus...a couple of drops followed by ear massage and then using a cotton ball and my fingers I clean the middle ear and make sure there isnt any dirt or wax. Hope that helps.  

[Kelli Bryant]

Sally,

Louis started with ear infections at 10 weeks.We pulled the hair out of the ear canal & we shaved under his ear flaps etc...all of the things we were told to try to no avail...this went on for a year.Every month we would get another ear infection.Poor Louis..it broke my heart & he stayed on ear drops.

Our vet finally suggested we see an derm/allergist ... low & behold Louis had a food allergy & it kept blowing up in his ears.

Yeast forms with each ear infection & then dies when you get meds from your vet but then regrows & starts all over again

if the ear/yeast isnt cleaned out...this is something the allergist did for us while he was sedated for the allergy panel.

Im happy to report that we changed his food and treats and we haevnt had a single ear infection in over 5 months.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Let's not get confused--all INFECTIONS need to be seen by a vet. Now. So many start the proventative methods when they notice a problem. A problem needs medical attention.
No treatment can replace antibiotics and monitored care by a vet!!! That said, my preventative treatments are no longer anything liquid. None of those cleaning products. For Spud, these break down his skin and then we do have an infection.
I only clear small tiny tufts of wispy hair at a time. These hairs are deep. Not those hairs attached to skin.
Our vet provides us with a one every few weeks, antibiotic drops. We also use ear power. The power has really do e the trick for us ( not liquid)
During allergy season, we give a 10mg Claritin as needed ( rare), and a daily dose of EPO.
We all have our tricks. Whatever works, keep doing that. That is , when you finally discover what works.
Again, preventative care and infections/problems are two different things.
Get all ear infections treated and completely cleared up before you try any of these maintenance methods

If my dog is scratching or shaking his head- that means VET. Not time to clean an ear
The longer you wait, the longer it takes to clear up. Our last infection was 2 months and we caught it early.
This also means the are already in pain:(
Not a good time at all to pull hair, pour fluids down the canal, and jam fingers with cotton balls attached into an already angry ear

[Jennifer and Jack]

Yup my boy needs to back to get his ears checked again!!! He has probably had about six or more ear infections in his life....I take him if he scratches his ears even a few times...no use waiting for his ears to look bad ..