Ear Infections

[Lauren Ross]

My doodle keeps getting ear infections. I don’t want to keep paying to go to the vet and getting the RX. Does anybody have any tips for getting rid of ear infections? Any home remedies or meds that don’t require an RX?

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

Well, depends on a few things. What is causing the infections? How old is your doodle? Has he ever really completely cleared up from one infection with RX meds or is this one that keeps getting a little better and then flares back up? My doodle is plagued w ear infections and we are just finishing up a 4 week course of meds right now.
I do suggest Epi-Otic to clean regularly and keeping the hair out of the ears is helpful. If you can't bring yourself to pluck it, have a groomer.
The longest he has ever gone without one is 13 months! I have tried just about every home remedy ever suggested and have finally found Epi-Otic to keep his infections at bay. Maybe it's the pH level that works for him, not sure but I've learned how to keep his ears dry, clean, hair free, how much and when to pluck, etc.

[nate]

We pluck non-stop.  Using a pair of hemostats is required ( you can get them on amazon for cheap ).

Our vet recommended: If the ear is red , itchy or inflamed - or there are scratches there - put some mineral oil in it and massage it to clean.  you can repeat a few times.  we use a medicine dropper to do that.

if the ear is fine, you can use ear drops that are a mix of alcohol and acetic acid ( vinegar ).  we found a brand that has tea-tree oil in it too - that seems to help in our case.

we have to clean the ears every 2-3 days, otherwise the ear infections come back.  we have 2 dogs, and one keeps licking the other ones' ear when we're not looking.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

One of the things you need to make sure that you are doing is getting the ear med as far down in the ear canal as you can.  With a previous dog, we were not doing that and it eventually  caused a hearing loss.

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

Very true Nancy, especially if there is a lot of hair in the ear. The meds just don't get down to the root of the problem and can't be effective.

[Lauren Ross]

That might be the problem. She's a squirmy little thing so its a chore to do anything with her ears. I will make sure I'm going down as far as I should be.

 

Thank You!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Have someone help you, Lauren.  Also, she will get used to you doing this and become more cooperative.

[Kelli Bryant]

Good Morning Lauren,

Louis kept getting ear infections so our vet sent us to see an allergist.

Turns out it was a food allergy and it was causing yeast to grow in his ears thus the ear infections.

The allergist explained to us that our vet was giving us ear drops to use for the infections & Epi-Otic ear cleaner that we were using twice a week which was just knocking his ear infection down  temporarily & making it appear to be cleared up but the yeast will regrow & start a new infection unless you change the food you are feeding.Also while he was in for the allergy panel they cleaned all of that old yeast out so it couldnt grow back.

Yippie!!! We have not had an ear infection since we switched his food.Which has now been 4 months.

Wish we knew then what we know now! Lol

 

Ps. Food allergies are easy to figure out...it is most commonly the proetein in the food or in the treats you are feeding..ie the chicken or lamb etc...

You may not need to do the allergy study...just change your food & get that yeast cleaned out by your vet.

Hope this helps:)

Kelli & Louis

[Lauren Ross]

This was helpful and something I wouldn't have thought of. She has had some food allergies, but they all seem to make her paws itch. It never dawned on me that it could be the problem of the ear infections as well.

 

Thank You!!

 

[Kelli Bryant]

Maybe we are on to something with the allergies.If your doodle has never had his/her ears cleaned out by the vet you may have yeast dying & then regrowing again causing this ear infection over & over.

Louis was sedated for the allergy panel so they were able to clean them much better than we could at home.

He is so good about letting us clean his ears but the allergist said they used a special tool while he was sedated to get in his canal & extract the yeast.

[nate]

how did the vet clear the yeast out of the canal?

[Kelli Bryant]

It was our allergist not our vet that cleaned the yeast out & Im not sure exactly what he used but with Louis being sedated that for sure made it far easier than doing it ourselves at home.We couldnt even see anything when we cleaned his ears but im sure with the instruments they use to look down into the ear canal he could certainly see it.Just so happy that it worked :)

[Colleen, Jake & Baxter]

Zymox Otic with Hydrocortisone is my go to product for ears.  It has saved me many trips to the vet.  I also use it as a preventative.  My vet recommended it 4 years ago and I order it online.