Puppy with ear infection
 

My 4 month old puppy was diagnosed last wednesday with an ear infection. The vet gave me drops and a cleansing liquid to put in for 7 days. Well tomorrow will be the 7th day that she is getting the meds and tonight after her bath I was blow drying her ears and it is still pretty pink/red. Its not only pink in deep, its pretty pink on the flap part on the inside. Dont you think after six days the medicine would have taken care of it by now?
I guess I should take her back to the vet for a recheck huh?
Anyone else have experience with ear infections?
Thanks!

ear
 

A recheck is always good in these cases...

It isn't uncommon for dogs to have ear infections. You just have to figure out what was the contributing factor.
Inflammation, irritation, pain, and swelling of the ears are common problems for both dogs and cats, often reflecting allergy or skin problems that also manifest in other parts of the body. Such allergies express themselves periodically as a sudden redness or flushing of the skin, perhaps after a meal during specific times of the year, such as pollen season. A dog with ear problems is likely an allergy victim if it also chews it's front feet excessively and scoots it's rear end along the floor or ground.
It's important to understand that the larger issue of allergies usually underlies an ear problem. Otherwise, you might just focus on the ears and ignore the rest of the situation or even make the situation worse if the ear treatment is suppressive.
Keeping the ears clean of discharges and secretions is very helpful in reducing irritation. Choose one of these three alternatives.
HERBAL---Calendula; If the discharge is watery, smelly and thin, flush and massage the ear canal once or twice a day with a solution of 1 cup of pure water (distilled, spring, or filtered),1 teaspoon of a tincture or glycerin extract of marigold flower buds (Calendula officinalis), and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt.
HERBAL--Aloe vera; For ears that are painful, sensitive, and raw looking inside but have little disscharge, treat in the same way as above, but use fresh juice or a liquid gel preparation made from the leaves of the aloe vera plant.
HERBAL-- Sweet almond oil (almond oil); To soften and dissolve dark, waxy, oily ear discharge, flush and massage the ear canal with sweet almond oil (Prunus amydalus), which is also soothing and healing to the skin. If the ear is painful as well, alternate with the aloe treatment on a different day (oil and water don't blend well).
HERBAL---Green tea; For ears that are producing mostly dark, smelly material. First, clean them with the almond oil (above) then use this treatment starting the next day. Put 2 bags (or 2 teaspoons loose tea) in a mug, add boiling water, and steep for 15 minutes. Strain and use warm to flush the ears. You can do this twice a day.

When your fur-baby is over this ear infection, you may want to let a groomer look in the ears to see if there is too much hair and needing to be pulled out. Sometimes when dogs have a lot of ear hair it just traps moisture and they end up with a yeasty ear/s. Pulling of the hair is a little painful, but it's necessary. Wait till your baby is completely over this first.

Yorkiedaze,
You described my other dog (a yorkie=poo)! He always is licking/biting his feet after he comes in from inside, and sometimes does the booty scoot across the floor.
Is that usually an "outdoor" allergy thing or you think food??

id say 7 days it not long enough to clear up an ear infection, my annie died from an ear infection that the vets had thought was cleared up after one month of drops then another month of drops:(
it spread to her brain and filled her lungs.
please make sure it is cleared up b4 you stop treatment, and really you shouldnt be bathing her with an ear infection as the water can go in to the ears with the dirt and germs.
hope your little one is better soon:aimeeyork

Most times it's a food allery. Most dog foods are notorious for allergy's.

Misha got a lot of ear infections when she was small. When bathing place cotton in ears. To much hair causes infections also. Hair in the ear holds moisture. It took along time to finally get her over one bout.
Yorkiedaze seems very knowledgeable on this.

Thank you all very much!
The cotton balls is a great idea too!!!

Hello, I just joined the forums and decided to search for any ear infection threads. Well, it looks like my little yorkie has one of his ears infected. The vet had given me some liquid to clean his ears and an ointment to apply after the cleansing. This was about a month and a half ago. Now yesterday, I noticed he was scratching at his ear alot. I checked his ear and it looked red and a little swollen. Both his ears look dried up but one more than the other. Is this normal for yorkies? Should I use the herbal tea to clean his ears. He's producing some dark wax. It looks like dirt but it's not. Thanks, Johan

My Vinnie is almost 4 months, when we brought him home he started scratching his ears. 5 days later when we took him to the vet he said it was an ear infection, which we contributed to the breeder giving him a bath before we picked him up. We do give him a bath once a week, which he loves, but the big thing is putting cotton balls in the ears to make sure you don't get water in the ears, or what we prefer is not to get water on his head. I use my wet fingers to clean around his nose and eyes and a little bit on top of the head, but i never allow enough water on his head so that it could get into his little ears. I think because ear infections are so common in people we forget how deadly they are, even to us, but especially for a small puppy. Good luck!

Our Toto had an infection in one of her ears and when we got to the bottom of the cause .... the groomer was snipping the hair down inside rather than plucking it! Our vet was furious. No doubt, no more groomer! :( I now take her to our vet for ear plucking, nail trimming [I'm learning but don't feel confident that they are short enough! :rolleyes: ] and gland expression when needed. I bought clippers, etc. and groom her myself. When I bathe her, I put those little soft foam earplugs in her ears and it works perfectly. I used cotton at first but found that it absorbed some water, the earplugs don't. ;)

Isn't it bad to flush the ears with the herbal tea since it's bad to get water in their ears??

I have the same cleaner and drops.. and it is HELL trying to get it in there ... it gets all over his hair and then is all oily.. he doesn't even have an infection but his ears were itchy so she gave it to me.. I am suppose to do it 2 times a day but barely manage once.. it leaves his hair soo oily! :(

What I did was use q-tips and gently rubbed it in my pup's ears. That way it doesn't get all over his hair.

Hi bettyeanne,

Could you tell me what the cure for this type of infection is? My yorkie does get it after going to the groomer. I will tell the groomer not to touch the inside of her ears from now on, but now I need to know what I can do to help my yorkie.

Thanks,

mk

Part of the job a groomer does is plucking the hair out of their ears and it really does help to keep problems down! What was mentioned was that the vet was clipping hairs and not plucking. As long as your vet is plucking, I would think it is fine.

As to the type of infection, you really need a vet to check it out. There are many causes of infections in ears!

I am just now seeing your question, I'm sorry! The groomer was the one not plucking the hair but she was simply snipping them short. My Vet discovered the terribly matted short hairs down in there when she saw her for the problem with her ears. She said that the mat of short hair was holding water down inside her ear and causing infection. My Vet plucked them all out and told me to never let that groomer touch her again ... and I did not take her back to that groomer! That's why I always take her to our Vet for plucking ear hair and expressing her anal glands. I always make sure to put her ear plugs in when I bathe her and have never had another ear problem. Toto will be 7 yrs. old in a few days! ;)

Good luck with your baby.

ladyjane, bettyeanne,

Thanks for the advice!

It's not as convenient for me (living where I do) to take him to the vet. Additionally, I don't feel it's necessary to deal with all health concerns by taking the pet to the vet.

I ended up applying Betadine to his ears, putting on home-made elizabethan collar for a couple of days. The spot on his ear turned from bright red to brown (the color that wounds turn to as they heal) and now his ear is back to its healthy form.

As for ear plucking vs trimming, thank you for clearing up my confusion. I do think that this is the problem I was having with my dog, i.e. the groomer wasn't plucking them but only trimming. Before I applied the Betadine, I used tweezers to pluck the little hairs from deep inside his ears very, very carefully. So, I think that helped too.

He's a healthy, happy dog whose most stressful situation is when he tries to jump on my lap as I work. I thought he'd manage to pull through this without the attention of a vet, and he did.

Good job!! I am so happy that you were able to get those little ears cleared up. Sounds like you did an excellent job with his ears ... I am terrible with those sorts of things myself. Just so they are plucked rather than trimmed. Good luck with your little one, you're a good Mom! :)

msafi ... I forgot to mention ... the infection that Toto had in her ears was a yeast infection caused by the dampness which was caused by the short matted hair down in there. She never acted like it bothered her but my husband smelled a yeast odor and we took her in to have it checked. My hubby has a nose like a "bloodhound"!! ;)

Hello need some advice,I gave my yorky a bath.then about 1 hr later took her out to use bathroom,and she act like something is wrong with her ear.what could it be.wator our did something get in her ear?

She is only 9 weeks old.

It could be water in the ear. I see you posted this last night, so if she is not completely better by this morning, you should take her to the vet.

When bathing I don't get the head very wet. Cotton balls are going to absorb not repel water. You would need lamb wools to repel. With chronic ear problems and yeast it is probably a food allergy. I had one allergic to wheat. Her main food didn't contain wheat but many treats do. Thankfully you can find treats now without corn or wheat. I have always had great success with a product called zymox for chronic conditions or those that don't clear on an antibiotic.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: