Ear Infection
 

My CoCo :aimeeyork is 9 wks old. I think she may have an ear infection :( Being a mom of three, there are some signs that I have noticed from personal experience. She constantly scratches (no, she does not have fleas) her ears and there is an odor. I looked in her ears and I didn't see anything alarming (not sure what I am looking for in a dog, though). Are there other symptoms I should be looking for? Is there something that I can do at home for her?? Cant go to vet until Monday. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

I'd wait for the vet to see her. You don't know if it's yeast or a bacterial infection, so you could make it worse by using the wrong thing.

my baby had bad ear infection after my vet checked. i got her from a shelter and obviously she was never taken care of well. the vet prescribed me "trizultra+keto". it's cheaper online from amazon than wat my vet charged me. u just squeeze some in the ears and rub the base of the ears gently, then wipe away excess with cotton ball. let them shake their head and wipe off excess. it's a watery solution and works pretty good.

infection
 

I've been dealing with an ear infection in my baby this week. I noticed last Friday that she was constantly scratching at her ears and hollering. I thought at first it might be ear mites so I did treat her own my own for that, but by Monday I felt like she was feeling worse so we went to the vet. He pulled some hair out of both ears and did check for mites but said they were clear of that. Her ears were red when he first checked them and really wasn't sure if it was yeast or bacteria. He gave her a antibiotic shot and some cream that I put in her ears everyday for a week. It's been 4 days and I can tell a major difference in how she feels.

Bella just got over an ear yeast infection. The vet prescribed tri-otic ointment that contains both antibiotics and fungicide, so it would have been good against either yeast or bacterial infection. We squirted a little in her ear twice a day and massaged the base of her ears to work it in. It was a 10 day treatment and did the trick. HOWEVER, you don't want to self-diagnose. Take her in to the vet just to be sure. Also, the vet will be able to recommend a good ear wash to use to make sure that she doesn't get reinfected.

is there mucus or redness in the ear and is it an offensive odour or just a waxy ear smell. What are you feeding her, does she have itching any where other than her ears? the less you fart about with ears the better, I just read an article on that. Let me see if I can find it.

Pet Health Tip of the Month – Tips for Ears!

You asked for it, and here it is: 25 integrative tips on how to tune up your pet’s ears.

To put this together, we needed a special team member. Our pet nutrition bloggers set out on a mission and snagged the top holistic vet in the city to join the team:

Holistic/Integrative veterinarian, Dr. Jennifer Bishop of Full Circle Vet, aka Dr. B.

If your pet’s ears are normal or inflamed, or maybe you’re simply wondering about cleaners, check out Dr. B’s “25 Tips for Ears”:

Tips for Normal Ears:

1. Normal ears are pale pink with small amount of tan coloured wax.
2. Normal ears do not require cleaning of any sort.
3. Any cleaner can be irritating and will change the normal environment of the ear.
4. Plucking causes micro-trauma of the skin in the ear, predisposing to infections.
5. Dogs with pendulous ears (i.e. Cocker Spaniels), heavily haired ear (i.e. some Poodles) or extremely narrow ear canals (i.e. Sharpei) MAY benefit from cleaning with a ceruminolytic product weekly.

Tips for Inflamed Ears:

6. See your veterinarian: abnormal ears are often a symptom of broader illness.
7. Red, itchy ears with no debris or odor are often a reflection of allergies.
8. Red, smelly ears with lots of damp, yellow debris may have a bacterial infection or a yeast infection coupled with an allergy.
9. One-sided recurring ear infections can indicate food allergy or food sensitivities.
10. Itchy ears with thick, black debris may have allergy, parasite, bacteria or yeast problems.
11. Crusts along the ear margins may indicate autoimmune disease.
12. A perforated eardrum can lead to serious middle ear infections and balance problems.
13. Diagnostic tests like cytology and culture (growing the organisms) helps direct effective treatment.
14. Culturing an ear sample should be done before you start antibiotic treatment.
15. Topical ear treatments for inflamed ears allow 1000-fold concentration of active ingredients.
16. LASER can be effective adjunct treatment for inflamed ears.
17. Acupuncture can be an effective adjunct treatment for inflamed ears.
18. Chinese Herbal formulas can also help treat any chronic illness.

Tips about Cleaners

19. The main job of cleaners is to remove debris so the ear is clean.
20. The safest non-specific cleaners are water and saline, which simply flush away debris.
21. Cleaners or treatments with alcohol should be avoided.
22. Cleaners or treatments with an oil or powder base clog the ear canal and should not be used inside the ear.
23. Ceruminolytics are used to soften waxy deposits in the ears.
24. Vinegar solutions, benzoic acid, salicylic acid, boric acid and isopropyl alcohol containing products are acidic; while they dry the ear, they can also be irritating to the skin.
25. If anything you put in the ear makes the situation worse rather than better, STOP!