Question for you dog experts

Lothlorien

Active Member
Smelly dog ears? Yuck. She is scratching a little at them and they hurt her. They smell gawd-awful. I made an appointment for the vet, but it's not for a couple of days. I've been cleaning them very gently with a small amount of peroxide and cotton balls, but was wondering if you dog experts had any other ideas.

One idea on the internet said to crush a garlic clove and leave it in olive oil overnight. Put a couple drops of oil in the ears. This would smother mites, if that were the culprit. I asked the vet's office and they said NO. The idea makes sense to me, because of the antiseptic properties of the garlic, but if they vet was emphatic, I'm not doing it.

Another thing that was mentioned online was yeast. Can I give the dog plain yogurt?

Anyone had this problem in past and have a good cure for her?
 

SuZir

Well-Known Member
Do your stores or pharmacies have special pet ear cleaning solutions? If you have, use them. You drop some of the solution to the ear, rub the ear (outside) and let the dog to shake it out.

You can also give the dog natural yoghurt or other probiotics. If ear smells and bothers your dog, it is likely infected and you will need antibiotics. But cleaning it helps a little and probiotics help to avoid it in future. I give my dogs regularly sour milk product with probiotics.
 
T

TeDo

Guest
Suz has a good idea. Check at a pet store and see if they have doggie ear cleaner. I don't know that I'd put peroxide in anyone/anything's ears. It's an acid and I'd be worried about damaging the eardrum.

Sorry I can't be of more help. If it were my dog (she's a springer) I'd be watching for infected hair clumps in the ears. Your breed, I just don't know.
 

StressedM0mma

Active Member
It sounds like a yeast infection. You can give him plain yogurt, but that will not cure at this point. You will need to get an ear cleaner, and some ear medications to clear it up. If he is a floppy eared dog, I would lift his ears up a few times a week, and on COLD air on low, let the hair dryer air them out for a few seconds.
 

klmno

Active Member
I'd ask the vet before giving yogurt. My memory is shot these days but I think a vet told me once that dogs'' digestive systems cannot process the bacteria in yogurt that is actually healthy for humans. But double-check because like I say, I don't trust my own memory these days.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
Dogs can eat plain unflavored yogurt and a spoonful or so is often added to their food to help with digestive issues but I wouldn't count on it for ear problems. I honestly wouldn't fool around with home remedies where their ears are concerned because a deep-seated ear infection is very painful, can be very hard to cure and can damage their hearing. A trip to the vet is in order. They can get yeast infections in their ears and there may or may not be dirty-looking stuff in their ears. My Katy got one that appeared virtually overnight. Her ears were bright red inside, felt hot to the touch, and bothered her a lot. A few days of using ear drops from the vet and she was fine again but you need to catch it early. If there is a lot of dark, smelly, gunky material in the ears it's probably ear mites but again, not a do-it-yourself project. The vet can gently clean the out the ear and give you ear drops or an ointment that will kill the mites quickly.
 

Jody

Active Member
Definately no garlic, I have used it for ear pain for myself and it works but not for a dog. A garlic clove if digested by a dog could kill it. Dewfinately sounds like a yeast infection. The odor can be terrible. I would clean gently with q-tips and keep dry and wait for the vet, needs antibiotics to get it cleared up. We have a cocker spaniel and they are notorius for dirty ears and infections. We clean her ears every week, and so far no infections. If not they get pretty gross.
 

Nancy

Well-Known Member
We've had that problem from time to time and it certainly sounds like an infection. Vet will give you ear drops to use but in meantime I just used the ear cleaning solution found in pet stores. It won't cure it but may make it more comfortable.
 

Lothlorien

Active Member
I will check pet store tomorrow. She is a beagle mix, we believ. Not floppy ears, but she does have a lot of fur on the outer part of her ear, so it is hard to see inside. I'm not putting peroxide in the ear, just on the cotton ball and then cleaning her ear. There's some dirt, but kind of looks like dried scab from her scratching. The smell is hideous.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Just been there done that with Maggie. Yeast infection.

Ear cleaning solution won't do much except "clean" the ear. She'll need good antibiotics from the vet to clear it up. If it's really smelly, guessing it is if you're smelling it so strong, nothing else is going to help. Fortunately for my dogs, my vet starts with the strong antibiotic to nip it in the bud. Once it takes hold infection is gone for good with no more vet visits necessary.
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
Yeast infection. She may need to see the vet, but you're going to have to start by cleaning them out in any case.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4610641_dogs-ear-yeast-infection-vet.html

Take care of it ASAP so that she doesn't transfer the yeast infection to her toes with the scratching. If she starts chewing her feet, you'll know that's the case and she will just keep transferring it back and forth between the two. Then you have to add the cone of shame to the mix. Keeping her feet dry when she comes inside is important, because that's a basic starting point for a yeast infection. If she gets it in her toes, you can use over the counter yeast infection cream on her toes, twice a day.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
Peroxide is something I use in my ears anytime I get a sinus infection or cold. It does NOT hurt you or damage your eardrum or any other part of your ear. It is usually cold, and it sounds like fireworks, but can be VERY helpful. I have used it on both dogs and cats. I do dilute it for pets to a solution of half water and half peroxide. This is because dogs and cats have more sensitive skin. I have had both the two ENT people docs and more than a few vets suggest that we do this.

The ONLY time the peroxide will hurt is if the skin is rubbed raw or has open cuts from the animal scratching so much.

Oil will NOT smother and kill mites. It can help you clean them out, but entomologists that I know all say this is one of the least effective treatments for ear mites/lice/fleas. If you are going to use oil, get some neem oil because it is a natural, organic pesticide that is super beneficial to your skin. It is in many skin treatments (including one of the as seen on tv foot creams for super dry skin) and is also used in cooking in some countries. I wouldn't eat it because it does NOT smell nice to me, but it is taht safe for people and dogs/cats/livestock.

If this is yeast, which is my best guess, then antibiotics won't do diddly unless there is also a secondary infection. OTC products for yeast infections for women would be a better thing to use. Get the 7 day kind and apply a small amount to each ear daily. Cleaning the ear with either saline or ear cleaning solution before applying will likely be helpful. If you can get to a vet, they should either rx a topical cream and cleaning or rx an antifungal medicine, or do both.

I know the peroxide sounds strange, but I have had excellent ENTs and vets all direct us to use it. We were even told to use it with Wz before he was a year old. It worked better at keeping colds from turning into nasty ear infections better than anything else the dr suggested or rx'd. It even helped greatly wtih ear infections because his did not like to go away.

If you cannot find the ear cleaning solution, you can get a bottle of store brand saline solution from the contact lens aisle. It will work well at helping to clean out his ear. You use more of it than the very few drops of peroxide, and doesn't irritate their skin the way tap water will.
 

Fran

Former desparate mom
You can also get anti itch powder for ears for the dogs. I use that if my dogs seem to be shaking their heads a lot. I never put q tips in their ears. I will clean the outer part of their ears and put ear cleaning gtts in their ears. Good luck.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
My cockers had chronic ear infections. My vet gave me a green solution (smelled good) to clean their ears with and I think it really helped! Not sure what it was, but maybe your vet knows.
 

Lothlorien

Active Member
I bought the ear cleaning solution. I also got dog probiotics. I have the miconizole cream. I may try a little of that. It's really bothering her today. I'm going to try to get into the vet tomorrow.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Im trying to figure out how an antibiotic is going to help a yeast infection. An antifungal...yes. An antibiotic is just going to make a yeast infection worse unless there is also a secondary infection but then they will still have to treat the yeast too. Think women and yeast and antibiotics. Yeah.

I have heard of using sweet oil for ear infections for people but dont know about animals. I think the sweet oil helps because it is warmed and it is not damaging to the skin. Also the oil helps move the embedded wax out. I know it does feel good. I doubt it would hurt a dog considering all it really is is olive oil in a small bottle that you can heat in hot water and has a dropper.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
You can use olive oil for that, though the bottles of 'sweet oil' here are always almond oil. Either one is safe to use.

you are right about the antibiotics. That is why I suggested the miconazole cream - it is what will deal with the yeast. Also, if it is in the ars it may actually not respond as fast to an oral antifungal as it will to the miconazole cream applied to the ears. My aunt had a dog that had this and they ended up with an rx antifungal medicine to be taken orally that would have been about $100. The vet kept insisting and then when they said they flat out didn't have that to pay, he admitted it would probably be cheaper and faster to just use miconazole from the feminine hygeine aisle and that that would be gentler on the dog overall because it was designed to be gentle (think where we use it) rather than having to go through the dog's entire system.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Oils are not advisable in either human or animal ears. I know it's a common relief home remedy, but it's not a good idea.......as it can trap bacteria in the ear. Oil doesn't drain out completely, it coats the ear.

The antibiotic, I believe, is designed to target the specific yeast is how it helps clear it up. Or rather cause your body to make the appropriate antibodies to target the yeast. But yeah, Janet, I hear ya. Poor mother in law if she was ever put on any antibiotic she'd come up with a secondary yeast infection. So she learned to drink buttermilk all during antibiotic treatment as it prevented the secondary yeast infection. So you'd think it wouldn't help much but it does.

Once I could get Maggie's drops INTO her ears, hers cleared up pretty darn fast. Cleaning them was OUT.......if I ever wanted to get the medication drops in. She wouldn't do both, we couldn't get close to her sore ear for two bouts a day, no way. lol

Your vet should check the dogs skin and feet for signs of the yeast infection........which usually (but not always) causes the ear infection. That my vet has always done oral antibiotics for, at least for Molly who sometimes chews herself to the point of getting such an infection. Maggie's skin and feet were perfect. I'm wondering if she got the yeast via cleaning Molly's ears for her. Molly's yeast infection cleared up on it's own this time before I had a chance to get her into the vet.........wonder if all Maggie's cleaning had something to do with it? hmmm

Just as with people you probably could let it clear up on it's own, but I would imagine that could be very painful for the dog who can't tell you how bad it hurts.
 
Until reading what everyone had to say, I had no idea dogs can transfer infections from their paws to their ears. It makes sense, just never really thought about it. My favorite sanity saver has been licking her left front paw for a couple of days. I'll have to watch it.

I hope you're able to get a vet appointment today and your dog feels better ASAP!
 

Lothlorien

Active Member
Got her to the vet....Yeast infection, not a bacterial infection. Gave me a ear cleaning solution and miconizole drops. The cream won't actually get down into the canal, so drops were given. She went into heat while we were there, too. Everytime I have the money and am about to make the appointment to have her fixed, she goes into heat and then I have to wait two months. I wasn't expecting her to go into heat for another month or so. Phoooey
 
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