# Ear Infection?



## bigpoodleperson (Jul 14, 2009)

If it doesnt clear up soon then I would think a trip to the vet is in order. I have seen ears go Nasty very quickly! They can give correct medication to help treat it. Usually brown chunky discharge means yeast. Not uncommon at all with dogs that like to swim and then trap moisture in the ear.


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## Karen (May 7, 2009)

Thanks for the reply. I decided I'd better call the doggie doc and get some proper drops before this has a chance to get worse. He has an appointment at noon today.


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## whitepoodles (Jul 5, 2010)

Karen:

IF your dog is an avid swimmer you will always need to be very careful about his ears. Humidity in an ear is grounds for bacteria and yeast infection.
After he swims just dry the ear canals VERY well with a cotton swab and during the time he is treated for the infection NO swimming allowed.

Surolane antibiotic drops I found are the best for ear infection but your vet has to take a culture before prescribing any medication.. Yeast infection should be treated differently and only a culture can determine whether it is yeast or any thing else.


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## Karen (May 7, 2009)

Thanks whitepoodles. We just got back from the vet who gave him Surolane. Bill was $75 and the wait for my short notice appontment was long but I'm glad I've got the proper meds for him now. Its almost a long weekend here and would be a very bad time to need an emergency visit.


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## whitepoodles (Jul 5, 2010)

Wonderful, then you will have enough for a one week treatment of 5 drops in each ear (or only the affected ear ) BID (twice daily, am. and pm.
Good luck.. 
Surolane does the trick.. but dont forget to rinse the ear every day at the end of the day and dry it out thoroughly , go deep with the cotton swab into the canal (2 canals actually), before applying the p.m. drops. Also if your vet didnt tell you, you will have to SHAKE the heck out of the Surolane bottle and pls. keep in the fridge not outside.
In one week your dog will be fine.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Is some degree of brown waxyness normal? Both my dogs get this when it has been a few weeks since grooming but the vet has always said their ears look fantastic and neither of them have ever had infections.


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## Karen (May 7, 2009)

Thanks for the info. He gave me a 15 ml bottle of the Surolan. He told me only to put in the infected ear, twice daily and not to measure in drops, but rather to put the nozzle in deep and give a quick squirt. He didn't say anything about rinsing the ear. Wouldn't rinsing remove the medication?


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## whitepoodles (Jul 5, 2010)

Karen;117526 said:


> Thanks for the info. He gave me a 15 ml bottle of the Surolan. He told me only to put in the infected ear, twice daily and not to measure in drops, but rather to put the nozzle in deep and give a quick squirt. He didn't say anything about rinsing the ear. Wouldn't rinsing remove the medication?


You will need to rinse the ear clean of brownish debris every morning before you commence treatment.

If the dog has antibiotics in their ear you will also note quite a bit of brownish discharge coming out, this must be cleaned and removed from the canal, then rinsed with a certain EPIOTIC solution or any other ear solution/cleaner that your vet recommends and he should... and then dried VERY well with cotton swabs (do NOT put Q-tips ever in a dog's ears) and after the canal and outer ear are well dried you put the 5 drops in the morning and repeat the same at night.

Your vet was correct in telling you to put the point of the bottle right down the canall but do NOT squirt, just put 5-8 drops and massage the ear very well before releasing the dog.. this way the antibiotic ointment will go deeply into the ear canal (s)

No reason to squirt alot , you only need 6-8 drops BID (twice daily),, but you must clean the ear of any brownish debree in the Morning before commencing the treatment daily.

Also if you are looking for an excellent home made ear cleaner/flusher google BLUE EAR POWDER and it will give you the recipe of the mixture of alcohol, # of Gentian Violet drops (this you can get at a pharmacy very reasonalbe $7.00 and boric acid powder. The formula on how to make it is on the net. Simple and extremely effective.. however it stains.. and so you will have to watch out and do it outdoors. This will act as an ear cleaner in the morning before applying the SUrolane.

If you do this treatment (depending on the severity of the infection) for 5-10 days your dog will be fine.. but you will have to know that the more you allow your dog to swim the more you will have otic problems because water is the worst that you can have in a dog's ears.. it always leads to infection.


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## whitepoodles (Jul 5, 2010)

ChocolateMillie said:


> Is some degree of brown waxyness normal? Both my dogs get this when it has been a few weeks since grooming but the vet has always said their ears look fantastic and neither of them have ever had infections.


Chocmillie:

Yes it is very normal.. even people produce wax, so do dogs, sometimes the wax is light brown sometimes is darkish in color.

As long as it is not damp/wet and does not smell vinigary or acidic than the ear is devoid of infection..

An infected ear will always have a musty acidic/vinegary smell to it. IF it does not and only has some debris in it and it is oily and has no odour you are fine.


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## CelticKitti (Jul 1, 2010)

A little wax is ok, Mia gets a little built up. I usually clean HER ears about every 2 weeks. But you don't want lots of brown smelly gunk and a red inflamed ear. Mia's ears are nice and skin toned and don't look angry.

Kodi has chronic yeast issues due to allergies and he has a constant production of red/brown gunk. I have to clean his ears twice a week or they would become infected(inflamed and smelly). I'm hoping the removal of grains from his diet will clear his ears up again


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## whitepoodles (Jul 5, 2010)

Kodi has chronic yeast issues due to allergies and he has a constant production of red/brown gunk. I have to clean his ears twice a week or they would become infected(inflamed and smelly). I'm hoping the removal of grains from his diet will clear his ears up again [/QUOTE]

CelticKitti

I had a female who suffered with chronic ear infections forever and this caused me such stress as I tried everything under the sun to correct the situation no expense spared. I even put her on a grain free diet. NOTHING helped.

Took her to my vet and then we both realized that her ear canal (s) are extremely tiny and not letting enough air to go in.

They flushed her ears and surgically widened the canal opening and now she is devoid of any and all ear infections.

You may want to look into his ears and see if your pink goes nicely in or even your index finger, if you can NOT put your index finger in his ear down the canal then most probably your dog has very narrow ear canals that prevent air from reaching and circulating and this MAY be the reason for the chronic infections.

I also thought it was grain, but discovered it was not . 

It will be worth it for you to take a look and test to see how large/small the canal is before switching to the grain free diet.. 

Just a thought.


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## CelticKitti (Jul 1, 2010)

Ora,

He was on a puppy food that contained grains and we had multiple ear infections the first year I had him, even with my constant cleaning. He started refusing the adult version and was loosing weight. Then I switched him to a higher calorie food so he didn't have to eat 2 cups a day to keep weight on him(he was only 13 lbs at that point), it just so happened to be grain free. After about 8 months he decided one day that he was bored I guess and stopped eating that one too. I had finally gotten him to a good weight and didn't want him to loose any... so I went ahead and just switched him to what I feed Mia. Both dogs on the same food is much easier! 

During that time I fed grain free I didn't take the grain out of his treats... so he got some grain. But his ears were SOOOOOO much better! Not one ear infection and I didn't have to clean nearly as often!! I didn't put the connection together until his ears got worse again. So there is some indication that may be a grain issue. 

I can get a pinky into his ear canal and wiggle around to clean, but an index finger is tight. But they are smaller than other Mini's I know. So I do think he is more prone to ear infections because he has narrow ear canals. His vet has commented on this but we don't think its his only issue. But if his ears don't clear up I'll look into it some more. I had forgot about that conversation with the vet so thanks for the suggestion!

If removing the grain fixes it then I'll find some new treats that he will eat (uggg) and take him totally grain free for the rest of his life, even if that means finding 2 or 3 foods and rotating them for when he gets "bored?". I have to be sure to clean VERY carefully after he goes swimming and after baths, that’s a sure way to have a raging ear infection in about 3 days. 

So for now we're on drops in both ears 3 times a day for 3 weeks... I have finished switching foods to just grain free so I am hopeful that once the drops clear up his ears they will stay clean with less maintenance. (Fingers Crossed!!)

Kat


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## whitepoodles (Jul 5, 2010)

Kat, 
It would be interesting to find out how she does after you put her on grain free.

Anessa my girl (Cole's half sister) at times comes down with unexplainable ear infections not really an infection but producing a lot of waxy brownish stuff in her ear

I am going to try and take her off Fromm Salmon Veggies cause it has grain and see how she does on Acana Pacifica (the brand Cole eats since he is allergic to chicken and grain GRRRR)

I will let you know.

Oh what drops did your vet give you.. and what do you use to flush/clean her ears with.. Aside from the vinegar solution and the Gentian violet one there is a great product sold in Cda. called ROUTEEN.. It is great.


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## CelticKitti (Jul 1, 2010)

This time around we're on a miconazole solution. He only had yeast in his ears. We've been on Otomax(antifungal, steroid and antibiotic) at least twice in the past when he had yeast and bacteria. I'd have to pull out his records to see what we've been on the other times.

As for cleaning I've used Epiotic, Gentian violet solution and chlorhexidine solution as a flush. When he shakes his head... there is always something coming out. I've also used iodofoam powder/zinc oxide powder/boric acid powder combination. He has SUPER hairy ears so this also helps to pluck hair. That seemed to dry up his ears pretty well, but never got rid of the brown gunk. I imagine if its due to an allergy he just kept producing the "gunk." 

Unfortunately he hates having his ears cleaned and will try to hide if you bring out the cotton balls. So I have to catch him then pull out everything but will stand and let me clean them. I really can't blame him... they can't feel good!


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