Slight Ear Infection

[Erica]

I think Delta's got a bit of an ear infection; it smells a bit and he tries to bat my hand away when I try to investigate it further. We have a vet appointment next week (5/20 I think) and this week is just way too busy for anything that's not an emergency. (Lovely lovely miscommunications - instead of taking care of 4 dogs for 24 hours, which is what I thought I was agreeing to, I'm taking care of 4 dogs and two kids for 72 hours, which now overlaps with two other dogs, on top of Delta's usual care. I'm going to die a little bit.)

In the mean time, is there anything to make him more comfortable or help him out that I should do? I trim his ear fur already, but not inside his ear canal. I do make sure to fluff the fur out of there, though, so I don't think there's much buildup of anything. The groomers and poodle caretakers I've talked to mostly agree on avoiding ear hair plucking unless the dog is prone to infections and plucking makes them go away; for some dogs, the irritation from plucking causes infections to develop. However, it does help some dogs. Once this clears up I may try doing some plucking to keep the canals a little clearer to prevent another infection.

His breeder has this ear cleaner solution linked on their website, but I'm not sure of it - where I've looked for info about ear infections, there's usually a warning not to use alcohol solutions on the ear as it can inflame them.

[Nettle]

I use a few drops of lavender oil in water on a soft cloth for ears. If there is an infection the oil will penetrate the skin quickly and get to it. You don't have to put anything inside the ear, which is always dicey with a wiggly dog. Just wipe around the inside of the ear flap as close to the hole as he will let you. You may have to do this several times.

[Erica]

What luck, I already have lavender oil! I'll try that; it doesn't break the guidelines I've seen like the other formula does. Thank you!

[rnor1120]

My favorite at-home ear remedy - 50/50 vinegar and water or hydrogen peroxide and water. It won't treat inflammation, but it will kill anything in the ear and dry it out. In my experience, the fluffy-ear dogs tend to get yeast infections because all the hair in the canals traps moisture and debris. However, if your vet wants to take a sample to see what kind of infection he might have, this will probably make any samples s/he takes useless.

[Erica]

Thanks for the suggestion! It only seems to bother him when I try to check his ears, so for now we'll just wait it out in case they want samples. If it were bothering him I'd try that (and I'll keep it in mind for future - how do you apply it? Wipe or drops or...) and ask for an earlier appointment. We'll see the vets Thursday (was supposed to be for lepto vacc but there's an exam with that so we're in luck).

[Erica]

Quick update: they did take samples, and we got some drops for his right ear. I'll use the vinegar/water in his left, and after the irritations are cleared away I'll be plucking his ears to hopefully prevent future infections.

[rnor1120]

how do you apply it? Wipe or drops or...

Drops in the ear. Easy way to do it - soak a cotton ball, put it in the ear, and squeeze so it dribbles down the canal. You can use an eye dropper too, or something like that if you've got it. Massage the ear base (where the ear meets the head) for 15-20 seconds, and then get out of the way because he's going to want to shake his head. You can wipe the excess stuff out with a paper towel.