I have 5 dogs, One gets a ear infection over and over, I have treated her for ear mites , went to the vet lots of times, and done all the antibiotics and ear drops, get it all cleared up and in a few weeks it is back, only one dog, she is a long hair lab. she hates water! I can"t stand the vet bills over and over, there has to be something I can do on a daily basis to end this problem Irene

-- Irene orsborn (tkorsborn@cs.com), May 15, 2001

Answers

Irene,

Ive noticed that problem with long haired dogs. Ive talked to vets and they usually just say, "Well some dogs just get infected ears...here is a perscription for ear wash and some drops." One day I was sitting around and trying to figure out why over the years some of my long haired dogs had bad ears, some didnt, some didnt and then did, and then some did then didnt...

While I thought about it, I noticed that my dogs that had had infected ears only had them infected when we lived at some of our houses (we used to move a lot) and not at others.

I got to thinking about what it was about some of the places we lived that might be different than others and there was only one answer...the furnace.

When we lived places that had forced air, then the dogs ears were infected, when we lived in places that had radiators then the dogs didnt.

Well how could the heat source be a cause?

Well of course a furnace that heats with hot air winds up blowing all kinds of bacteria and wild yeast/molds around a house from the basement/cellar even when you keep the filter clean and a hot water radiator leaves all that garbage in the cellar.

There seemed to be more to it though...

The dryer. Many folks dont vent their dryer outside during the winter (sometimes never) and to conserve the expelled heat in the house and remoisten the dry winter air they pass it through nylons or into a lint catching water filled cup dealy.

So, when I lived somewhere that had radiators and a properly vented dryer then the dogs had no infections. When I lived somewhere that was either not properly vented and/or had forced air then the dogs did get infections.

It makes sense I guess, moistened bacteria/mold/wild yeast laden little micro lint thingys would act like "disease seeds" and when they got stuck in a prime environment like behind the long haired dogs wall of ear hair they would "sprout" causing the infection.

Anyway, its worked for me...clean your furnace and check your vent.

-- William in Wi (gnarledmaw@lycos.com), May 15, 2001.

Quick and easy, also cheap ear drops. Equal parts vinegar and alcohol. Alcohol dries out those moist ears, and vinegar sets up an acid environment that yeast doesn't like. I've worked for different vets that used this on their own dogs.

-- melina b. (goatgalmjb1@hotmail.com), May 15, 2001.

I have a male lab with the same problem... No matter what was done, same ear would get infected at the drop of a hat. He hated this, but he hasn't had an ear infection of any kind in over a month now...

I dripped (I suppose you could find a less 'shocking' method) hydrogen peroxide in his ear twice daily till he stopped whining when he scratched, wasn't scratching NEAR as much, and stopped shaking his head. Didn't even have to look at it, but did each time I noticed improvement.

It took three more infections before this worked, so don't expect miracles the first time she seems 'cured'... It could take a couple weeks.

-- Sue Diederich (willow666@rocketmail.com), May 15, 2001.

My chow/shepard/etc. had a similar ear problems (including hairloss) that turned out to be a very comon problem-food allergy. We changed her food to "Science Diet Sensitive Skin" and she's been happy as a dog is supppsed to be since. My sisters Lab gets ear infections from food allergy.

-- Kathy (catfish201@hotmail.com), May 15, 2001.

My in-laws Bichon used to get ear infections so the vet told her to get swimmer's ear (for people to use after swimming in a pool) and put the drops in everyday, then every other day, then once a week. They had no more problems. The vinagar and alcohol would probably be the same type stuff.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), May 15, 2001.

Very interesting. How many bad ears were the right ear as you look at the dog? Our Teddy (1/2 Black Lab, 1/2 German Shephard) had constant problems with it. YES it was Forced Hot Air!!! The vet sold solutions that probably were not any better than the remedies mentioned here. First a squirt in the ear, then clean out the gunk. (boy did that dog love me!) The vet suggested sticks and cotton, but I prefered 2 kleenex covering my pinky finger gently slipped in the ear and twirled around.

I can't get over the Forced Hot Air connection.

-- Rick K (rick_122@hotmail.com), May 15, 2001.

I know that you are going to find this rather strange, but, my shepherd had those bad ear infections all the time also. Lots of vet visits, and 1/2 way working stuff from him, and I was very frustrated. Doc told me it was yeast, so.....I used summers eve douche to rinse out the ear and then monistat!! Not only did it work, but it has never come back!!

-- Sissy Sylvester-Barth (jerreleene@hotmail.com), May 15, 2001.

I've used Alcohol and Vinegar for years also and it works to keep the ears clean and healthy. I use 5 Tlbs alcohol to 1 Tlb vinegar. You can use it once a week to keep the ears dry. If it is bad, twice a day till it clears up and then just as often as you need to keep them clean. It really works.

You can use this for rabbits too. I've had people bring me rabbits with horrible messes in their ears, and I wrap them in a towel and then get all the gunk out of their ears. These drops will bring all the gunk up and out, and you just keep massaging it, more drops, till it's clean. And then drops twice a day till it's dry. It works wonders. I have an old dropper bottle I keep some mixed up in, and shake it before you use it.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@hotmail.com), May 16, 2001.

Thanks for some really great answers, We live on the gulf coast so mold could be the problem, with our high humidity, 90% at times, you need to ring me out at the end of the day. The dog stays out doors most of the time, I smiled when I read the douch answer, who would ever have thought, and monistat no less, I will try them all one at a time and thanks a bunch, Irene

-- Irene orsborn (tkorsborn@cs.com), May 16, 2001.

Say, do you think the vinegar & alcohol routine would work on my cat's ears?

-- snoozy (bunny@northsound.net), May 19, 2001.