my St. Bernard has an ear infection, I was wondering if anyone had any Ideas on how to treat it. There is a discharge that smells bad but not horrible, the ear is red. I have tried the puffer stuff and I thought that it was helping. any ideas or do I have to go to the vet?

-- Susan n' Emily, in Tn (animalcrackers55@hotmail.com), August 13, 2001

Answers

For my kids'ear infections I use garlic oil. Crush some garlic (2-3 cloves) into some olive oil and warm gently on the stove. Cool down to room temp, strain, and put 3 drops into the ear several times a day. Also, internally I give them goldenseal (a natural antibiotic), and garlic. If it gets worse, take him to the vet. Mary

-- Mary Fraley (kmfraley@orwell.net), August 13, 2001.

An ear infection in a dog is different than in a human. It commonly is caused by mites or just by the warm environment in the ear canal, especially with floppy earred dogs. I wouldn't put oil in there - it would likely compound the problem. I use Listerine, which is an antiseptic. Put some on a cotton ball and keep cleaning the ear out till you don't get anymore black gunk. You can also buy mite medicine in any pet supply, or from the vet. If that doesn't do it after a couple of times, take him to the vet. If he is shaking his head and flopping his ears, he can develop a hematoma on his ear, which has to be dealt with surgically a lot of times.

-- Dianne (willow@config.com), August 13, 2001.

I'd start him on an antibiotic. My children got antibiotics for ear infections, and so did my sheltie.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), August 13, 2001.

I use over the counter (people) antihistimine because my dog has allergies to fleas. Works every time. I give a child's dosage. Antibiotics may cure the infection--if there is one-- but not deal with the problem in the first place. Antihistimines and decongestants work for us.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), August 13, 2001.

Once you get the infection cleared up, you might consider a change of diet. One of my dogs gets regular ear infections from anything that contains soy.

-- Kathy (catfish201@hotmail.com), August 13, 2001.

I agree with getting your dog to the Vet. There are different causes for ear infections. They can be bacterial or yeast based, and the medicine needs to target the cause. The Vet can culture it to find out. I have also found it true that sometimes food allergies can cause ear infections in dogs. I have a dog that gets them if she eats a beef based dog food, or chicken. She does well on lamb. Good luck. They sure make the dog feel miserable.

-- Molly McLaughlin (mmclaugh@unm.edu), August 13, 2001.

Please don't put any type of oil down the poor things ears! With this very humid weather this summer, the infection is fungal, the oil will only make it worse. You need topical fungicide and the ears thoroughly cleaned, daily until improvement appears. The only effective fungicides are from the vet, prescription required. If it has gone on long enough, you might also have a secondary bacterial infection, for wnich you will need antibiotics additionally.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), August 13, 2001.

My dog has severe skin allergies, and her ears get really sore. The poor thing has to take steroid tablets every other day. Good luck with your dog. If your home remedies don't help fairly soon, please take the dog to the vet.

-- Yolanda E. Breidenbaugh (ybereiden@peoplepc.com), August 13, 2001.

The most common cause of ear infections in dogs is foreign bodies in the ear. Do you have foxtails there? Usually they need to be removed with forceps and an earflush with warm, soapy water after, then appropriate powder or liqued ear drops are applied. Usually an antibiotic combined with an anti-inflamatory agent with a topical anesthetic. This is a dangerous infection and you should take your dog to the Vet. Whatever the cause the poor thing needs some professional help. Hope he is better soon.

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), August 13, 2001.

Take the dog to the vet. As stated earlier, some ear infections can become serious. Probably needs to be swabbed out by the vet, then they can take the culture to find out if it's serious, if dog needs antibiotics, or some type of ear drops.

-- Chelsea (rmbehr@istar.ca), August 13, 2001.

Our vet told us to use this to prevent ear infections:

1/3 cup white vinegar 1/3 cup rubbing alochol

Put a few drops in each ear!

the alochol is a drying agent--the vinegar kills bacteria,yeast and other germs! I haven't had a problem since we started this. We do it only in the summer once a week .

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), August 13, 2001.

I use the same thing as Debbie, only 5 TBLS alcohol to 1 TLB vinegar. It really works! Never have ear infections. Use on rabbits or cats too. I've been using it for many years. You can put a couple drops in and, then, squish, squish, squish the ear, and all the gunk comes out. Use it everyday till it clears up and then once a week.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), August 13, 2001.

I like Debbie's answer. We cleaned out the ear with alcohol, then put swimmer's ear (for people) in the ear, starting everyday, then every other day, and got it down to once a week to once a month. It worked. You could use a barrett or clothespin to clip his ears back so air gets into the canals. Looks really funny but helps.

-- Dee in NJ (gdgtur@goes.com), August 13, 2001.

Geesh! I just came across this and I'm going through the same thing with our German Shepard. He's to the point where he's been doing a lot of the shaking his head and scratching at his ear. But our only problem is that he won't let us get near him to clean out his ears! It just hurts him too bad [ plus, he's never liked that anyway ]. I've heard that some dogs , when you bring them to the vet to have his ears checked for an infection, they need to be sedated....and with our dog, I really think that that's the only safe thing to do- but I don't know if our vet would be willing to do this or not- has anyone else heard of this?? AFter reading this thread, I'm definately taking the poor thing ASAP, but I'm honestly scared that he will try and bite the vet simply because he's in pain! Any suggestions?!!

-- Nancy (heartsathome45@hotmail.com), August 14, 2001.

Can you wrap him up tight in a blanket Nancy? Then with him lying on the floor, maybe you can clean the ears. He needs to learn to let you do his ears. All my dogs know to sit still while I check them over everywhere. He would find out it felt good if he let you do it. Once you start massaging the base of the ear, they usually love it. It tickles a bit at first.

I've had people give me free rabbits with icky ears, and I wrap them up tight and just do the ears. They hate it, but I gotta do it.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), August 14, 2001.

Yes, vet's routinely sedate dogs for taking care of infected ears. As you mentioned, this is extremely painful and sometimes anesthetic is the only way to go. Also, it should be apparent that if a dog has a foreign body in an ear, all the medicine in the world is not going to help!

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), August 14, 2001.

Thank you soooo much for all of the prompt responses. I started him on antibiotics and he is already improving. I know that he probably got his ear wet when I bathed him, a couple of weeks ago. I will mix up some of the vinegar/ alchol mixture right away and use it too. That was the very thing I was looking for!!! Thanks again for all your help.

-- Susan n' Emily, in Tn (animalcrackers55@hotmail.com), August 14, 2001.