# Ear plucking



## Goosey (Aug 22, 2014)

Molly has an ear infection, not bad as we have caught it in time. The vets have given us ear drops to apply to her ears twice a day for a week not as easy dines as said as she hates her ears touched and doesn't help with the fact that they are a little sore at the moment! 
What I want to know is do your poos have their ears plucked at the groomers or does anyone do it themselves? 
The vets have suggested that in a weeks time given that the infection is clear that they sedate Molly and pluck her ears at a nice costly price of £100. 
I must emphasis that Molly has very tight fleshy ears, well that's the only way I can describe them, unlike SIDS who's are open and I can easily pluck them. It helps that he doesn't mind me touching his ears.
Also what do you use to keep your poos ears clean and how often do you do them? 
I'm in a dilemma on wether to have them plucked as I've also read some negative things on ear plucking like it can cause more infections due to irritation from plucking and the fact that bacteria can get into the open hair follicles !


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Poor Molly...
Is this the first time that she has had an infection? 
Are they absolutely sure that the infection has not been caused by a foreign body (aka grass seed meanie).
As you know Dot has had ear issues 
Her ears are enormous and very hairy with comparatively small ear holes - when compared to Kiki whose ears are smaller and less hairy.
I am a bit paranoid about Dot's ears and sniffing them  is something I do very,very regularly.
As to plucking.... if her ears are waxy I do pluck out the waxy hairs. When she goes to the groomers I ask them to clip out the underside of her ear - because I think her ears are better if they do not get too hot, also easier to dry her ears - warm and moist cannot be good.
I do have some thornit powder but do not use it regularly....
When I first got Dot she had disgusting stinky mite filled ears  since then the only problems she has had have been down to grass seeds. I do worry about swimming not being great and always flip her ears 'open' when she is sleeping after a beach trip.
When Dot's ears have been infected treating them has been horrendous - has needed two people and her off the floor on the table... by day 3 when the drops have started to work I can do them by myself.
Hope Molly's ears are soon all better.


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## Gill57 (Mar 20, 2016)

Sorry to hear about Molly's ears. Freddie has the hair in his ears plucked by the groomer. However after the first time they were done he was shaking his head a lot and so I took him to the vet the next day who diagnosed a slight infection (something the groomer warned me about). He had to have antibiotic ear drops and it was not easy for one oerson to put in the drops - however he did get used to it and the infection cleared in a few days.
The groomer now checks his ears on every visit (once a month) and we have so far had no further problems.
Sending you both good wishes. X


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## Goosey (Aug 22, 2014)

Marzi said:


> Poor Molly...
> Is this the first time that she has had an infection?
> Are they absolutely sure that the infection has not been caused by a foreign body (aka grass seed meanie).
> As you know Dot has had ear issues
> ...


Yes marzi this is the first time, they've had a good look in her ears.i think it's definetly an infection as both ears are a bit sore. Sounds like her ears are similar to dots. She's always had a bit of a smell to her ears,but the vet didn't remark on that 
Yes putting the drops in has been an issue,I think I may be looking for help for the remainder of the week. I've counted my fingers and thumbs all are still present and correct so far!


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## Goosey (Aug 22, 2014)

Gill57 said:


> Sorry to hear about Molly's ears. Freddie has the hair in his ears plucked by the groomer. However after the first time they were done he was shaking his head a lot and so I took him to the vet the next day who diagnosed a slight infection (something the groomer warned me about). He had to have antibiotic ear drops and it was not easy for one oerson to put in the drops - however he did get used to it and the infection cleared in a few days.
> The groomer now checks his ears on every visit (once a month) and we have so far had no further problems.
> Sending you both good wishes. X


Thank you Gill, yes this is my fear of having them plucked that it might cause bigger issues! Hopefully once the infection has cleared I might just find something to clean them more often and see how that goes. 
At the moment I've been using surosolve from the vets,but to be fair I probably haven't done them as much as I should,this is why I wanted t know what others use and how often


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## Gill57 (Mar 20, 2016)

Hi Nicola. I use John Paul ear and eye wipes for Freddie's ears and it is part of his daily routine.


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

How is Molly?


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## Goosey (Aug 22, 2014)

Marzi said:


> How is Molly?


Thanks for asking she's scratching less so hopefully the medication is healing her ears. After nearly losing a few fingers I asked my husband to help with the application of the drops. 
Both attempts were unsuccessful,but I came up with the solution that works a treat. I put Molly on her grooming table with restrain strap around her jaw  yay it worked. 
This was a big relief that I now get to keep all fingers and no doubt a relief for Molly as her ears are less painful. Hopefully once her ears are better I can even get in and clear some hair!


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## Peanut (Dec 1, 2013)

I second what Marzi told you. 
Peanut has a similar ear story. She came to us with a terrible ear infection when she was 8 weeks old. She has had some infections and seeds inside. We had one removed under anaesthetic. So you can see that Peanut and Dot are twins separated at birth. 

Since I started grooming her she has not had an infection. I check the ears regularly and I also smell them regularly. I don't usually have to remove the hair, but 2 days ago, when I was cutting her hair for the summer I didn't like the smell or the waxy hairs in there, so I removed them with the powder. Rather than putting the powder in the ears, I put the power in my fingertips as the only reason for the powder is to stop your fingers slipping due to the wax. She doesn't mind at all, it is like it doesn't hurt her. I also cleaned the hair outside the ear, I used the clippers carefully to clean the area. Now she has clean, bright ears. 

I have only had to do it twice, so it is not something that I will do every time I groom her, only if it is too waxy and hairy.. 

She is pretty good at letting me touch her even if she is in pain. Bless my black Nut.


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## Mazzapoo (Jul 28, 2013)

Oh little Molly :hug: I'm glad for both of you that you found a successful method of ear dropping! Poppy had mites when we got her and I periodically use a liquid cleaner from the vets with a cotton wool pad but I also have Thornit which I've used occasionally, although she's never had any problems. I do smell them a lot since reading things on here though. I don't pluck them as such, just remove the odd waxy ones and they just pull out! Good luck with Moll's recovery


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## Goosey (Aug 22, 2014)

Oh Marion I have heard or Thornit powder and was thinking about using it along side the cleaner that the vets gave us. She does and always has had a smell to her ears I'm not quiet sure how to explain it. The vet didn't mention that the smell was a problem,but I do wonder if it's right as SIDS ears are odourless!
Here is Molly not looking so impressed about the strap around her jaw, but the good news is that I managed to do it today without any restrains


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## Mazzapoo (Jul 28, 2013)

Goosey said:


> Oh Marion I have heard or Thornit powder and was thinking about using it along side the cleaner that the vets gave us. She does and always has had a smell to her ears I'm not quiet sure how to explain it. The vet didn't mention that the smell was a problem,but I do wonder if it's right as SIDS ears are odourless!
> Here is Molly not looking so impressed about the strap around her jaw, but the good news is that I managed to do it today without any restrains


Excellent! She's learning it's not too bad... Poppy's ears smell of honey, which I take as a good sign. What do Molly's smell like?


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Honey is a good word to describe a healthy ear smell... sweet and not at all disgusting. Kiki's and Inzi's ears have much less smell than Dot's - but Dot's ears do not smell unpleasant - except for those times when she has had an infection.
It gets so much easier to put drops in their ears when their ears are no longer really sore.
Hope the infection in Molly's ears is soon completely gone.


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## Goosey (Aug 22, 2014)

Oh my goodness how to explain Molly's ear smell, well probably a week ago I would say especially when she scratched them a not very nice cheese!  
Now I know what you mean by honey but I can only explain them as more a burnt honey!  
If only technology was that good I could get you all to sniff and tell me if you think it's ok?


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Glad Molly is starting to get better 

It is one of the things we always tell puppy owners to get used to the smell of their pups ears - they usually look at us like we are insane  - I am very glad my Molly does not have very hairy ears


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