# Ear Infection?



## Walter (May 31, 2015)

Walt has been a bit stinky for a few days so I cleaned his ears and brushed his teeth yesterday. His ears were filthy and after cleaning the smell was gone. 

Today the smell was back. I cleaned his ears again and they were just as bad with a bit of fresh blood in one. I plucked as much of the hair out of them as I could before he got annoyed and took himself off to play. 

To be honest I'm not sure that they're pinker than normal, or overly warm to the touch but he has been rubbing his head on the floor as if to scratch them. One ear is a bit warmer than the other. The blood could have been from my cleaning them rather than infection although I was as gentle as possible.

The build up of gunk in such a short time is strange though. I can't see earwax building up so much under normal conditions. His ears do smell quite sour. 

Should I do a vinegar ear wash or get some ear cleaner, or should we just go straight to the vet?


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

My advice is vet check.
Sore ears are miserable and it does sound to me as if there might be some sort of infection or mites.


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## Peanut (Dec 1, 2013)

Ditto. I wouldn't play with them any more (let alone with vinegar!!!) and I would call the vet for a visit.


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## Alittlepoo (Apr 29, 2015)

Ear infections are horrible and can be serious and chronic. The smell is unmistakable and I would see the vet as soon as possible.


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## bearthecockapoo (Mar 17, 2015)

I would definitely see a vet if he's trying to scratch them and there is a smell.


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## dmgalley (Aug 19, 2012)

If bet anything is an infection. Jake gets them all the time and believe me one day there is nothing and the next days it's all black gunk. Cleaning like that won't help. You need medication and ear wash from the vet.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Rufus has his first one.  It doesn't seem to be bugging him too much but one ear is full of the dreaded black gunk. I'm thinking with him it must be food related because nothing else has changed at all. In any case we'll head to the vets tomorrow.


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

Dudley used to be prone to ear infections or a lot of 'almost an infection' as the vet would say!?! can't prove it is related but he has never had one since changing to a raw diet.


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## bearthecockapoo (Mar 17, 2015)

Bear gets them when it's really warm out and he's swimming a lot, if his ears aren't cleaned out right away.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

I'm having issues with Rufus's new diet. There are so many recipes and I tend to make whichever one we have the produce for at the moment. I should have spent longer with each recipe to really prove that each ingredient worked for him. Now when he gets itchy or has ear gunk I am not sure if it is todays food, or yesterdays food or last weeks food. I think I might have to go back to the transition recipes and spend longer making sure each ingredient works for the long term, not just for a few days.


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## Cat 53 (Aug 26, 2012)

Phoebe used to have very funky ears. Vet treated them and now I use the following on a daily basis to clean both dogs ears.

2/3 Apple Cider Vinegar.
10 drops of lavender oil.
Top up with water.

I have a dropper bottle filled with this solution.

Am pleased to say since using this solution Phobes ears remain clean and mite and infection free. It's been a good 18 months now that I have been using it.


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## Walter (May 31, 2015)

Well we went to the vets and he said they weren't infected but that he has unusually hairy ears and they were inflamed and itchy. 

We got some drops which are the doing the job. We were warned that we'd probably find hair around the house and I've found a few locks of matted waxy fur where he's rubbed his ears on the rugs.

Aside from that we are to clean his ears out weekly with any general dog ear wash. The apple cider vinegar was the one I was thinking of originally so I might try that for a while. 

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk


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## Cat 53 (Aug 26, 2012)

Walter said:


> Well we went to the vets and he said they weren't infected but that he has unusually hairy ears and they were inflamed and itchy.
> 
> We got some drops which are the doing the job. We were warned that we'd probably find hair around the house and I've found a few locks of matted waxy fur where he's rubbed his ears on the rugs.
> 
> ...


I promise you it works wonderfully.


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## Aly (Mar 27, 2015)

I know this is an old thread but I had problems with Lucy's ears from when I got her. She scratched at them a lot and her right ear was always dirty and smelly.
The vet cleaned her ears and gave drops and I used an ear wash from the Internet and drops but the problem never settled.
The I bought some Thornit powder and it settled the problem completely. It worked on first use and now I just use a bit once a week and have no more problems.
So if anyone is having problems with their Cockapoos ears it's well worth a try. I got it on Amazon.

Oops I've just noticed there's a whole thread on Thornit powder!


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