[The life of Piper]

Piper's ears almost always have a stinky brown substance in them. What is it? How often should I clean them and how? She always gets really scared as soon as she sees the ear cleaning solution. Thank you!

 

[Chritty]

Have you consulted your vet about this? We clean Millie's ears once a week but only as a preventive.

 

[hotel4dogs]

virtually never if the dog is healthy and doesn't swim a lot. For sure ask your vet about it.

 

[The life of Piper]

Have you consulted your vet about this? We clean Millie's ears once a week but only as a preventive. View attachment 501058

We have, but she didn't help much. Piper has the brown stuff in her fur around her ears. We have no idea how to get rid of that!!

 

[The life of Piper]

virtually never if the dog is healthy and doesn't swim a lot. For sure ask your vet about it.

Piper swims often and has had a few ear infections. No clue what to do!!

 

[Moose15]

I agree with asking your vet. Smelly brown stuff sounds like yes and something that needs to be addressed with the vet.

Also, she may like it more if you used a sensitive skin babywipe instead of the liquid cleanser. They work like a charm!

 

[xooxlinds]

You need a new vet then. Signs of infection are yeasty smells. At the vet hospital I work, every day it seems we have those "stinky yeasty ears" and the most common, "my dog keeps shaking his ears!" --- most ALWAYS an ear infection which we then send them home with a posatex and a medicated flush. I clean Eli's ears once a week as a preventative, so far so good. He loves it too, feels good when I massage his ear right after cleaning his ears so he knows I am not there to hurt him

 

[watergirl]

It sounds like yeast, but a vet visit for an exam and culture is in order. We use Zymox cleaner on a regular basis with good results. We had a particularly stubborn infection (bacteria and yeast) once and after all vet treatments failed to clear it the Zymox w/ hydrocortisone worked beautifully, so we keep both the cleaner and HC versions on hand.

 

[Christen113]

Mine have it too but frequent cleanings make a big difference. I use Zymox (available online and OTC) to clean them and let it break up the gunk and then clean them with a cotton ball. It seems to help quite a bit but make sure your vet checks it out to make sure there's not an infection, etc.

 

[Chritty]

I agree with getting a second opinion. If it's smelly I don't think that is normal.

Does Piper shake her head a lot or scratch at her ears a lot??

 

[Wenderwoman]

I agree that only the vet can really tell you if the ears are infected. I only clean my girls ears after a bath which is maybe once a month. Her ears tend to get a little dirty but she was just at the vet and it wasn't enough to worry about.

She did have a problem once and the vet gave me an ear cleaner for her. One ear was worse than the other and she was very sensitive about me touching that ear. It took me awhile to get it really cleaned out because she was guarding it and I didn't want to make it a horrible experience for her. So I kept trying and once she finally let me clean it out good and her ear felt better, she was much easier about letting me clean them and that ear didn't get as dirty anymore. Long story short, make sure you are really getting them clean to start off.

 

[hotel4dogs]

If she swims a lot you should probably put an astringent made for swimmer's ear (made specifically for dogs, you can get one on Amazon.com) in her ears after each swim. We do that with Tito, and all the field dogs who swim a lot. It avoids a lot of issues.
But you should still get another opinion from a qualified vet, which I am not.

 

[The life of Piper]

I agree with getting a second opinion. If it's smelly I don't think that is normal.

Does Piper shake her head a lot or scratch at her ears a lot??

Yes she does.

 

[Chritty]

Yes she does.

That to me is an indicator of infection. I really would urge you to get a second opinion

 

[The life of Piper]

Thanks! The next time she goes to the vet I will ask them. That should be fairly soon.

 

[Chritty]

Make sure it is soon because if it is an infection (I am not a vet) the ears can suffer permanent damage from it being left too long. Personally I would want a second opinion within 24 hours and probably from a different practice if at all possible.

 

[The life of Piper]

Make sure it is soon because if it is an infection (I am not a vet) the ears can suffer permanent damage from it being left too long. Personally I would want a second opinion within 24 hours and probably from a different practice if at all possible.

We defiantly will. My dad is going to pick up her heartworm meds. I will tell him to ask the vet (banfeild) about this.

 

[The life of Piper]

Thank you all for the help! This forum has helped me so much!

 

[Chritty]

Let us know how Piper's ears go!!