[MyCodyBoy]

No matter how often I clean cody's ears they just seem to always be full of ear gunk.
Is it the food I am feeding him? he is on wellness Super5mix which i consider to be a great food.
He has had 1 really bad ear infection which we attributed from him getting at the dog park from rolling in the mud. We haven't taken him back there and he hasn't gotten really dirty in a very long time.

I just can't understand why his ear are so dirty all the time.

 

[Oaklys Dad]

It could be number of things from ear mites to infection. It is probably worth having your vet check it out.

 

[jwemt81]

I agree that it could be anything. Ear problems are very common with dogs that have floppy ears. It most likely is not the food. Tucker had ear problems through a good deal of his puppyhood and it didn't matter what food he was on, even grain-free. It finally cleared up with Zymox/hydrocortisone drops. It worked wonders and we always keep a bottle in the house in case he has flare ups, but he hasn't had any at all since we finished a bottle back in May. You don't need a prescription to get it and it's relatively cheap. I also trim his ear hair about once a week to make sure that he has good air flow into his ear canals.

This is what we use: http://www.1800petmeds.com/Zymox+Otic+with+Hydrocortisone-prod10622.html

 

[Maggies mom]

Good luck... Cruiser has always been a walking gunk ear boy.... we have tried everything and nothing has worked... the ear infections stopped once we put him atopica, but still has gunk.I will say not as much tho.

 

[MyCodyBoy]

He has been clear of his 1st and only infection for over a month now, so that isn't an issue.
I just can't figure out why he is so prone to the gunk.
I am glad it isn't he food then. I don't like having to swtich him if it isn't necessary.

 

[Dallas Gold]

My 12 year old Barkley is an ear gunk king. We also trim his inside hair fairly often. We used to flush his ears weekly with a commerical ear flush but switched, at the suggestion of our acupuncture vet, to a solution of one part organic apple cider vinegar to three parts water put in a squeeze bottle. We flush his ears with it (drying with cotton balls) and it does a good job of cleaning. The acupuncture vet said this solution cleans and dries well without killing good bacteria in the ear canal. I use my leftover vinegar/water solution to clean our countertops and mirrors--it's a very good non-toxic cleaner too! It truly is all-purpose cleaner!

Getting him on thyroid medication helped a lot. We also buy ear cleaning pads from Drs Foster/Smith and use them every few days.

I find the stuff increases after swimming or heavy exercise.

 

[Bogey's Mom]

Our boy has black gunk always too. I just clean his ears every single time he swims RIGHT AWAY and every few days. If they get really bad, I clean them with a solution from the vet every day and make sure to dry them out thoroughly after.

 

[Maggies mom]

Cruiser started out with an ear infectin when a puppy and as he got older (2 now) thats when all the fun began.....

 

[Bock]

It actually COULD very well be his food. I had Tysen on Nature's Variety, a very high quality food, that simply caused him ear gunk - a lot of it. It also caused him to itch quite a bit.

I switched him to California Natural, and later to Healthwise, and since he has been on these two foods the ear gunk has diminished significantly. Both of these foods are geared towards dogs with food allergies. Although I don't think he has an actual food allergy, I do believe he has a sensitivity to one of the more minor ingredients in Nature's Variety.

The California Natural was the Herring and Sweet Potato version, and I now alternate the chicken and lamb formulas of Healthwise.

 

[Maggies mom]

We think Cruiser's is seasonal to something outside.. it gets worse during the spring.. changed his food tons of times and nothing.....

 

[Mighty Casey and Samson's Mom]

Casey and my old girl Bracken are/were both prone to ear infections. Casey's infections are ALWAYS signalled by the black gunk, Bracken never had it, but shook her head continually when she was infected. It is the lot of floppy earred dogs to get infections. Our vet says that yeast causes the black gunk. I clean Casey's ears with vinegar--too acidic for yeast to grow, but mild for him, plus it eliminates the smell. I also put in the hydrocortisone drops every 4-5 days as a preventative. Since I've started this regime, he has been great, despite his constant swimming at the cottage and rolling in heaven knows what. Good luck. Gunk is gross!

 

[goldhaven]

My sister in law swears that her golden only get ear infections if she feeds him chicken. She has had him on a lamb and rice formula since he was a pup and no more infections. I have 6 and I use a vinegar and water solution about once a month in the winter and a little more often in the summer. I also dry them out after swimming. So far, so good. No infections.