I was told by my vet during our checkup today that I should clean Owen's (8 weeks) ears every month or so. I have been trying to find info on what is the best types, or specific ingredients it should contain, or anything to give me an idea of what brand to use. So I was wondering what type of ear cleaner people here use. I have never had a dog that I needed to clean their ears before. Thank you all!
I'm not a vet, but had a dog with wonky ears for a long time...so here goes. They sell natural ear-cleaning stuff (liquid or oil) at pet stores that you can try, but honestly, I don't think you need it. If you give Owen a bath regularly, just use a soft thin towel or those little make up cotton pads to gently swipe in the ear to dry them. This cleans them at the same time. If his ears are nice and healthy anyway, that will do it. You probably know this already, but don't use cotton swabs. I tried that with my poor boy and good grief, did it make it worse...big time. I still feel bad about that and it was eons ago. If Owen develops a tendency towards ear infections, there are anti-fungals/antibiotics that the vet can prescribe for short term use that works wonders. If you do want to try the non-prescription ear cleaners, introduce them as slowly as you can. Start touching and looking in his ears now without any cleaner, then use just a little pad and then...eventually if you want...the cleaner. Having something (cool liquid) stuck in their ears drives most dogs nutty and can set off hours of head shaking and even scratching at their ears. Which is kind of counterproductive to ear health. So a couple of drops, a nice ear massage (ear flaps down, massage at the base of the ears) and a quick wipe out...and lots of "yay, good boy!" and treats.
Snowie loves his ears being wiped clean -- he goes into a deep-breathing trance. He HATES, however, having anything squirted into his ears. So when, on occasion, I have to get some cleaning liquid into them, I first put the cleaning liquid on the cotton wool and then wipe that into his ears. I also thought that dogs didn't need their ears cleaned. In fact I thought you should never go into the ears. When Snowie was 1.5 years old, the vet looked inside his ears and said they are dirty, you have to clean them -- and promptly put two ear buds into his ear and swiped out a LOT of muck. I felt awful! I am guessing that dogs in groups clean each other's ears (licking the ears), but a dog who is the only dog in the family doesn't have that luxury, so we need to do it for them. I give a cursory wipe to Snowie's ears every time he has a dip in the pool (every day). He doesn't swim, he just wallows on the step, so he doesn't get fully wet, but I use the damp towel to wipe out his ears. When they're really dirty, I do use an ear cleaning liquid I bought at the vet -- he seems to have a nice viscosity and easily wipes out the dirt. I put some liquid on an ear bud to clean in all the crevices in the outer ear and use cotton wool to wipe the larger flat areas and wipe it all dry. I don't ever stick anything deep into Snowie's ears; in fact I don't clean further than I can see -- ears are very sensitive. @Emily_BabbelHund has given you great advice. There's also a wonderful article on The Labrador Site about cleaning ears.
Re which brand and ingredients: we asked the vet for the gentlest cleaner as Snowie has very sensitive skin. She recommended Virbac Epi-Otic. It wasn't her first choice ito antifungal and antibacterial, but she said it was the gentlest and fine for a dog without existing ear problems - which was Snowie.
I never cleaned my dog's ears till we got Oban. They were all floppy eared dogs, they didn't need cleaning, they never got gunky or smelled. Cleaning in and of itself can irritate ears, especially if not needed. I did make a point of handling ears though, just in case. And checking them. Are your puppy's ears dirty? Smelly?
There is nothing wrong yet, but since the vet said to do it, I'm going to. He said it will prevent ear issues before they happen.
I disagree with this. Dogs have a self cleaning mechanism in their ears. The skin grows outwards and the skin cells transport dirt out of the ear. If a dog has trouble free ears, and the environment inside the ear is good and the self cleaning mechanism is working, it is best to leave well alone. Don't mess with something that is working just fine and don't be putting liquid cleaners inside the ear when there is no need, creating a damp environment. Why don't you do a bit of research - look for advice from vets that are dermatologists rather than general vets - and make up your mind whether you agree with your vet? Of course, perhaps your vet knows something about your dog's ears from examination and the advice is perfectly good. In which case though he should have told you what that is.
Food for thought - we were at the Vet last week and he said that Quinn's ears were a bit dirty - he wiped them but said we should not clean them when we asked (she has never had any issues with her ears).
Tilly has always had ear issues, and we have had to use one of the ear cleaners on a fairly regular basis, especially if she has been swimming. If we don't do it, we usually end up with a lot of wax and red ears. Cooper has not had any issues so far and we don't clean her ears. I don't recall doing it with our first Lab either. FWIW Cooper has more forward ears than Tilly and I would think they get better air circulation, but that may not have anything to do with it.
