Hello All, Cooper (15 months) has an ear infection.....poor chap. I had him bathed, ears cleaned and nails clipped this past Monday and groomer told me about his left ear being red. YES, it was red.....so off to vet yesterday (they could not see him Tuesday).....he has a bad left ear and a so-so right ear so we are treating both. Because I have him bathed, ears and nails once a month I don't think of cleaning his ears BUT the vet reprimanded me nicely and said I should clean his ears once a week year round but specially in Summer because their ears get no ventilation and with the heat and humidity, their ears are like little ovens. I am just putting this topic in because there may be others on the Forum that dont clean every week. I felt awful, as you can imagine. So now I have the cleaning solution and cotton balls at the ready plus the solution I have to put in both his ears every evening. Not easy to hold down a 79 pound Lab and squirt into his ears!!! I only have two hands but will have to use two legs to keep him quiet and controlled!!! Wish me luck!!
Good luck with the ear cleaning, and I hope it clears up. Ear troubles can be very tiresome and I hope you get it sorted quickly. As a veteran of ear troubles that took 15 months to clean up....I have to disagree with the advice to clean a dog's ears every week. If there is nothing wrong, ears are best left completely alone and not made wet by ear cleaner. Dog's ears have a self cleaning mechanism (the skin cells travel outwards as they grow), and if that gets messed up, it can be a bit of a nightmare. My own dog does get his ears cleaned, but only at the very first sign of redness or itch. And I use a "cleaner" that is prescribed by my vet and designed to correct the PH balance in his ears, not actually to clean anything (as in remove dirt).
Poor chap. We have never had trouble with ears thankfully. Never been advised to do regular cleaning.
Thanks Julie. After his infection clears I will do as you say and just check for redness or itching. I already notice a huge difference from yesterday....the redness has diminished a lot in the bad ear. The solution vet prescribed is POSATEX. The ear cleansing solution is Vetoquinol or that may be the company that puts it out. Wish we could put both ears up in the air so they could get ventilated a few minutes a day!
