I need to clean Caspers ears, have the cleaner from the vet. Casper is just fine with me handling his ears...just not sure on the best technique? Any tips gratefully received!
If you have a syringe (obviously no needle!), it's best to put the cleaner in an syringe - that way, you don't make a horrible noise in the dog's ear when you release the pressure from the bottle. I'm sure this is why Charlie now hates his ears being done. Anyway, about 15ml in a syringe, squeeze into ear, firm but gentle massage at base of ear, shake, wipe outer ear with gauze. If the ear is really, really dirty, I use saline before the cleaner but only if there is visible debris to remove. We now use a version of the bucket trick for all handling that Charlie might not like. It's a way of the dog giving permission. For ears, Charlie holds his head on a towel on my lap. For eyes, Charlie sits next to me on the sofa, and so on. He can say 'no thanks' by removing his head from the towel, or getting off the sofa. Here we are a little while ago with ears - we have moved on a lot since then though. http://thelabradorforum.com/forum/n...gs-on-restricted-exercise?p=269657#post269657
Eyes I'm ok with alone but ears are a 2 man job and I have to confess to Chris supporting Dexter's snout to keep,him stready for me.....he doesn't love it ,but tolerates it for the treats that follow. The syringe is a great tip Julie....I'll do that next time as I'm sure there will be a next time!
I really don't think that it is so bad having to hold a dog steady to do ears and/or eyes and just rewarding with loads of treats. Charlie still has his head held to do ears (I still have to clean them while I train the bucket game!) although I think we are only a few days off being able to do them on the towel. The thing is, I'm having trouble working out how to squirt in the cleaner in stages....so got my thinking cap on for that one...eyes are fine now though, he'll sit still on his own for those.
Ah, thanks Kate Beanwood . His eyes are 'ok'. He has a bit of discharge from them, not a lot. And they don't look red. He rubs them just a little bit, not much. The vet called to say the swab didn't show anything, so he reckons it's an irritant of some sort. But I don't know what. It hasn't changed in the time he's been in the country, so I think that rules out something on the Common, I had been wondering about the water up there. My vet has given me an extra bottle of eye drops, so I've got enough to see me through the hols, then I'll have to work out what to do next, if anything. Found out his itchy bum is a scratch right at the top of his tail, in the crease of skin - goodness knows how he did that. And now he has a pimple on his lip! I'll have to take him back to the vet about it, in case it is one of those papillomas thingys. Best get it checked. Lordy. This dog keeps vets in business, I reckon!
Maybe he scratched it on a twig or something exploring? We've still got the papilloma thing,in fact it's gone a bit bigger...I saw a different vet for Dexter's ears the other day and she said it will never go on its own as it has a root ,if he ever needed sedation for something else though they would take it off.....when you google it ,Dr Google doesn't say that He confirms what my original trusted vet says...although If Dexter has a decent immune system,which I hope and would trust he has it should have gone by now.His injections are due next week,I'll get them to take a look at it again....hate that my dog has a wart on his face!
Probably....anyway, itchy bum has gone now. Oh eek about the wart thing! I need to have a good look round his teeth and gums because he has been scratching his face....I'll do that today but take him back to the vet when I get to London and get it all checked out.
What works for me, with eyes and ears, is to sit on the side of the bathtub. Dog between my knees facing away from me. Knees clamped around his shoulders, my legs in front of his front legs. Bathroom door SHUT. Then I can come at both eyes and ears from behind and overhead and dog doesn't see it coming. And I have both hands free. Works for me but I think I do have a pretty compliant, complacent dog.
Myles is very prone to ear infections so I got some prescription stuff from vet. It's a 2 step cleaner then ointment. I soak a cotton ball with cleaner and squeeze it then massage it in there. Then let him shake his head if he wants and then do the ointment. At the very end I say "chicken" and he follows me for a treat (usually not actually chicken but he doesn't know that )
Oh, cotton wool....that might help me with a step between nothing and the syringe for my towel trick! Thanks Ericka! Mylestogo
Do people clean their dogs ears routinely or only when infected and prescribed by vets? Bella's had 2 ear infections now and I'm wondering if I should clean her ears myself regularly , but the vet wasn't so keen unless it happens more often... We've got cleaner and drops at the minute from the vet I know some people use wipes....
The dermatologist I ended up seeing about Charlie's ears said that if there is nothing wrong with your dog's ears leave them well alone, and don't be pouring anything in them. So, no, to routine cleaning. But, if your dog does have troublesome ears, and it does depends WHY your dog has troublesome ears, cleaning can help. In Charlie's case, it helps because the vet prescribed cleaner I use keeps the ph balance in his ears in the correct range. I don't understand this, exactly, but I don't use cleaner to clean them as such, it's because the cleaning solution has a particular ph that is helpful. Anyway, it works. As soon as I start to see a little redness, I use the cleaner and stop when the redness reduces, and so far I've headed off trouble. I always have a vet check his ears out though, to make sure nothing is going wrong. It's worked successfully for more than a year now... So I'd say not a matter of routine, but as a maintenance programme developed with your vet, or dermatologist, to deal with the particular ear problems your dog has.
I won't clean Myles ears until I see signs of irritation. He usually starts shaking his head and then I know. Otherwise I don't actually see redness or debri this early, it's his head shaking that tells me. All it takes is one cleaning with the prescription cleaner and ointment and that typically takes care of it. Doing this has prevented any actual ear infections. I am a big fan of vet prescribed cleaner vs anything you could buy at a pet store. I am guessing as Julie said it keeps his ph balance in check. So no I do not routinely clean his ears, but I do treat him with prescription cleaner at the first signs of irritation. This has worked for us.
I totally agree......leave well alone unless you see changes and if you check regularly you will know/see/smell straight away if there is a problem and that's the time to take action.......
I put a little Thornit powder (on the flaps, not in the ear) to keep mites at bay. Tatze hates the smell of it so I do it quickly with an old makeup brush. Touch wood, no mites.
When we went back to the vets today for her post knee op and one ear is still inflammed but vet said the drops are still being absorbed , so if it's still inflammed when we next go back she will do an ear swab and send off ahhhhhhhhhhhhh
My Chocolate lab, Shelbi, has small ear canals and they get irritated frequently. I do have a cleaner solution from my vet. I try to clean her ears with a tissue but find it hard to get deep down into her canal. I'm thinking perhaps this is a good thing. Would not want to do any damage. Would a cotton ball be better to use?
