Aspen is 15 weeks and I just started cleaning his ears...I don't know if I am too late on that but it just never crossed my mind because he was so little and had fairly clean ears. He has rather large floppy ears that he hasn't grown into yet and when I checked them the other day they had brown wax, not too much wax, and his ears were a little stinky. Will regular cleaning help with the smell? Is this normal? He doesn't scratch at his ears and the smell isn't foul or anything, just a bit unpleasant. We bought some solution and have cleaned his ears twice. We try to do it fast and massage his ears and he seems to be okay with it!
Hmm....I always check my dogs ears, and two just need the odd clean. As puppies they have never had a problem. My oldest does get the odd infection, especially when stressed. I would take your pup to the vet for a check up, just in case of an infection which would need to be treated.
Ok, we have an appointment in a couple days, I will ask then. Thanks! I'm also going to add that he has HUGE ears that are way too big for his head...could it be possible that they aren't getting enough fresh air?
I mentioned this to our vet the last time Cooper was in, because Cooper has forward ears with potentially more air circulation than Tilly with ears flat to her head. The vet said that dogs with stand up ears have far fewer ear infections than floppy eared dogs, and Cooper may have a lot less problems than Tilly in the future. We have to clean Tilly's ears on a fairly regular basis because she gets yeast infections.
His ear isn't stinky anymore after cleaning but the wax is a reddish-brown...that sounds like an ear infection doesn't it?
On cleaning them with a solution they should clean up. When the vet gave us a cleaner it was very messy. we had only had our boy a week, put this stuff in his ears, he shook his head and the red/dark brown yukky stuff flew across the vets walls and floors. Ditto the next day at home. Was disgusting. 2 or 3 days later it cleared up completely. We put drops in once a day on the vets advice and our boy hated it! We haven't needed to do it since it cleared up as hasn't reoccured
I would talk to your vet. I never clean my dogs' ears - they should be designed to be self-cleaning and messing with that mechanism can cause problems. Willow's and Shadow's ears are always sparkly clean. Luna can get a bit of gunk on occasion, which I watch very closely, in case it should turn into anything, but it's always gone by the next day (so far) and I am loth to interfere. If there is some sort of deformity in the ear that interferes with their ability to self-clean, it may be a different matter, but if the gunk is caused by an infection or mites, you really want to get it medicated as soon as possible to prevent it getting worse. I would want my vet's recommendation to do so before entering into a regular routine of ear cleaning.
For what it's worth (probably not much) a sure sign of an ear infection in children is a stinky ear. Sounds like it could be the same in dogs? I've never cleaned my dog's ears, but if they got whiffy I'd take her straight to the vets.
We have just had Lilly at the vets for her ear. Apparently infection in the ear causes an increase in the wax production in an attempt to "wash" the infection out. Its the excess wax that causes the musty smell and the brown/black gunk. At 7 years old (and a regular pool and beach swimmer) this is the first time we have ever had an ear infection. Never cleaned ears as a routine. Now I know where the smell was coming from when I bent too close to her (I was convinced there was some residual evidence of a recent "roll"!!)
It ended up being a mild ear infection Luckily he didn't seem very bothered by it, which is why I didn't notice until I got a whiff of his ears and looked at them. The vet gave us an antibiotic ointment to put in his ear and rub around and it cleared up in a few days. Thanks guys!
