ear gunk

[BigD]

Little Marzipan - who will turn a year old on Monday - has a bit of a problem with ear gunk, but only in her left ear.

 

Buddy (4 years) has pristine ears. I think I've had to clean them once. He just never gets any waxy buildup or anything in them.

 

Marzipan is the total opposite. I can go through 5 Q-tips getting the gunk out of her ears and the next day, it's almost the same.

 

It's usually a thin film of brown stuff. Sometimes she will have gobs of it in her ear. It's pretty deep at times but is always found in the middle part of her ear and never at the ends or tip.

 

She only scratches at her ear after I'm done cleaning it.

 

Any idea what could cause this? In only one ear? She's never in the water. It's warm now, but not super hot. Her health besides is perfect.

 

Is there something better I could do to clean her ear other than Q-tips and cotton balls?

 

Thanks,

 

 

Denise

[Val]

As far causes, got me.

 

But they do make ear cleaner that they sell at Pet stores. I am sure that there is some homemade kind that you can use but I am not that crafty! I only used it on Remi when he was a baby; both of mine have fairly clean ears so I don?t have to worry about.

 

I can?t offer any expert advice on the ear cleaner, I?m sure it is probably diluted alcohol or something. But it did seem to do the job when he was little!

[urge to herd]

Shoshone the Formerly Madly Itchy Dog has to have her ears cleaned. My vet told me to make a weak solution of vinegar/water (I use about 1tsp vinegar to a quarter cup of warm water) soak 2 or 3 cotton balls in it, then gently insert the wet cotton as deep as you can into the ear. Shoshone really loves it - not! Anyway, once they're in there, massage the base of the ear gently for 2 full minutes. Then pull the cotton out and jump back quickly, if you don't want to be sprayed with vinegary, waxy, gunky ear stuff when your pup shakes her head.

I do this around once a week or every 10 days or so, keeps her ears pink and itch free.

Some dogs are just naturally waxier than others, if Marzipan's ears don't bother her, and they don't smell funky and yeasty, she's probably just a waxy dog. The vinegar rinse really has helped Shonie's ears.

 

Ruth n the Border Trio

[Denise Wall]

Try trimming the hair in and around the inside of the ear so there's more ventilation. Works for me.

[Terry]

It's not ear mites is it? The only time I have seen wax build up is ear mites but dog is also usually scratching a lot at their ears.

[2 Devils]

Diet can also play a part in the ear gunk/infections.

 

With my poodle he had ear infections off and on for 3 months before I could change his food. Once I changed the food, the infections went away and now he has only had 2 ear infections in 2 years which is good for poodles... and the meds were able to get rid of them quickly.

 

The infections were my fault for not pulling the ar hair enough. His grows fast. As long as I pluck about every 2 weeks he is good to go.

[BigD]

Is it an infection or just waxy buildup?

 

And if it was food, I would think both ears would be a problem, not just the one.

 

I will try trimming the hair to see if that helps.

 

Thanks for the suggestions,

 

D

[selena]

There is this stuff called Vet Solutions ear cleaning solution. Its awesome. At the vet hospital I work at we use it all the time on ear problems ranging from just dirty to bad infections. I highly reccomend it. You can use it to flush or just dab it on some cotton. I think you have to buy it at a hospital. But if its more then just gunk, see your vet asap, and ask about otomax.