Possible Ear Infection

Hello Everyone!

Ginger is 4 Months old and could possibly have her first ear infection . Everytime I give her a bath, I clean her ears. And i don't find any ear wax or anything on the cotton balls/tissues that i use to clean her ears.

But there is a slight foul Odor & she keeps scratching at it. I don't have a lot of funds right now since i had just brought her to the vet last week for nausea/vomiting.

Is there anything like I can buy at my local pet store that i can buy to help with ear infection? for example those wormers they have are over the counter that actually work. Thanks!

Could be ear mites.....

my guess is yeast..especially with the foul smell..yeast can be way down there too..seems some dogs are more prone than others..there are a lot of "cures" but the best one does come from the vet. I had a yellow lab that we fought yeast her whole life..it was very bad no matter how careful i tried to keep it from coming back. The yeast medicine doesn't cost too much..maybe your vet would let you just pick it up instead of having to pay for an office call..

a 50/50 mix of apple cider vinegar and witch hazel works well. you should be able to find both for under $5 per 16oz bottle.

most witch hazel products have alcohol in them, but that is not a bad thing since it helps dry the ear more quickly after cleaning. you just don't want a bunch of other ingredients in it, especially no fragrances or colorings. the brand i currently have in my medicine cabinet is "T.N. Dickinson's All Natural Witch Hazel Astringent" and it cost around $3 a bottle.

as far as the apple cider vinegar goes - it needs to be raw and untreated, so the heinz brand you can find at most grocery stores is useless. i generally buy bragg unfiltered organic raw.

mix a small amount in a non-metal dish, no more than you can use up immediately. 1-2 tablespoons of each should be plenty for each session. throw out whatever you don't need and make a fresh mixture for the next cleaning.

use an eye dropper or turkey baster and slowly, carefully drop the liquid into the ear canal, then massage gently and wipe out with a cotton ball or pad. do this twice daily for at least a week.

in addition to that, giving a probiotic supplement would also be very beneficial, to help the body along fighting the infection.

I don't have a regular vet. I've only been to the emergency one. that's the one ive always been too..

so if i do go to a regular vet. i'd have to pay an arm and a leg to get them looked at .. but i'll give a call first thing in the morning

--You have to flush the ear canal also. Try "Nolvasan Otic" or ask your vet to recommend a product. Have them show you exactly how to clean your dogs ears while you are there. Some vets automatically show you this, some don't.

Part of the cause may very well be having been on the Flagyl. Antibiotics can wreak havoc with the natural flora - good bacteria, allowing yeast to grow. You'll want to get her system back in balance to avoid further problems.

Adding some yoghurt to her diet will help, but it would be good idea to get some specific advice from Mordy - my best advice would be to PM or e-mail her.

I've also found that using a drop of distilled vinegar in a tablespoon of warm water is wonderful for cleaning. Wet a cotton ball, but wring out excess and reach deep into the ear canal. Even with the vet medication, the ear has to be clean prior to using....some vets are willing to deep clean the ear, some aren't. If your dog starts leaning it's head to the side, or even seeming to be off balance, you must get him to the vet immediately. Ear infections are very painful if not treated. Sure hope your little pal feels better soon!!!!

My little girl is in too much pain Im going to the vet this morning because i don't want to take chances!

thanks for your help everyone, i will use that remedy if oreo ever gets it *knock on wood* .. or if ginger gets it again!

Khristine let us know how you made out at the vet. If ear infections get very bad, they can do damage. Good idea to go to the vet with all the pain she's in.

The vet visit went rather.. alright i guess .. I think im not going to be going to that vet again.

So we got there to sign papers and stuff.. and then we waited for about oh.. 20 minutes to be put in a room.. when we were in the room the tech took the vitals and everything was nice.. the lady on the phone told me the doctor couldn't see Oreo.. and only could see Ginger since the doctor was very busy..

but i made him get seen too! cause if she had ear mites, he probably would have had it too.. but luckily he didn't.. unfortunately she does have an ear infection.. yeast and bacteria .. gosh the only thing they told me was that it was very deep.

the vet took my darlings in the back.. came back.. said the things it needed (meds) and left.. then 1 hour later (i kid you not) some tech just drops off my kids and leaves.. doesn't say a word or anything.. so me and my boyfriend are waiting for the vet to come back to tell us.. how to clean the ears, how to instill the ear drops.. and she prescribed Oreo some eyedrops since his eyes were so red and watery. well she didn't tell us how to instill the eyedrops.. i mean its self explanatory, but i mean she should at least tell me anyways..

soo 30 minutes passed and we are all still waiting in this room.. so i finally got tired and opened the door.. another 15 minutes passed.. and then someone finally said, oh im getting your medicine ready..

ok well she did.. 20 minutes later.. she just gave them to me.. didn't bother to tell me what time to give it, if they already gave it, stuff like that..the vet didn't even come back either.

sooo yea, im thinking the service wasn't as great as it should have been. Im kind of irritated right now, so if this post doesn't make sense sorry! ..

should i find a new vet?

i'd definitely find a new vet. that is horrible!

i saw you are in north hollywood. i live on the west side, near marina del rey. if you don't mind driving a short distance, i can highly recommend the brentwood pet clinic (brentwoodpetclinic.com).

my sister in law lives in sherman oaks and is also very happy with her vet, i can get the name and address from her if you want.

oh Mordy thank you! i'd love it if you could get the vet your sister goes to, i don't drive too much and sherman oaks is a lot closer!

thank you!

the vet by the way also plucked some hairs from gingers right ear, saying she passed it under a light and it was "suspicious" looked like ringworm but not sure.. that i would have gotten it by now.. .. but she said i'll find out in a month if ginger has ringworm .. yipee...

they didn't even say anything to me about aftercare.. or what can i do to cover the raw ear they scraped some skin off of that she keeps scratching at!

i'll get that to you as soon as i can. SIL was in hospital the past couple days but i think she is back home today.