I’m sitting here in my living room after an hour long walk with Chase, realizing this rain really hasn’t let up much for the past few hours! It started out spotty and light when we began walking, and seemed to get heavier the second half hour of our stroll along Clive’s paths. Now I’m looking at a mini-lake developing in my backyard, and hoping Chase doesn’t drag in the mud that has also developed around our saturated yard.
When we got home today, I neglected to wipe out Chase’s ears, and now I see him rolling on the floor and scratching at them. Labs are prone to ear infections due to moisture build-up after swimming or bathing. With consistent cleaning, infections can be held at bay. If left alone for too long, bigger problems can arise. Other ear infections can be created by ear mites, allergies, bacteria & yeast, as well as a few other issues that can pose problems for your pet.
Have your pets had ear infections that required more than just a normal cleaning? Has your vet showed you what to look for in an ear infection, or how to properly clean your dog or cat’s ears without hurting them? We may be able to help with our discussion this week, but for more details on proper cleaning, you’ll definitely want to ask your vet.
Let’s start with some of the symptoms your pet may have ear issues. All dogs and cats scratch their ears and heads from time to time, but if they do it on a frequent basis, there may be something bugging them. Chase occasionally digs in his ears with his claws and wines, which has me thinking we may have a vet trip in our near future. Although I cannot see anything when I lift his ears and search, a vet can get in with an otoscope and have a more in-depth look. If your pet’s ears have an odor or a discharge, redness or swelling, or they frequently shake their heads, it may be a sign of infection. All of these symptoms should be checked out immediately.
I took a quick break while typing, and cleaned Chase’s ears. He isn’t shaking his head this afternoon, and the redness from his earlier scratching has gone away. We’ll watch him closely, and if he starts shaking and digging again, we’re heading to Banfield! UGH, and it’s worth mentioning, the rain is STILL really coming down!! I can’t wait to feel the 80s again by Friday!
Until next week- Bryan & Chase ^..^
Thankfully Sadie doesn’t tend to have ear issues. She doesn’t do much with water. (I swear at times she is part cat with her aversion) The few times she has swam, she did enjoy it, but I didn’t think to wipe out her ears.
The cats on the other hand. Esh. Both have had ear mites when kittens. Our older one didn’t have them quite so bad. But the younger “free” cat…esh. Black cat and ear mites don’t mix well. She still needs her ears cleaned out on occasion from the build up.
Back when I lived in Missouri, my roommates and I had a couple kittens with ear mites. The country vet that we took them to was very kind and loved working with the small animals since most of his trade were livestock. He told us to remember when treating cats for ear mites to put the medicine in their ears and also on the tip of the tail. That way when the cat curls up to snooze, the tail (which always ends up in an ear) is not an escape route for the mites from the treatment.
Though if your cat is like my younger one – with no tail/stub tail – then you don’t have to worry about that. LOL
Autum just got over her ear infection. we cleaned it out twice a week but didn’t seem to help it. fungus was the culprit. we got some drops from the vet and a week later ear is all clean.
she loves water (lab curse) so we try and clean her ears out when she is done. a few weeks ago she rolled in a dead fish carcus..OMG that was sick!! i made her swim around in the water to clean off the dead smell but she got a bath right away when we got home.
I have never had any dog that did this. so i was horrified watching this. she seemed to be in heaven though. i was yelling at her but she wasn’t hearing any of it. good thing i had her tone coller on her or else she might have ad it all over her.
~Hillary
Our yellow lab Boone has had ear problems since we first got him when he was 6 mo old. We had let him swim in the nearby lake and a few weeks later were struggling with a full-blown yeast infection in both ears. We got medicine but it just wouldn’t kick it. He was driving us nuts with his head shaking, rubbing on the carpet, and had scratched his ears raw. It was terribly painful for him. The vet ended up going in and cleaning them out while he was under for his neutering operation. That worked and the infection was gone.
Because of the anatomy of his ears (worse than most labs) we were told we had two options- keep him out of water completely other than once a while baths but make sure no water got around the ears… or continue to have yeast infections for life. His love for the water was too great- so we asked the vet what else we could do.
The vet gave us an ear wash that is called Oti-calm and I tell you it is the best thing since sliced bread. Whenever he swims or gets a bath we fill his ears with the solution (comes in a squirt bottle), massage them, then let him shake out the excess. It has a witchhazel scent, no alcohol, and not old controls the odor but keeps any ear problems at bay. We’ve used it ever since and at 7 yrs old he has not had a repeat infection. We also check his ears at least once a week and if they start getting that dark gunk in them we use the Oti-calm once a day for a couple of days and voila– it’s gone. It doesn’t cost us much either (I think usually around $7-8) and the bottle lasts us several months. Quite honestly, it could cost $50 and it would be well worth not dealing with him smelling, scratching, and shaking.
He must not mind it either because we have him trained. When I say “Boone lets clean your ears”, he runs into the bathroom and lays on one side. Then when I’m done with that ear and tell him “Ok other side”, he gets up and lays on his other side.
Neither of my dogs like to swim (and they are both part lab) so we haven’t had a problem with their ears. We do make sure when giving them a bath that no water gets in their ears. Hilary, I have a dog that will also roll on dead fish. Actually she rolls on just about any dead thing fish, snakes, birds, etc. Not sure why she does this but she seems to be enjoying herself when she does it. When she rolled on the dead fish she immediately got a bath as she was a white dog with green stripes and smelled like a fish.
Pam D. White dog with green stripes!!! That had to have looked hilarious! I think they do this as an instinctive way to cover their scent when hunting… Many dogs do this. Holly used to do it as well when we would ‘run the wild dogs’.
My PeeWee kitty has ongoing ear issues and I have to clean his ears constantly. The other cats don’t have much problem with their ears. Just like us, you need to pull the ear up to open up the canal so the medicine can get into the canal. Don’t rub too hard and massage up the jaw line. This will create a suction to help remove the material from the ear. Remember, just like our ears, be careful about things that you stick in them. I use cotton balls to wipe his ears out. PeeWee is very cooperative when I do this.
Have a good day! Pam
Thank goodness we do not have problems with the cat and dogs ears . We have been very lucky , no mite’s for the cat and the dog ears are clean every time we check . I think it is because every now and then you will see the cat licking the dogs ears and she will put her paw on the cat and clean him from head to toe , lol .
Enjoy the day . Stay safe all !!!!!!
Judy
Well Bryan missed Wed this week, and I missed the entire week. Shippo has real yeast problems in his ears. We have had them WELL cleaned when he had a tooth out. Still the ear problems persist. Darcy out at the dog park said I should change to a food without corn. Thought about it for a while, and realized that with horses when they have a strain, or sprain, or bad inflammation, we take the corn out of their diet. So it makes sense to do that with the food for our dogs.
We’ll see what happens.
We adopted a stray cat, about six months old, and she is the first one I’ve had with mites. Still treating her, and the others, just to keep them safe.
Just had a nice looking black lab (?) walking by on leash with his ‘parents’. Good looking trio. Short leash and still walking loose on it. I wish Okie could do that. I think I could hook up Okie and Shippo up to a sled or wagon and be all set.
Now had two jogging with with their ‘dad’ across the street. These run everyday about this time. Nice temperaments, met them on walks, Good pups.
Looks like the sun is out today, and the rain has stopped for a while. I can take the 60’s but the rain can hold off for a few days!
Enjoy
Kim and clan