How to Eliminate Dog Ear Odor
A very bad smell coming from your dog's ear may indicate a bacterial infection, yeast infection or parasite. Dog ears are prone to infection, particularly in animals whose ears flop down over the opening and prevent natural air circulation in the ear canal. Head shaking, ear scratching and growling or yelping when you come near your dog's ear are indications that your pet has an infected or infested ear.
Things You'll Need
- Veterinarian
- Rubbing alcohol
- White distilled vinegar
- Distilled water
- Cotton balls
- Jar
Instructions
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Make an appointment to see your vet. Your dog may need a professional ear cleaning. Yeast infections have a different smell than bacterial infections, and must be treated systemically with either prescription medications, dietary alterations or both. Chlorhexidine and clotrimizole are medications that your vet may prescribe for your dog's yeast infection.
Ask your vet if your dog might benefit from an elimination diet to rule out any possible allergies that might be causing your dog's ear infections. Generally, this involves slowly changing a dog's diet, and ruling out possible offending foods by removing one food at a time until the allergy symptoms disappear.
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Ask your vet if you can clean your dog's ears at home. Before you begin an at-home cleaning method, make sure that your vet approves your ear-cleaning regimen. Any unseen infections or sores in your dog's ears may be painful if you try to clean broken skin. A vet may do an initial ear cleaning, as well as provide topical creams such as anti-bacterials or anti-inflammatories to clear up any lingering internal infections.
Your vet may be able to rule out other sources of infections, such as tick bites or other parasitic infestation of your dog's ear. Sometimes your dog may develop an ear mite infection after taking flea medicine, as these parasites develop a resistance to topical pesticides used to kill fleas. Your vet may provide Ivermectin, a topical anti-parasitic medicine to kill any living parasites in your dog's ear.
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Clean your dog's ears after gaining your vet's approval. Make a solution of one part each of 70 percent isopropyl alcohol, distilled white vinegar and distilled or purified water. You may add a drop or two of eucalyptus oil to create a nice smell. Keep the mixture at room temperature. Pour a small amount into dog's ear canal. Massage the external base of ear, and let the solution run out. Clean the excess with sterile gauze, not allowing the mixture to get in your dog's eyes. Do not shove the wipe into the ear canal, but let the dog shake the excess out, only using the clean gauze to dry the easily accessible moisture. Repeat once a week.
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Tips & Warnings
Dry your dog after bathing or swimming. If you bathe your pet, or if your dog likes to take a dip in the lake, dry him or her with a towel, and use cotton to absorb water from the hair in the outside of the ear canal. This will help to prevent further infections from developing.
References
- Photo Credit funny dog ears flap high retrieve vizsla run play image by Paul Retherford from Fotolia.com
