Ear hair
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| Well, I would definitely research it more to see if there are cases of it causing infections, I don't know. Dancer is only 7.5 months old, and I've only had to do hers once. I used baby powder, which dries it out and makes the hairs easy to grip and pull out. I do believe it makes it less painful, and it is quick. I never had to do my first oes. I think it depends on how much hair is in there, if it is not kept clean it can lead to infections because the way has no where to go, it can get very dirty and smelly.
I would think an ear/nose hair trimmer would leave it kind of prickly, especially when it grows. Please let me know what you find out! |
Yeah, I am doing some research right now. I do trust my vet. He is a great guy and worked with OES in MO. My only concern was what kind of a chemical dissolves hair...  If its anything like NAIR, i will never use it. I tried it on my legs once, and had such an allergic reaction that I wanted to rip the skin right off my legs.  I clean her ears weekly, with the ear otic and drying ear powder. After the last cleaning, I tried pulling some hair out and she let out such a sqeil (sp?) that I was afraid to try again. Hubby says that they get used to it, like I get used to waxing. Hmmm I never got used to that.  Just do what I have to.  LOL Yeah, I was thinking the same thing about the nose trimmer, prickles... and probably will itch as they grow in. Such a sensitive area for them. I was wondering if anyone on the forum uses the liquid and how it is going. |
| Have you tried plucking the hair while there is lots of the ear powder on it? It really does make it go faster. Dancer had a LOT of hair in her ears, but with baby powder it took about 5 minutes to do the job, and I haven't had to do it since. I just grabbed big finger fulls and yanked it out, she didn't yelp at all with the ear powder, though she flinched a bit and was glad when it was over! Are you trying to use tweezers or anything like that? I find fingers work best.... |
| Marley,
Did you see this thread? http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?t=77 ... t=ear+hair The drying powder actually can be used to pull the ear hair out. When I use it with my fingers, Maggy doesn't mind it at all. She will sit through the entire procedure now. It was a gradual process--beginning with a little at a time, like any grooming procedure. When I use the forceps for those "hard to reach places" she isn't as enthused -- but tolerates it. The puppy squeal might not be from actual pain, but from discomfort of a new sensation. Truly Maggy seems to now enjoy having her ear-hair removed. (It helps that she knows she gets a nice "Greenie" when we are finished! ) |
| I'm sorry to say it - but your Vet isn't correct - it's actually the other way around. The hair should be removed (with care) and when done properly does not hurt! There are products you can use to help - but they don't disolve the hair (that would be harmful I would assume). Using a nose trimmer would also be problematic - because you're not removing the hairs from the root - instead your trimming them and potentially causing them to grow in all different directions and cause more of a problem in the ear canal.
If you are uncomfortable doing this yourself - ask a groomer to show you how! Kristen |
| Sorry Kristen but there is new evidence that plucking and may indeed lead to more problems contrary to the old opinions that they prevent the problems. |
| I would be willing to bet that it is due to improper plucking and/or products like were suggested (dissolving products) being used. |
kerry wrote: [...] there is new evidence that plucking and may indeed lead to more problems contrary to the old opinions that they prevent the problems. BritPresSyd wrote: I would be willing to bet that it is due to improper plucking and/or products like were suggested (dissolving products) being used. AHA! I was waiting for our next controversial subject! Who knew it would be about ear hair?!?!?
Kerry, Kristen...do you have a link or can you recall where you heard or read about it? My groomer used to do the "dirty work" for us. The inside of Jake's ears would be very red and tender for 2 days, with him shaking his head until the irritation went away. |
| I am not Kerry or Kristen, but I found on the Texas OES Rescue site that they still recommend plucking:
http://www.texasoesrescue.com/MAINTENANCEpage.htm Pud doesn't seem to mind me plucking his ear "feathers" either. He loves for me to rub his ears, and I usually do this part of grooming while we are cuddling. |
| Ron,
Where were you Saturday when we got the Ear Hair Removal lesson????
My dog's have always had their hair removed by the groomers and haven't had a problem! KOW! Also - my Vet comments each time we go how clean and well kept their ears are - and informed me that the groomer should be removing the hair. I don't have a link or reference! Sorry Ron! Kristen |
| any more thoughts on the subject? The groomer is showing me how to do the ear hair Friday. Should I go ahead and take Bellatrix? The hair is really starting to grow in there. lol |
| I have heard both sides of this coin elsewhere too, and while some believe leaving the ear hair there because it wouldn't grow there if it were not meant to be there, most agree that leaving the hair there can impair hearing as well as cause infections and harbor living conditions just right for bugs. |
| This is from the Merck Vet Manual chapter on ear problems. After a long discussion on external ear problems and treatments, this was the final paragraph.......pay special attention to the last sentence:
The ear canals should be kept dry and well ventilated. Chronic maceration impairs the barrier function of the skin, which predisposes to opportunistic infection. Preventive otic astringents may decrease the frequency of bacterial or mycotic infections in moist ear canals. Clipping hair from the inside of the pinna and around the external auditory meatus, and plucking it from hirsute ear canals, improves ventilation and decreases humidity in the ears. However, hair should not routinely be removed from the ear canal if it is not causing a problem because doing so can induce an acute inflammatory reaction. |
| Hmmmm. Good info. |
SheepieBoss wrote: However, hair should not routinely be removed from the ear canal if it is not causing a problem because doing so can induce an acute inflammatory reaction.
arrrghhhh!! So what about dogs like Maggy who have a LOT of ear hair ... and seems so much more attentive and happy without it?! |
| Maggie's hair should not grow back that quickly, does it? If you clean it out completely once in a while it should do the trick. I know every dog is different though. I never had to do Micaela's, and although I tried a few times with Dancer in the beginning, I only REALLY had to do it once once I got it right. I don't know how long it's been since i did it, but it doesn't need to be done again yet. |
| But in sheepdogs, who have "hirsute ear canals" (hair in the canal) we know it generally DOES cause problems if left alone, don't we?
That's what I thought, and I could be TOTALLY wrong. |
Willowsprite wrote: Maggie's hair should not grow back that quickly, does it? If you clean it out completely once in a while it should do the trick.
I guess I have a really hairy sheepie. Maggy gets long hairs way deep in here ears and up. I clean them at least once every week -- as needed, and I pull (with my fingers) and pluck (with a forceps) the hair about once a month. It's been a little more than a month (I've been slacking on my duties) and she has so much fine hair inside it is hard to see the canal. Tonight is bath night. She wants to look pretty for the vet in the AM -- I'm debating on what to do with her ears. My vet has always said to pull it with my fingers ... now it seems there is conflicting info. |
| I think fingers are safest.... |
I took Maggy to the vet today. She has conjunctivitis (pink eye) in her brown eye and allergies causing pink staining around the areas she licks. (vulva, bottoms of paws) I took her to the vet knowing what was causing the staining but not knowing what to give her for it  SO she is now on meds for both. My poor girl!
As far as her ears -- I didn't remove the hair before the visit because I wanted to hear what my vet had to say about MAGGY'S ears prior to it's removal. I can't speak for every sheepie AT ALL. The doc told me she sees more cases of infections, inflammation, etc., in dogs who don't have their ear hair removed than in dogs who do. Now, this is only my vet's opinion, and I am sure opinions vary from vet to vet. She recommended to continue to pull the hair with my fingers and the "hard to reach" areas with a forceps. However, she did STRESS that some dogs should not have forceps used on them as some will wiggle and squirm and the handler could pierce the ear or the canal. She has seen Maggy and her great tolerance to handling, prodding, grooming, etc. so said for Maggy forceps are fine -- but to always use them with caution. Guess I'll be pulling ear hair tonight. Blllchh!  |
| Ron,
Generally I agree, Ron. Sheepies can be a problem. I think it depends on the dog. My sheepies have run from forest in the ears to minor hair. The minor haired guys just got /get cleanings and infrequent finger hair removal....just a few at a time, never all the hair. If done almost every day, they get used to this. The forest ears--I had to be more diligent. They can get so much hair, dirt and wax it forms a plug or worse. My worse case had a near constant ear infection and tho she was nearly alway hairless, her problems were awful. I felt so sorry for her as we tried everything. Bless her heart. |
| Ear infections are so painful, and they often cause fevers, aching, dizziness and loss of balance, nausea and vomitting, and sometimes permanent hearing loss... it's one of many things I keep a very close eye on... but some animals, and people are simply more prone to getting them and there is nothing you can do but treat them.... |
| i always kept my shih tzu's ears plucked, and he went 17 years (his whole life), not a single ear infection or ear problem.
my two cents. |
| I also pluck with fingers and hemostats Jack and Annabelle's ear hair. Jack has the forest ears that Sheepieboss talks about. Annabelle's isn't much better though. LOL They both lay on their side and we can get it out pretty quickly. They don't like the ear cleaner used though. I don't think it all comes out either. Does anyone have any experience with this? I have posted previously that Annabelle may have water in her ear, well I guess it could also be the ear cleaner. Although, we have now started seeing all the animals fidget with their ears, so on Saturday we have 6 animals visiting the vet. LOL We have 3 different appointments on Saturday so we don't have to bring all 6 at once. I will let you know what the new vet's opinion also is on ear hair. Our last one said to pull the ear hair. Stormi and co. |
| Hi Stormi, I had used a cleaner that I bought from the vet, my kids needed Swimmers Ear which is drops that are used after swimming it dries up the water in the ears. After years of having swimmers ear on and off with 2 kids we have a lake community I compared the dogs cleaner from the vet and the Swimmers Ear which is an over the counter product and they have the same indgredients so I used the over the counter Swimmers Ear for kids and dog. I used it on the dog having giving him a bath we never had problems. Swimmers Ear was half the price of the product I bought from the vet. |
| Does swimmer's Ear have alcohol in it?
I just plucked Abbi's ears after negleting them for 8 weeks. What a mess. Once I had finished, using only drying powder and my fingers, she seemed so happy. I knew her ears were bugging her, she had been pawing and shaking them. Did not know how much she hed missed our bi-weekly cleanings. Our vet said Abbi was one of those dog's with lots of wax secretions. Vet recommennded weekly cleanings with an liquid cleaner soaked cotton ball. But I found just using the drying powder and fingers works the best. I use the liquid cleaner to clean up any excess wax on her outer ear, but unless her inner ear is looking messy, I just using the drying powder. Works great and she doesn't seemed to get any inflamations or infections. And she doesn't keep shaking her head, like she does if I use the liquid stuff. Every dog's different though. We now have a Chesapeake Retriever with the cleanest ears I have ever seen. And he digs a new hole in the back yard every day. You would think his ears would get dirty ... but no, only my house gets filthy.  |
| Okay so I found this link and am cheating because I have a Labradoodle...But I could still use help as this is my first dog. we have 2 sphynx and one devonrex...(cats)
anywho- DOES ANYONE KNOW THE NAME OF AN EAR POWDER THAT ACTUALLY DISOVLES THE HAIR CUTICLE MAKING IT EASIER TO PULL HAIR (INSTEAD OF A POWDER THAT JUST HELPS YOU GRIP THE HAIR). this is what my vet recommended so i take my baby to petsmart about every 6 weeks and they do a great job. he yelps with me bUt is okay there. but today i spoke to the woman there and she said they just use powder to grip and my previous understanding was the powder disolved. yikes..so confusing. my vet said groomers should have an epi powder that disolves hair at cuticle but i cannot find one  help...KIM OH AND HE HAS HAD NO EAR INFECTION SINCE I BEGAN GETTING THE HAIR REMOVED REGUALRLY. YOU CAN SMELL WHEN IT IS TIME TO DO IT AGAIN..SO FOR ME IT HAS BEEN A GREAT BENEFIT..ESPECIALLY SINCE HE JUST LEARNED TO SWIM |
| Not to cop out in offering you a solution, but if he doesn't have a problem with having it pulled and that's working, I'd just keep going with what works. I would think a hair dissolving powder (which I've never seen) would be kind of like dumping a depilatory in the ear and might be kind of harsh. If it's dissolving hair follicles, what else is it dissolving, you know? |
 Just read this thread. Willoughby has had an ear problem for the last month. I was late having his spring haircut etc due to our recent move and I suspect tht's why he got into trouble. We are now on a cleanser/drops regimen for the rest of the summer: one week on, one week off. So far so good. |
marley wrote: Hi, we went to the vet yesterday for Mop's last vaccinations, and asked him when we should start plucking the hair from Mopoes ears. His opinion was that hairplucking is painful and causes infections and inflamations. So, he suggested using products that disolve ear hair (sold in petstores) instead of plucking. Or he suggested using a powerful ear/nose trimmer to get rid of it. What are your thoughts on this? Mopsey has some hair growing in her ears already, and I want to make some sort of a disicion on what we are going to do when its time to get rid of it.
Seems my vet and your vet agree. I dont pull the hair in Beaus ears anymore. The last time it was done he ended up with a bad infection. Instead I use the ear wash the vet reccomended (Pan-Otic, great stuff) and I have never had another incident. I think the important part is keeping the ears clean and free of any build up. |
| ok so I took Holly to the groomers for the 1st time on Wednesday to get out the smoke smell in her fur from the fire. The groomer did a fabulous job brushing her out rounding her feet and cutting out her eyes a little bit .She also said she plucked some hair from her ears!! Then I get onto the sheepie forum and read this ............ well now Holly keeps shaking her head is this why??? Should I be concerned? |
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