Ear Infection and Swimming
Dexter has an ear infection/yeast issue; brown waxy mess, a little worse in one ear. I took him to the vet who prescribed antibiotic drops that we finished yesterday after almost 2 weeks. The ears were getting better but today they may be backsliding or it could be the mess finally washing out. He goes back to the vet on Tuesday. My question is about Dexter and the pool. He likes to wade and stick his face in the water. He rarely gets deper than belly eep but sticks his face in to his ears, never really getting his ears in the water but I am sure water gets up to his ears. We try to dry his ears after he's in the pool but.............. Can the daily dips/wet ears be compounding his ear issue? Can you use an ear rinse after he swims to help dry them out? (it helps with my grandkids) BTW, it is a saltwater pool and he's never outside without my wife or me.  |
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| It sounds like the ears aren't cleared up yet. - I would go in for a recheck and have them looked at. When he gets the ears all healthy, a real good product to use is Epi-Otic. It is an ear rinse and ear dryer. We sell it at The Paw (where I teach classes) especially for use by the dogs who swim in the pool there. It can be used for routine cleaning, but it's real value is it dries the ears out after they swim. Here's a link - http://www.healthypets.com/epearclean4o.html Another thing - if the ears are really gunky, it can be beneficial to clean (with this or a similar product) 1st, then follow with the medicine. If there is too much crud in the ear, the medicine can't work.  |
| I wouldn't use anything in the ears until they are checked by a Vet. If there are open sores within the ear, anything may cause him some discomfort...if open sores, etc, it will burn if you put an antiseptic in. Check with the Vet and let him know your dog swims...Ear infections are painful so hope he feels better soon... |
Ashley wrote: I wouldn't use anything in the ears until they are checked by a Vet. If there are open sores within the ear, anything may cause him some discomfort...if open sores, etc, it will burn if you put an antiseptic in. Check with the Vet and let him know your dog swims...Ear infections are painful so hope he feels better soon... Yes - my 1st line said to see the vet  |
| You might be dealing with yeast, in addition to an infection. I second the Epi-Otic. I use it on Oscar and it cleans the ears beautifully, plus helps with drying. We use it for daily cleaning, and, when Oscar has something brewing, I clean the ear with the Epi-Otic and some soft cotton before administering the ear meds. I don't think the Epi-Otic has any astringent properties or alcohol in it, so I think it's fairly easy on the ear. Laurie and Oscar |
| hi, in answer to your original question about water in dexter's ears. i would keep him from getting water in them until such time the vet says they are good again. an earache specialist.  |
| Ask your vet about using Zymox to help clear up his ears. My vet lets me keep it on hand so I can put some drops in as soon as I detect anything. I don't usually have much problems with ears but occasionally when I do, this stuff really nips it in the bud. |
| Today the vet said Dexter's ears are clear "down in" and the new brown and black crud is the deep stuff flushing out normally. He gave more drops, Otomax, to put in once a day. He also gave us MalAcetic Otic to use after his daily swim. Dex doesn't mind the drops but hated his first experience with the cleanser. Dexter is 6 months old on Saturday, today he was 54.6 pounds and is 22-23" at the shoulder. His weight gain rate has slowed to about 1 1/2 pounds per week. The vet said he is average height and weight for his age (his mom weighs 70 and his dad 85). We can't recall anything about the growth rate of our previous male, seems like he was a puppy one week and an adult the next. He only got to about 70 pounds. |
| It will help him like it more if you warm the ear flush solution a bit. Set it in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes before using it. Or in the winter here, I set it on the corn stove to warm Don't microwave it though. Shake before using, and it will be a lot more nice on the ear. I did that for my kids (the human ones) too, and our cat (he has the ear issues at our house). Ears are warm, and sensitive - room temp is too cold to feel good. |
| Luna and Tonks get boarded a fair amount in the summer-- its our busy travel season. The kennel has a pool, and the girls are in it ALL DAY. And inevitably, Luna comes home with an ear infection every time. RAther, she CAME home, past tense. We got it cleared up, and its stayed that way; here's how: Took her to the vet the first time- yeast. We were given drops for her. Second time, same. Third time, I just used the drops I had left over. After that, I began sending her to the kennel with the drops, and her ear cleaner, with instructions for them to clean and dry her ears after EVERY swim, and to start the drops as needed and to call our vet if it didn't look like it was clearing up. After a 9 day stay, Luna came home with the cleanest ears EVER, and no follow up problems. So YES, the pool is an issue. But with the proper care, she can still swim and not have the ear infections ruin the experience! I think if you are careful about properly cleaning and drying out Dexter's ears after swimming, you'll do fine. |
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