what is a good home made soltion to use to clean a dog's ears? I have 2 standard poodles that get really dir

Question

dirty ears. there are no mites, and I keep the hair pulled. I'm a groomer so I know to do that. most commercial ear cleaners are oily, or they they leave a residue. i've tried alcohol, peroxide and a solution of warm water and a drop of Dawn. Nothing really works well

Answer 1

My vet absolutely hates alcohol (if there is any infection it stings, and if the ear drum is ruptured, it can cause permanent damage) and peroxide (it leaves the ear canals moist and more susceptible to infection). Anything mixed with water does the same thing (leaves it moist and more easy to infect). He never recommends them for home care.

There are 2 that my vet regularly recommends that are not oily... they are cleaning and drying solutions that adjust the pH in the ears to prevent bacteria and yeast from growing down in there. Check with your vet about a proper cleaning and drying solution. Maybe he has customers like you who don't want a greasy residue and they've found the "perfect" product.

Answer 2

OMG!!! I would NEVER let you groom my dogs if I knew you used alcohol, peroxide, dawn and other crap in their ears!! Gee, why don't you just use some lighter fluid too?

I use OtiCalm on my dogs (Poodles). It contains a surfactant, an oily product to break up the wax (which is why many of the OTC cleaner are oily), and a drying agent to keep the ear canals free from moisture that causes infections.

BTW - chronic ear infections can be a sign of allergies, both inhaled and food. You may want to talk to you veterinarian about dietary food trials or treatments for inhaled allergies.

Oh and plucking hair can be irritating to the ear and cause in increase in wax production thereby increasing the chance of a yeast otits. Consider treating with Otomax post plucking for 1 week, cleaning 2-3 times a week with OtiCalm (or I like OtoClense as well).

This will make for much happier ears!

Answer 3

I found this look it up and under Principles of Care there was some helping ideas

http://www.vipoodle.org/PDF_Files/ThePoodleEar.pdf

Now http://www.groomingclippers.com/grooming.asp
had this to say
Ear Cleaning
Performance™ Ear Powder is made to assist in ear canal hair removal, by absorbing the ear secretion and giving you a better grip on the hair. Follow with Performance™ Ear Cleaner which is gentle, but also contains acidic acid which slows inflammation of the irritated skin after plucking. Fill the ear canals with cleaner and gently massage canal from the out side then let dog shake extra out. Gently absorb any extra with cotton ball. Repeat until cotton comes out clean. Do not dig or poke in canal for any reason. Finally, pack ear with cotton ball not allowing water to enter ear while bathing.

So good luck

Answer 4

I always used a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and alcohol as long as there was no infection or cuts, just dirty, and I soaked those really big cotton balls and cleaned them out. Being a groomer, you know how to handle ears.
Then sometimes off and on during the day or for a little bit each day I would use a scrunchy to loosely and gently sort of tie the ears up so they could get some airing out time.

Answer 5

the only correct solution to put in your pet's ears is called nolvasan and you can probably get it through dr's foster and smith or maybe even a pet store. any other liquid including hydrogen peroxide,alcohol etc will cause nasty ear infections. also never stick anything into your pet's ear instead just fill the ear canal to the top with the nolvasan and massage it. the wax and debris will float to the top and will come out as he shakes his head. if you have been putting water in your dog's ear it probably has an ear infection and i would recommend you take him to the vet.

Answer 6

Hydrogen peroxide.drip into ear canal , massage in an upwards motion.wipe out with cotton ball. do NOT enter ear canal.just go in as far as u can go WITHOUT entering canal .repeat every two or three days .you have to keep at it until it clears up.this worked well with my corgie

Answer 7

you are probably using to much oil .it takes very little and than warm water and a little soap. another good thing is baby wipes. they smell good to and they have doggie wipes but to expensive and baby wipes are cheaper and do as good if not better.I think u will like this idea.I do

Answer 8

A solution of hydrogen peroxide will work very well.

Answer 9

i just use witch hazel on my puppy everyday since her ears get dirty everyday.

Answer 10

At my shop, I/we use rubbing alcohol -- wintergreen. Buy it at Walmart.