What's wrong with my dogs ears?

Question

My 6 month old Bichon Frise is scratching it's ears a lot. A couple weeks ago we found a whole bunch of wax in his ears. And we got it out with Q-tips. But he still continues to scratch. What do I need to do to get him from needing to scratch his ears?

Answer 1

This is an ear infection, I suggest you go and see a doctor for eardrops if its severe. If not many pet stores have eardrops for it.
The wax has a lot of germs in it and its making his/her ear very itchy.

Answer 2

This sounds like exactly what my dog went through. I found a bunch of wax cleaned her ears and she kept scratching. It wasn't red, nor tender, and she continued to scratch. I took her to the vet and the vet said that it was a yeast infection in her ear. THe natural yeast that is in a dog systems build up in her ear which can be a sign of allergies. They put me on ear drops which I have to get twice a day and a antibiotic that I give her once a day. You should take your dog to the vet ASAP because if it's like my dog the ear was quite red inside and swollen.

The reason I did not think it could of been an ear infection but assumed it was because she was scratching over a period of a time and her hearing was great (she heard things I didn't even hear). The build up of was yeast although it looked like normal ear wax dark brown, soft to touch. I thought it was normal puppy scratching; however after awhile it was too much and I thought it was an ear infection and rushed her to the vet. It was a yeast build up. I was still glad I took her because they said despite it wasn't an ear infection because now it's a wake up call to allergies.
Good Luck.

Answer 3

It sounds like your dog has an ear infection. Redness/scratching are the common signs. Especially with Bichons they are prone to ear infection. what you need to do is goto your vet. They will clean out the ears for you (also ask they to show you how to do it) then they will prescribe you some medication. You will only need this medication for about 7 days till the infections clears up. You will then need to clean your dogs ears regularly and if the redness and itching comes back you can always go ahead and start up with the meds again (without having to goto your doctors again) Its good to have ear medication on hand for that type of breed. Also dont use Q-tips in your dogs ears, you dont know how far you can do and you can rupture their ear drums causing them to go deaf, or cause them to have a head tilt for the rest of their lives. So I highly suggest to goto the vet and be taught on how to clean the ears. And it sounds like it is 100% an ear infection. I am a vet tech so i see these things daily. Good luck.

Answer 4

You need to get him a vet appointment. Do NOT use q-tips it can actually cause harm and push the debris in the ear farther. This dog may have an ear infection or a simple bad build up of ear wax. Only a vet can determine the cause and the proper treatment.

Answer 5

We had the same problem. The vet checked and we didn't have the ear infection and he suggested that we get away from red dye (in the food). So we changed her food , making sure it didn't have red dye in the ingredients. Most of the red dye is in food that has beef. we switched to chicken, turkey etc. and although it took awhile, the scratching stopped. The vet said that alot of dogs have or get an allergy to red dye. also just go to the store and get an ear wash cuz it will help with the wax and sooth the ear too. hope that helps

Answer 6

Most answers were right, it's likely an infection. Could be mites, dogs do get them but it's not very common. With mites you would see a lot of black junk in there as opposed to the waxy stuff. Do they smell or are they red? The smell would indicate a yeast infection. Or it may be bacterial. In either case...if you're cleaning them at home, get a good ear cleaner meant for the dogs. Don't use water, this promotes infection. And although it's not as easy to hurt a dogs ears with Q-tips, you should still avoid them. Better to use cotton. But ultimately, get them checked by a vet. You can help control infection and make him comfortable by cleaning them, but it won't cure it.

Answer 7

It sounds like he has some sort of an ear infection. Your best bet is to take him to your vet, so he can look deep into his ears and see what' s really going on, and give some meds. to clear it up. I would not advise putting anything like QTips in the ears, because you may unintentionally do damage, by going in to deep, or pushing more wax into the ear. Your vet can give you something for the scratching. If it is an ear infection, and you wait to long to get it treated, it may get so bad, that a dog can lose it's hearing.

Answer 8

Have them checked at the vets. Could be mites if he's around cats that have mites. Also, a bichon needs lots of grooming. The groomer can pluck the hair from the ears to help maintain healthy ears. They need to be cleaned and hair free. But, see your vet to check for an infection first. The vet may also pluck the hair and show you how to clean them.

Answer 9

I have 2 Cocker Spaniels and they are known for getting ear infections alot. I took my dog's to the vet and they told us that the dog's had a yeast infection, in their ears. They gave us an ear cleaning solution and antibiotics. You might want to buy some ear cleaning solution somewhere, to see if it'll work, if you don't want to take them to a vet. Also, when cleaning your dog's ears, the vet told us to never go all the way down in their ears, with a q-tip, you're only supposed to go down, as far as you can see, by going all the way down, you could hurt them, more than help them.

Answer 10

It is hard to say because many different dogs have many different problems. I have a Golden Retriever and he gets bad ear infections. It is mostly from ear wax, and your dog may have ear mites. I would suggest taking him to the vet to see what is the problem. My dog's ears swell up and get very cherry red so we have ear drops for him. I would take the vets advice!

Answer 11

You need to take him to a vet. Your breed can get ear infections similar to swimmer's ear, very easily. The only way to cure him is to get some antibotic ear drops from your vet.

You'll have to put the drops in twice a day to start. After you put them in, you'll have to massage his ear canal fro the medicine to get in there. Before you put the next dosage in, use a think towel slightly damp with warm water to clean out any gunk in his ears. Just use a soft circular motion.... you're vet will probably show you how.