K9 ear mites can't seem to get rid of them with OTC drops?

Question

I'm really trying to stay away from a Vet bill can any one recomend a home remady or something else OTC. She's a one year old poodle, loves to be outside is that another reason for the fight of ear mites? THANKS please help me.

Answer 1

Well first I have to ask.. How do you know for certain that it actually IS an ear mite infection? No offense intended, but its not always easy to tell the difference between Otitis externa and Otodectes cynotis unless you have some experience. Are her ears stinky? dirty? moist and itchy? could be a simple ear infection and not mites(Otodectes cynotis). If she is outside alot it could merely be an ear infection brought on by inhalant seasonal allergies, or food allergies. It could be mites but in general OTC mite medication works, but you have to be 100% positive that it is mites you are treating with the meds, specifically on the bottle it states that using the meds for ear problems that are not mite related could cause more problems. My cats have had ear mites in the past, but they were diagnosed by the vet before I used OTC meds, which worked just fine. If you really want to get to the bottom of your dogs ear problem you HAVE to take her to the vet, unless you have the equipment at home necessary to diagnose the dog yourself. Please take your dog to the vet for a check up, ear meds are cheap... but if left untreated or treated impropery your dog could end up damaging her ears far worse and cost you far more money trying to fix it... she could get an Aural Hematoma, from shaking her head to relieve the itch, she could permanently loose hearing, balance etc. To fix a hematoma costs around 400 bucks, ear infection meds cost 13 bucks, and mite meds are even cheaper OTC and not much more from the vet. Save yourself more bills in the long run and take your dog in now before the problems get worse and cost your dog and you alot more.

PS if you have a microscope you can make a slide with a swab from her ears and see if there are ear mites present yourself, there is a pic at the link I provided. Otherwise you cannot grow a bacterial culture to know what bacteria is causing her ear infections and thus treat it.. only your vet can do that.

Answer 2

Well I am going to guess that you are trying to treat a dog for ear mites, but the dog has not been diagnosed with ear mites? ear mites are generally seen under a microscope and diagnosed that way. It sounds as though you should consider taking your pet to the vet to have the ears properly diagnosed and treated as you can do more harm than good by just guessing. Good Luck.

Answer 3

Dogs do not commonly get ear mites and should NEVER be treated for one without a proper diagnosis.Dogs are prone to various ear infections and need proper vet diagnosis in order to be treated correctly. Improper treatment can make things a lot worse and can cause serious harm to your dog including deafness.
People should NOT self medicate!!!!

Answer 4

I would normally say ' see the vet ' but you obviously don't want to go to the vet and I would hate to see your pet suffering cause you won't get him treated properly.

You have to treat all your animals at the same time. If you have dogs that your dog hands out with, then they should be checked / treated too.

Ear mites are common in cats and dogs. Cats usually start them and they're the last to be treated. Direct physical contact is an important part of transmission from one animal to another. A cat with ear mites will scratch its ears frequently and a deposit that looks like dried coffee grounds, black, gray or even white will form down in the ear canals. A dog will scratch and shake its head and its ear canal may look quite red and inflamed. Bacterial and fungal infections secondary to ear mites is another layer of imbalance. Reducing redness and inflammation from secondary infection is the first order of business, as medications and remedies that help kill ear mites can sometimes act as an irritant to a sensitized ear canal.

Homemade, natural, Ear mite treatment suggestion:

Step 1:
Make a mixture of 1/2 ounce of almond or olive oil and 400 IU vitamin E in a dropper bottle. Warm to body temperature and put about 1/2 dropper full in the ear, massaging the ear canal well for a minute or so. Let your pet shake its head and then gently clean out the opening with cotton swabs. Q-tip type applicators may compact material already in the ear canal. Apply the oil every other day for six days. Then let the ears rest for 3 days. (The oil mixture will smother many of the mites and start a healing process.)

Step 2:
Using a tincture of the herb Yellow Dock, dilute it with water (9 drops to 1 tablespoon of water). Treat the ears with this mixture, as described above, once every 3 days for 6 weeks. Ear mite eggs are quite resistant to just about anything after they have already hardened, that is why a six-week period of treatment is recommended. The eggs will continue to hatch out in cycles and if medicine is present for six continuous weeks (medicine administered will last for four days) there will be no more eggs present.

You may need to thoroughly shampoo the head and ears (and the tip of the tail), because the mites can leave the ears; they do like to go for night trips to check out the terrain and might crawl back in after treatment. The tip of the tail may have a few mites from when it is curled near the head. Make a tea infusion of yellow dock and use it as a final rinse.

Generally a healthy animal will have fewer problems with ear mites, so improving the diet will help in prevention and recovery. Feeding a natural raw meat diet or a super-concentrated, preservative free commercial diet like PHD will improve overall health and reduce the likelihood of frequent parasitic infections. Supplementing with garlic and brewer's yeast is especially helpful.


Ear Mites / Infections

Mix 5% or 3% volume of hydrogen Peroxide with 1/2 teaspoon of wheat germ Oil and add about 3 mls of water. (Warming the mixture, by placing small bowl onto a larger bowl of warm water)

If cat or dog has an ear infection you may need to use a homeopathic treatment drops as well, if the infection is chronic.
For Ear Mites use either a cotton ball or eye dropper, fill eye dropper and gently trickle mixture into the ear canal (approx. half a teaspoon) let it run down into the ear for a few seconds then from the base of the ear gently massage it (hear the squishing sound) massage for 2/3 minutes then let the cat or dog shake their head, do this procedure each day for 3 days then repeat same the following week.

For Ear Infections do the same, except treat the ear every day until no more brown fluid is present or the wax has been cleared. It is important to put your pet on a natural raw meat/veg diet and food vitamin supplements, many ear infections are caused from poor quality food/food allergy/low immune system.

Use at your own risk.. I still recommend seeing the vet first.

Answer 5

Peroxide q-tips 1 or twice a week till gone all the way careful not to get in eyes.4 thumbs down wow I use this treatment on my weiner dobs all the time and it work really well it happent mostly to dogs whose ears flop down and are not aired out alot just wondering whats up with all the thumbs down.