Ear Infections
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Ear Infection Remedies for Pets

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Rubbing Alcohol, White Vinegar

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Posted by Jim (Perry, Mi) on 05/12/2012
 ★★★★★

My dog's ear was stinking real bad and she was itching. I used 2 cups vinegar 1 cup water 1 tsp rubbing alcohol mixed it all up put it in spray and treated her ears. She didnt like the smell but I noticed she wasnt scratching and the smell of her ears is going down. She is also a big swimmer will continue to treat her ears for a few weeks.

Rubbing Alcohol, White Vinegar
Posted by Airpan (Houston, Tx) on 10/18/2011

I have also heard of grain alcohol (everclear) being used to dry out ear canals in pets and humans. I was on a dive team when I was a kid and I kept getting swimmer's ear. My grandmother purchased a bottle of it and with a capful would fill my ear, I would let it sit there for about 30 seconds and then tilt my head over a towel to drain. After that, never got another swimmer's ear infection again.

Rubbing Alcohol, White Vinegar
Posted by Vince (Philadelphia) on 02/05/2007
 ★★★★★

My guys both had an ear problem, that wasn't mites. I had heard about using rubbing alcohol and white vinegar, and hydrogen peroxide and something else that I couldn't remember. I tried the alcohol and vin, which I tested on my elbow pits and eyelids, with no irritation. They shook for 20min, probably being a watery liquid it was different than mineral oil, and went deeper. They had been scratching themselves silly before, but they didn't scratch after treating them.

Replied by Sp
(Lavergne, Tn)
07/31/2010
★★★★★

I have been using rubbing alcohol and white vinegar (half/half), no water, on my dog's ears. My little malteese poodle has a tendency to get smelly ears, yeast problem, so I decided to use this mixture. I tilt his had side way and put about 3-5 drops in each ear and massage it in for a few seconds, then I wipe off the excess from his ears with a tissue. I do this after I bathe him. I continue doing that once a day for the next 2 days. He shakes his head for a few minute, afterward he is fine. I have been doing this for about 2 months now and he has no problem with smelly ears. I'm relieve to have found an easy solution to take care of his ears. Thank you all for the very helpful information.

Replied by Val
(Dallas, Pa)
04/21/2016
★☆☆☆☆

Please don't do this one or do so with caution, at your own risk. I used the proper gadget to pull hair out of poodle ears. I then used this mixture & wiped inside her ears with a cottonball. I also massaged her ears for 60 seconds. She was thrilled & ran all through the house. A week later I cleaned her ears with this (no hair to pull) & 2 days later her ears were full of scabs. Now I have to apply Neosporin & got a solution from vet to use going forward.

P.S. The rubbing alcohol was only 70%.

Sunshine

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Posted by Uvaid (Fort Myers, Florida, Usa) on 09/22/2012
 ★★★★★

Let me offer a way for your dog to stay healthy and free from ear infections, take him for a walk outside preferably in broad daylight. If your dog has long ear flaps pin them back. Mammals produce hydrogen peroxide naturally through a process called photo-oxidation. Photo-oxidation occurs when the melanin in mamallian skin is exposed to sunlight. This process is an animal's first line of defense against disease all over their bodies including their ear, nose, and throat. There is a direct correlation between available sunlight hours and the occurrence of colds, flu, and ear infection. During the summer months exposure to sunlight produces enough hydrogen peroxide to keep animals free of disease but during the winter months the process of photo-oxidation diminshes. In addition, a study under the direction of Dr. Cindy Dunn has found a significant reduction in bacterial colonies on skin including the ears and nose after exposed to natural light.

Exposing your pet to sunlight only for a few seconds everyday has proven health benefits. If you are not able to get out into the sun everyday, I suggest using a light supplement.

Sweet Potato

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Posted by Marilyn (Queensbury, New York) on 11/19/2007
 ★★★★★

My newfie has always had goopy ears and a slight doggy odor about her. At her last chiropractic visit, the chiropractor said that for some reason the big fluffy dogs are more prone to doggy odor and to give her 1/2 of a sweet potato every other day. She said just fix the sweet potato the way that I normally would and give it to her. So, I baked it in the microwave (poke some holes all around, nuke on high for 10 minutes, when done, immediately wrap in aluminum foil and let sit for at least 5 minutes), mashed it up with a little butter and gave it to her. Almost immediately I noticed a big difference - no more doggy odor and BONUS her normally goopy ears were clear and dry!!! Now she gets her sweet potato as prescribed - and they don't cost a fortune.

Tea Tree Oil

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Posted by Llv319 (Mastic Beach, New York) on 08/19/2009
 ★★★★★

my dog had an ear infection for years. vet gave him meds but nothing worked.he had brown discharge and always scracthed and cried. then i used TEA TREE OIL. a couple of drops everyday and cleaned out the gunck! every other day i used ear powder to help dry up the ear.in a week it was gone. it's been years now and no infections. i use this remedy still as a preventative every few weeks. puppy is happy.

Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Kay (Crooked River Ranch, Oregon) on 03/22/2008
 ★★★★★

My shih tzu dog had a rash in one ear, I treated it with tea tree oil, I put it on with a cottonbal, it cleared up in two days.

Theresa's Remedies

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Posted by Theresa (Mpls., Mn) on 10/08/2017
 ★★★★★

For washing pet's ears:

You might try adding Betadine solution to warm water - use 1 cup of water and add drop by drop the Betadine until it is the color of tea [for reference, look at the bottled teas in the grocery store] and use that to wash the ears out.

Theresa's Remedies
Posted by Theresa (Mpls., Mn) on 08/29/2014
 ★★★★★

I personally have no problems with solutions from my vet; in some cases I find the medicated solutions superior to the basic ACV/Isopropyl/H2O solution. I also find ZYMOX Otic Enzymatic ear drops with hydrocortisone super effective for painful, yeasty ears.

That said, I also LOVE Ted's Anti-Fungal/Anti-Staph remedy: It is super inexpensive, and I find this to have less "sting" than using white vinegar/Apple Cider Vinegar, and with one-step application as raw ears first must be healed with Olive Oil and garlic infusion before you can use the ACV remedies - you can just use Ted's staph remedy without causing a huge sting.

You will need epsom salts, borax, Milk of Magnesia and hydrogen peroxide. You can get all these over the counter at the drug store. The hydrogen peroxide is very probably a 3% solution, so you will need to dilute it. So take 1/3 cup of the hydrogen peroxide and add 2/3 cup of plain water to it; you now have a 1% solution of hydrogen peroxide. Now add 1 table spoon each of the Milk of Magnesia, epsom salts and borax. Mix it really well in a small bottle and place the sealed bottle in a sink full of warm tap water to warm up the solution before you use it to liberally flush the ears. You can use this daily or twice daily until the ears are under control and healthy again. To keep them healthy you might wish to use the garlic oil infusion every 3rd day or flush with the vinegar solution every day.

On top of physically addressing the ears, I would consider alkalizing her water with baking soda; a crisis dose is 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda into 1 liter of water and have this as her only drinking water. After 5 days you can reduce to a maintenance dose of 1/4 teaspoon into 1 liter of water.

Thyroid Medication

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Posted by Amelia (Malibu, California) on 06/13/2009
 ★★★★★

My Lhasa Apso had chronic ear infections. After trying several different medications, the vet tested the smelly, runny discharge from her crusty ears. She had multiple colonies of bacteria including staff and strep etc. We did the best we could for quite a while and then I changed veterinarians. The new vet prescribed quite a bit of thyroid and her ears cleared up immediately and stayed clear as long as she was on the thyroid. Thyroid medication cured the ear infections.

Vaginal Yeast Cream

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Posted by Veronicac (San Antonio) on 08/28/2016
 ★★★★★

One of my dogs has always gotten horrible ear infections. I tried many things, including expensive vet visits. The cream the vets prescribed worked great, until we ran out. It was getting too expensive to continually visit the vet every other month. After researching, I discovered many dog ear infections are yeast infections. I'm a woman, and I've had plenty experience with yeast infections. I don't like Monistat because it burns. So I decided to try Clotrimazole, which is in both yeast infection and athlete's foot medication. It did the trick. I've been putting it in my dog's ears a couple of times a week. Her ears are no longer red, rough and swollen. I've also begun adding a tiny bit of borax to the cream, and it really does help. Borax is now my go to for my own yeast infections. If you can't find Clotrimazole in the yeast infection area, check the athlete's foot area. They are exactly the same.

Replied by Nothy Lane
(Hamilton, Ontario)
09/19/2017
★★★★★

I've used Monestat in the past, and it works but it takes a day. After reading about Clotrimazole here, I went to the store and purchased some. It was in the foot section. My dog immediately stopped shaking his head and seems very comfortable. I am so glad I read Veronicac's post. I will always have a tube of this $8 cream on hand. What a big difference it has made already!

Replied by Wendy427
(Oh)
09/21/2017
25 posts

Yes, Monistat works great. I've also posted the "Arcane" recipe on this site which includes Monistat. Here's one of the links: https://www.earthclinic.com/arcane-solution-ear-infection-dogs.html

Vaginal Yeast Cream
Posted by Wheaten Owner (Drayden, Maryland) on 04/03/2013
 ★★★★★

Re: Dog with ear infections: I have not used the vinegar method but just about everything else. Paid high dollars for 2 years to vets for visits and meds to no avail. One day I decided to try human vaginal yeast cream. WOW! It worked like a charm. Called a friend who has a Lab with chronic ear infections and told her of my success. She also tried the vaginal yeast cream and it also worked for her dog. I am the daughter of a vet and knew that a lot of the meds he suggested were what we buy over the counter for ourselves.

Witch Hazel

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Posted by Kathy (Detroit, Michigan) on 01/04/2009
 ★★★★★

My black Lab mix has always had allergies that end up causing problems with her ears and infections as well. She is now eleven years old and for the last 5 or so years we have been cleansing her ears with witch hazel. Not only does it have antibiotic qualities, it also is an anti-inflamitory. We buy witch hazel OTC in any store. Use cotton balls made with real cotton, and lightly soak with witch hazel, being careful not to get the cotton ball so wet that it drips and runs into the ear. Gently swab the inside of the ear, and remove the dark matter that builds up in the ear.

Our dog loves the treatment. It doesn't sting and she finds it soothing. We try to treat her every other day, depending on the severity of the allergy outbreak. Works like a charm and she relaxes after a treatment. We have saved a fortune in vet fees and medicine. Our vet approved of our method.

Witch Hazel, Boric Acid, Gentian Violet

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Posted by Chloe (Cos Cob, CT) on 07/07/2019
 ★★★★★

Editor's Choice

My dog has had chronic ear infections for the past 3 years. They were treated with drops from the vet but always returned a week after stopping the drops.

I then found a remedy here and results were much longer lasting lasting than what I got at the vet.

  • 4 oz witch hazel
  • 1 tbsp boric acid
  • 4 drops gentian violet

Add products to a glass dropper bottle if you have one and shake well each time you use the remedy. Put several drops in your dogs ears twice a day and massage using gentle, circular movements.

How Long to Use:

Use twice a day for the first week, then once a day for the 2nd week. After that, maintain by adding drops once a day.

Hope this helps someone as ear infections are seriously uncomfortable for dogs and can lead to hearing loss.

Witch Hazel, Boric Acid, Gentian Violet
Posted by Bunny (Boston, Ma) on 09/17/2011
 ★★★★★

Here's a recipe for ear infection (fungal, bacterial, etc. ) gotten from a vet many years ago. It worked for my dogs.

  • 4 oz. witch hazel (or alcohol although alcohol stings)
  • 1 T boric acid
  • 4 drops gentian violet (pharmacy).

I mixed it up in a little brown bottle with dropper.

Apply to ears 2 x day for a week, then once a day until resolved. It stains so be careful where you apply.

Replied by Diane
(Or)
08/07/2016
★★★★★

This homemade treatment really works. Used it a few years back on poodle that had ear infection that just wouldn't clear up.


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