Learning how to clean your dog’s infected ears is undoubtedly an essential skill that you (as a dog owner) needs to pick up as this issue is so common in dogs.
Of course, you can look for a veterinarian for treatment but if you can do it right from your home using natural remedies, that would certainly save you time and cost.
So let’s get going!
Besides using OTC antifungal cream to clean your dog’s infected ears, you can also make use of natural remedies such as Witch Hazel with Aloe Vera, Apple Cider Vinegar with Coconut Oil or Green Tea to concoct the solution and use them to clean the inflamed ear canal twice a day for a week.
When your dog suffers from an infected ear disorder, you are going to see him keep scratching his ears, shaking his head and flapping his ears from side to side.
And when you lift his ears flap and look inside the ear, it’s going to be red and inflamed. On the outer part of the ear canal, there would be some sort of black or brown waxy debris and foul smell coming from the ears.
You can try the following natural remedies to clean your dog’s infected ears and ease his discomfort.
Witch Hazel With Aloe Vera
With witch hazel’s astringent properties, you can easily remove the waxy debris from your dog’s inflamed ears and the anti-inflammatory agents in aloe vera offer an additional level of healing protection.
You can either get a ready make solution such as Thayers witch hazel aloe vera formula or DIY the mixture.
If you are thinking of DIY, make sure that you get a high quality witch hazel with an alcohol content of not more than 20%.
Mix half cup of witch hazel with water and add 1 teaspoon of aloe vera gel. Stir well to mix the solution.
This is how you can apply the mixture for your dog:
1. Pour some solution in a bowl, and draw about 10 ml with a syringe.
2. Hold the syringe at the base of your dog’s ear and aim at the ear canal by tilting his ear back.
3. Release the solution from the syringe and make sure the fluid moves through his ear canal by giving him a good squirt and rubbing the base of his ear really well.
4. Then make use of a cotton swab to wipe out any excessive fluid and debris from his ears.
5. Continue using a cotton swab to clean up his ear canal till there is no more wax debris on the swab when you do the further cleaning.
6. You may need to use up to three syringes for a complete cleanup.
It is common for yeast to cause these dog ear infections, so you will want to apply remedies that can reduce inflammation and also smooth the inflamed ear canal.
Apple Cider Vinegar With Coconut Oil
This home make remedy is extremely effective since:
1. Apple cider vinegar is proven to be an antifungal agent and has a remarkable ability to eliminate yeast that causes the infection. Yeast and bacteria are eliminated from the area by balancing the pH levels and drying out the infected area.
2. You also have coconut oil, which is also an antibacterial agent that soothes the inflamed ears. Coconut oil is beneficial for treating infections on dogs’ skin, and it also promotes healthier skin growth and fewer allergic reactions.
The combination of these natural ingredients will heal any infections that your dog has in a very short span of time.
This is how it works:
1. Mix 2 tablespoons of coconut oil with 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in a small pot.
2. To ensure that the coconut oil is completely melted and blended with the vinegar, gently heat the pot.
3. After the mixture has cooled down, pour it into a small bowl and use a 3cc syringe to extract some solution.
4. Tilt the ear flap back and place about six drops of the mixture into the ear canal.
5. Rub the base of the ear so that the solution gets down into the ear canal to alleviate the ear infection.
6. Repeat this treatment twice a day for a week.
You should typically see an improvement in your dog’s ear infection condition within less than a week.
I would suggest that you carry out the treatment in a bathroom or in your backyard as it will be rather messy and may make the area dirty.
Your dog will probably be shaking his head while the treatment is underway to drain off any excessive fluid in his ears.
Green Tea With Apple Cider Vinegar
Antibacterial green tea has been used in ancient times to treat fungus and yeast that occur in dogs’ ears.
And apple cider vinegar has been used for centuries to address any inflamed skin issue due to its anti-inflammatory properties.
When you combine these two “powerful” natural remedies into one, you will end up with a SUPER effective solution that offers fast relief to your dog’s infection issue.
This is how you can prepare the solution:
1. Use a green tea bag to prepare a cup of 200 ml green tea.
2. Add in about 3 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar into the green tea.
3. Use some cotton balls and soak them in the solution.
4. Tilt your dog head to one side and squeeze the solution from the soaked cotton ball into the infected ear canal.
5. Rub the base of the ear so that the solution gets sunk into the ear canal.
6. Make use of a dry cotton ball to clean up any excessive flow out and remove any debris that still gets in the ear canal.
7. Keep repeating this treatment process using the soaked cotton balls twice daily for a week.
The solution that you had prepared would probably last you for 2 weeks, and you can also prepare well ahead and just keep it in a fridge and warm it up before you use it for your dog treatment.
In the event that your dog has any open wounds in or around his ears, you should NOT use the apple cider vinegar solution. Use ONLY the green tea remedy.
Use of OTC antifungal cream
The other alternative is to make use of some commercial OTC antifungal cream such as Clotrimazole Antifungal Cream and Miconazole Nitrate 2% Antifungal Cream.
This type of cream is typically used on athlete’s foot treatment, but it also works great to address your dog’s ear infection issue.
It’s rather inexpensive (only about 10 dollars) and 1 tub could probably last you for a few months.
This type of cream will be effective in curing any sort of waxy debris (yeast infection) that appears in your dog’s ear canal.
The way to apply this cream on your dog will be to tilt his head and fill up part of his ear canal with the cream and gently rub the base of the ear.
Then take a dry cotton and put your finger with that piece of cotton as far in as possible into his ear canal to wipe the infected area.
You are likely going to get some debris out from his ears during the wiping. You can repeat the cleaning process twice daily and the yeast would typically clear in 3-5 days.
Prevention Is Better Than Cure
As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. So let’s take a look at what YOU can do to minimize the possibility of your dog getting this disorder.
Prevent Moisture In His Ears
One of the common causes for a dog’s ear infection is the present of excessive moisture in his ears.
This can happen when your dog engages in some water related games such as swimming, water fetch, lake Frisbee and water tug.
Water tends to slip into his ears and get “trapped” within the ear canals and offer an excellent breeding place for yeast to grow.
So you should always use a dry cotton to remove any excessive moisture from his ears after playing any water games.
As a matter of fact, I recommend cleaning your dog’s ears once a week as a form of maintenance treatment. Any debris visible inside the ear will be cleared out which will help reduce the chances of an infection.
You can make use of the above-mentioned natural remedies as a cleaning solution for the job.
Remember not to over do it as over cleaning can lead to irritation in your dog’s ear canal and cause infection.
Avoid Food That Trigger Yeast Growth
Keep a lookout on the food that you have given to your dog. Avoid any excessive grain or sugar in his diet.
It has been proven that excessive sugar helps to feed on yeast present in your dog’s body and make them overgrowth, leading to yeast buildup in his ears.
Make sure that your dog’s diet is grain-FREE, as grain contains natural sugars that promote yeast growth.
You can also add RAW PLAIN yogurt into your dog’s diet. The probiotics present in the yogurt can help to combat yeast infection in dogs.
Do not go for any flavored yogurt as they are high in sugar content and will promote the growth of yeast.