Help!!!! Ear Infection/ear Scratching

[VIXEN80]

HI, I'M NEW TO THIS FORUM SO I'M NOT SURE HOW IT WORKS BUT I'M CONCERNED ABOUT MY DOG AND I DON'T KNOW WHO ELSE TO ASK ADVICE FROM. MY DOG IS A 1.5 YEAR OLD PIT BULL RED NOSE AND SHE IS THE SWEETEST DOG BUT SHE REALLY IS AN AIRHEAD . IN ANY EVENT, A FEW MONTHS AGO I NOTICED HER SCRATCHING BEHIND HER EAR BREAKING THE SKIN AND CAUSING IT TO BLEED AND SCAB OVER. SHE CONTINUED TO BUST OPEN THE SCAB AND IT WASN'T HEALING SO I BOUGHT ONE OF THOSE LAMP SHADES AND CLEANED OUT HER EAR RELIGIOUSLY AND PUT SOME CORTISONE CREAM ON THE SURFACE AND WE GIVE HER BENADRYL AT NIGHT. SO TODAY HER EAR WAS LOOKING BRAND NEW AND LAST NIGHT I HAD CLEANED OUT HER EAR FOR ABOUT 15 MINUTES SWISHING SOLUTION AROUND AND WIPING UNTIL THERE WAS NO MORE JUNK. (SHE NEVER USUALLY HAS EAR GUNK IN THERE, IT'S JUST DRIED BLOOD FROM HER SCRATCHING), SO TODAY I THOUGHT I WOULD GIVE HER A BREAK FROM BEING A CONEHEAD AND TAKE IT OFF. SHE HAD IT OFF FOR MAYBE A HALF HOUR AND SHE STARTED SCRATCHING HER EAR AGAIN AND BUSTED IT OPEN AGAIN! I'M SO FRUSTRATED WITH HER, SHE'S A BEAUTIFUL DOG AND SHE CONTINUES TO SELF MUTILATE AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE/ADVICE? I'M WILLING TO TRY JUST ABOUT ANYTHING AT THIS POINT. THANKS!

[SalemWitchChild]

First off welcome to the forum. And all caps is very hard to read and is considered shouting on the internet. So next time can you please kill the caps lock.

I'd take her to the vet at this point. She's scratching her ear because it hurts further down then you can clean. Your vet will give you a solution to put in her ear to cure the infection.

[agilitydog]

Yes take her to the vet and welcome to the board from a fellow Illinoisian. I am about 2 hours from Chicago

[pung-yo]

Welcome to the forum. sorry abou the ear, but yes, your best bet is the vet. She might have ear mites, hence the reddish gunk, or simply a yeast infection.Could even be a fungal infection, so you see how important a proper diagnosis is.

[Dogs of Romance]

blue powder ear wash
Note: The originator of this recipe is unknown. At this point it is a widely cited "folk remedy" which is highly effective in treating ear infections.

1 16 oz bottle of rubbing alcohol (pour off an inch to make some room)
8 to 16 drops Gentian violet (it's real cheap, but hard to find - try next to the Iodine at a Mom & Pop Pharmacy or ask someone to order it)
4 Tbs. Boric Acid Powder (also cheap and found at the pharmacy)
Shake well and for convenience transfer some to a small (4 ounce) "spout" bottle. Each time you use it, shake the bottle well to make sure the powder is in suspension.

The Gentian Violet will stain, so be careful where you mix it and where you apply it to the dog's ears.

If you're treating an infection, you want to clean the ears with this mixture on a daily basis. Otherwise from once a week to once a month is usually enough to keep the ears healthy.

[pung-yo]

Dor.....I have this ear wash also. Lasts forever. I do my dogs weekly and have never had a problem. I can't remember for sure, but I think this came from a judge at a dog show years ago.

[sassynan]

I recently had that problem with my pitts ears. After I took her to the vet they found that she has a yeast infection in her ear. I have to put cream in it once a day for a week and she'll be good as new. She had also scratched her ear into a bloody mess

[Dogs of Romance]

i only use the blue stuff on the dogs...works wonderfully

[micki]

My shihtzu had chronic yeast infections a few years ago. Now "knock on wood" she hasn't had them for a while but they were vwery bad.
Take her to the vet, and get a swab test done not expensive and could save her getting a skin infection from digging open her self.