Flakey ears

[~Astral~]

Hi all,

Coco has what looks like dry flakey skin in his ears. I can't see any sign on infection and there isn't a infection-like odour but his ears do seem slightly imflammed. I was wondering if anyone knows what I can apply to his ears to stop the flakey skin?

I think its dermatitis as it would explain his scratching everywhere else. Its not hurting him but hes been scratching his ear quite a bit. I was thinking of applying some Sudocrem cream but Im a bit hesitant about this because he has narrow ear canals.

[borzoimom]

Sounds like a mild yeast infection. what are you using to clean the ears?

[~Astral~]

Can I treat that at home? He's been scratching his ear like crazy today and there's now a funny smell. I clean his ears with a tissue or cotton wool in warm water. I used to have some alcohol wipe stuff but I can't find it anywhere.

[Reyven]

There are some great ear cleansers you can get from the vet, and I think you can get some at pet stores...but if an infection has started I would suggest going with your vet

[saluki-sue]

You can clean his ears with witch hazel or even alochol (sp) I put the witch hazel right in the ear, let the dog shake it out, then dry the ear with clean cotton wool . When I use alcohol I soak a qtip with it and clean the ear making sure to get in to the ear canal a little way. Using water is going to make the infection worse as that is the thing that more then likely started it to begin with.

Good luck

[freedog]

Peroxide is a good cleanser for yeast infections also. But I remember seeing a recipe for a blue ear wash recipe somewhere a while back. I never paid attention to it since my dogs never seem to have ear infections, but it was supposed to be great from what I remember. I have a friend who uses Monistat for her dogs ears....

[Dauxside]

If there's a smell there is probably an ear infection - you need to bring pup to vet to be sure; in the event of infection there are antibiotics that the vet would need to give to you.

If you suspect dermitus what dog food are you feeding? It could be allergic reaction.

[~Astral~]

I usually add a little bit of vinegar to the water when I clean his ears. The Vet told me to try this and to just wipe the ear flap and inside the ear,removing any debris.

I was thinking dermatitis because he used to get dry skin on his ear flaps and on his back which you could just about see and constantly licking his feet and anywhere else he could reach. The Vet did mention this to me and thought it was aggrevated by allergies. I'm hoping to get a allergy test done on him shortly, depending when the vet can do it. How exactly is a allergy test performed? Do you know how much they cost?

I've made a appointment for the vet for first thing tomorrow. I couldn't get him in today, was fully booked so I'll let you know how it goes.