Lab's Ear Problems

[Big Daddy Benelli]

I have a 7yr old lab, and I take her to a Vet in New Baltimore, and I was wondering if anyone has any advice on getting her ear infection's under control.. I'm thinking of retiring her from hunting because of these ear's, the bad part it would kill her as much as it would be to me!! :rant: I'm give her steriods now, but the Vet only let me refil so many times before I have to bring her in again :rant: :evil: :evilsmile :smile-mad .. Thanks in advance....

[nashtrash69]

I would contact MSU they have an excellent vet and lab service. they maybe able to help you .Had a friend that took their horse there and they got it taken care of and the local vets couldn't find the problem .I have a chocolate lab and she gets ear problems every so often .good luck

[res]

First, go get a second opinion. Ear issues can be very simple like water in the ears and an easy ear wash after swimming keeps it from coming back to full blow food allergy. I would NOT just keep doing nothing. My vet takes a quick swab and most infections I have to deal with are yeast infections and a bit of ointment and some good cleanings twice a day clear it up quickly. I am not a vet but not sure what the steroids would do? Rick

[jrsoup]

I had the same problem in my Black. She would just get near water and get the damned ear thing going. Tried everything till I had an old fella tell me to mix equal parts of white vinegar and rubbing alcohol together. A few drops in each ear a couple times a day. Was'nt but a couple of days and gone. Everytime it would flare up I would do the same treatment and it worked great. Dealing now with my new Yellow pup with yeast infection in one ear. Ointment twice a day and clean them out every other. Gotta love em.:lol:

[WAR EAGLE]

My vet gave me tresaderm...a few drops twice a day for a few days has always done the trick.

[Big Daddy Benelli]

First, go get a second opinion. Ear issues can be very simple like water in the ears and an easy ear wash after swimming keeps it from coming back to full blow food allergy. I would NOT just keep doing nothing. My vet takes a quick swab and most infections I have to deal with are yeast infections and a bit of ointment and some good cleanings twice a day clear it up quickly. I am not a vet but not sure what the steroids would do? Rick

That sounds like what she has, I'm on my 2nd Vet also!!!!!!!! She has had her ear swabbed and it is a yeast infections, I spent thousand and no results.. What ointment do you use? I ointment I use is MalOtic by VEDCO..

[Big Daddy Benelli]

Res, you have some Pretty labs!! Check out my girls she in my photo gallery, she's pure white! Your Yellow has a nice mix of both...

[res]

My vet gave me some animax ointment. The thing with the yeast infections is you need to stay on top of them. I will flush her ear with EPI-OTIC flush and then dry with cotten swabs put in ointment. I also clip the hair out of the ear canal so that air can get into the ears. Helps to dry the ear. I will also give a second to MSU. My oldest had an abcess behind the eye. Local vet thought it was an auto immune problem so she hit her with steroids. This shut down the immune system and low and behold the bateria about exploded behind the eye. Trip to MSU and they were able to save the dog and her eye. You will need a referal but demand it from your vet. Rick

[Big Daddy Benelli]

I guess I will trying to clean her ears with the alcohol & white vinegar

[Big Daddy Benelli]

she didn't like that mix, but I think it worked pretty good... Her ear canal swells pretty bad when the infection is kicking full force.. The Vet thinks she needs ear surgery, which is crazy cash!!

[res]

Res, you have some Pretty labs!! Check out my girls she in my photo gallery, she's pure white! Your Yellow has a nice mix of both...
I like her look. Great head definition. If you look at the picture of the three by the fence my oldest is in the middle. She is quite a bit lighter then her daughter which is on the right of the picture. The chocolate is not related to the yellows at all. She has more "blond" tendencies then the two yellows put together. :lol: Rick

[Kevlar]

My lab had ear problems ALOT! Spent thousands on vet bills. There answer was steroids and this ear cleaner. Later on we switched to OTO-Max ear drops and cleaner. Problem really never went away for years. His ears would bother him so bad that he would shake his head so hard that he would split the ends of his ears.

After taking him to 2 vets finally a intern from one of the big colleges in Ohio told me to switch his food to a meat based food. To come to find out he was allergic to the "corn" in most dog foods. He was also allergic to the powder sprinkle stuff that you used to sprinkle on your carpets before you vaccum it. Another sign if he has allergies is if lick and chews on the bottom of his paws.

What a mess. The dog was miserable for a straight year until we found out what it was. I probably took him to the vet (s) 15 - 18 time in one year.

Glad that is over.

Kev

[Big Daddy Benelli]

Is Chelsea your dog's daughter? Thanks, my girl looks alot like a Male because of her blockey head and size, she 95lbs, but she fast and never gets tried.. I sure would hate to stop hunting her because she's got a hell of a sniffer!!:lol: :cwm27: I could never own anything besides a Lab, but these ears drive me nuts!!:dizzy: :rant: My first lab was black, and had the same bad ears also.. Than she got cancer and I had surgery done, but it wasn't able to take it out.. When I had to put her down they may has well killed me too!!!!:mad:

[Big Daddy Benelli]

My lab had ear problems ALOT! Spent thousands on vet bills. There answer was steroids and this ear cleaner. Later on we switched to OTO-Max ear drops and cleaner. Problem really never went away for years. His ears would bother him so bad that he would shake his head so hard that he would split the ends of his ears.

After taking him to 2 vets finally a intern from one of the big colleges in Ohio told me to switch his food to a meat based food. To come to find out he was allergic to the "corn" in most dog foods. He was also allergic to the powder sprinkle stuff that you used to sprinkle on your carpets before you vaccum it. Another sign if he has allergies is if lick and chews on the bottom of his paws.

What a mess. The dog was miserable for a straight year until we found out what it was. I probably took him to the vet (s) 15 - 18 time in one year.

Glad that is over.

Kev

Kev,

I have her on chicken and rice, is that good or should I move to beef or something like that?? She would shake her head so easy today because her ears must hurt that bad!! The Vet said, "it's because of her ear canal position in her head??:dizzy:

[lookin for the gills]

My Black is 8 years old and he has had yeast for a while. I have spent about 3000 over the last 4 years trying to rid the problem with no luck. The script that the doc gives works for a few days then I gotta pay to bring him in. The doc says its so we can check for bacteria. I have been to 3 or 4 different docs:yikes: . I am gonna try the home remedy that mentioned. Rubbing alcohol and white vinegar. I will post results. The only thing is his ears smell real bad. Is that normal?

[mattm]

My vet perscribed oti-soothe II for cleansing and an ointment called otibiotic ointment by butler. He also suggested to change his diet because so dog foods have more yeast. It worked after about of week of cleaning twice daily and ointment once a day. Now i clean once a week before I ws using some blue stuff and he had constant ear problems. Now when I clean his ears ther is barely any gunk in them

[Kevlar]

Maybe he's allergic to rice?? Try switching to corn or meat based dog food. There is also a food that you can buy that is hypo-allergenic but its was like $23 for a 25lb bag. Which seems alot until you end up taking your dog to the vet 18 times... :rolleyes: Don't remember the name of the dog food. YOu can probably do a web search and find it.

My lab never had ears that smelled really bad. Nor did he have much ear wax. I would put the cleaner in his year and rub it in and he would just moan with pleasure that somebody was helping him with his ears.

All I can tell is I hope you guys figure it out becuase for me and my lab it was a absolute nightmare.

Kev

[Big Daddy Benelli]

My dog's ear smells bad, it gets a brownish color stuff in it... I have changed her food, but maybe try something new next bag.. She use to chew on her paws until we changed foods, I am at my wits end with this, the mix of water and white vinegar seemed to clean the ear and dry it up well though, she ran outside and was rubbing her head on the ground, but she always does that after her ears get cleaned..... I just order the prednisode of 1-800-pet-meds alot cheaper than the vets, so that should help too... I do recommend the Prednisode though.. I also tried these pills that where $5 a pill and they didn't make the yeast infection go away for ever, so after refilling them a couple times I ended it..

[Gramps]

My chocolate has had ear problems since she was a pup, she is now 8, i have tried everything but nothing seems to work. i have spent thousands of dollars over the years on this problem, we just spent $800.00 4 months ago, she was scratching her ears and she busted a blood vessel that turned into a blood clot, her left ear flap got the size of an orange, it took 3 months to heal. if you find something that works please post it, and i will do the same. Thanks!!

[Big Daddy Benelli]

As I stated in my last post the Predisone works great, as long as she has those she has no problems.. I would try the equal amounts of white vinegar and alcohol that someone said early, seem to dry the ear up good and get rid of the smell... The Predisone really works on keeping the swelling down so the ear can get air to get rid of the yeast infection... When her ear swells that bad my vet give her this steriod shot that costs $19 but it start right away..

[GIBBY74]

My chocolate has had ear goo since he was a pup, doesn't seem to bother him, but the smell is terrible. The vets gave him medicine, it worked until it ran out then a week later it was back. Funny thing is that it seems to be worse in the winter.

[I'llbeoutside]

We used to have trouble when our chocolate was younger. We now clean his ears at least once a week and more when he gets around water. You really have to make sure you get down in the canal good. I use cottons balls soaked w/ our cleaning solution and really work the base of the ear as I am cleaning the canal. You do need to be careful but it is important to make sure you get down in the ear canal a ways. I DO NOT use q-tips. He is used to it now and lays right down when he see's that I have the cotton balls. He does not mind it at all and actually seems to like it:dizzy: . We also give him flax oil that helps his coat, hot spots in the summer, and I believe it also helps w/ his ears and allergies. My bro-in-law is a vet and I will check w/ him and see if he has any other suggestions. There might be a pic or two of my buddy in my gallery:lol: . The last thing we need are vet bills from his ears. He is like a bull in a china shop when in the field and usually ends up w/ a trip or two to the vet each season for a stitch or ten.

[bandseeker]

i've got a great ear fix guys it is called purple power ,i can post up the recipe for you wed am i use it on my lab every year when she is in the water works great .will post up for you guys

[SabikiRig]

Guys,

I tried the Rubbing Alcohol vinegar solution when my lab was showing signs of her first ear infection. The alcohol dries out the ear and acidity of the vinegar addresses the "infection" or "smell"

I applied the solution @ 10:00 pm and it made the matter worse which prompted a visit to the Emergency Vet @ 4:00 am after she could walk or get up.

The Vet told me that the rubbing alcohol had essentially intoxicated her and I was told NOT to do that again....

Food allergies were not mentioned as a cause. The problem was from her ears not being cleaned enough.

The Vet had given both ears a good cleaning and gave me a bottle of EpiOtic:

http://www.1800petmeds.com/pdetail.asp?SK=10516

I was told to regularly flush out my Labs ears with EpiOtic and wipe the inside of the ear flaps to keep them clean.

It is also equally important that you get your dog to shake any residual water from their ears after they are done with any water work. Since I started routine ear flushes with EpiOtic I have had no further problems.

(OtoMax Antibiotic was also sent home from the Emergency Vet which was to be used for 7 to 10 days post visit.)

[Kevlar]

One thing tha is apperant is these Vets have a big scam going. They have been making thousands off of us. The dogs don't seem to get any better. Most times 2 weeks after you take them they are worse. After 10 visits you finally get otomax. Which is about 50% effective.

Interesting to see how much money people have spent on ear problems.

Kev

[Kevlar]

Guys,


Food allergies were not mentioned as a cause. The problem was from her ears not being cleaned enough.



That is what they told me the first 10 visits. I wasn't cleaning them good enough. How about 2 times a day? That isn't enough.

I hate break this to you Sabiki, they are stringing you along. They haven't squeezed enough money out of you yet. :lol:


If you were going to pay me another 2 grand before I had to fix the problem I wouldn't tell you about food allergies either...:lol:

KEv

[birdshooter]

This is all you need


http://www.dogbiz.com/faq-ear-infections.htm


works wonders and is cheap . I DO NOT take my springer to the vet any more for his ear problems.

[SabikiRig]

I hate break this to you Sabiki, they are stringing you along. They haven't squeezed enough money out of you yet. :lol:

KEv

The emergency visit cost me $400. That is all I have into ear infections right now and that was almost 1-1/2 ago. (I will admit that it was my fault since I was running alot of water training for a week straight and did not tend to her ears like I should have.)

I guess I am lucky....

My dog has been back to the vet twice since her first and only ear infection todate. Once for her yearly rabies cert and just recently to get spayed.

There have been no other "concerns" brought to my attention which would prompt me to peel out more money. More importantly she has no more ear problems since I have been flushing her ears periodically with EpiOtic.

It is very interesting to read about what other lab owners are experiencing and spending. :lol: I wonder if Ear Problems are inheritant in pedigrees or lineage? It is always a good question to ask if you are talking with a Breeder or looking for a new pup.

[Gander Club]

I've had REAL good luck with otomax. It knocks out yeast infections in about two days. Usuall dries up the smelly stuff over night. I had a dog with cronic ear infections, usually once or twice a year, and this is what worked for me.

[hoot619]

We had trouble too and vet and meds were getting expensive. Our vet suggested trying this stuff and it works wonders. It is for athlete's feet The name is Clotrimazole Topical Solution USP 1% antifungal . Comes in a 1/3 oz plastic bottle. use about 8 drops in ear make sure it goes down where it is suppose too, Massage ear and you should here a squishing noise. If not in wrong place. twice a day till it clears up. (frznFinn can tell you it works). I bought the stuff on line, some drugstores handle it make sure it is the liguid. It also comes as a ointment also but is no good. when it clears up just smell his ears once a week or if you see him shake his head again it is most likely time to start it again. If lots of brown stuff in ear might try flushing with vinegar and water . Hell I flush my own ears with it My Doc said ok to use.

[multibeard]

I guess I have been lucky. My soon to be 14 year old lab has only had a problem with her ears once when she was just a pup.

I don't know if it made the difference but every morning when I am sitting on the throne she comes in for a visit. I have always rubbed the base of her ears quite vigorously. She responds by moaning and groaning:).

The other day she was shaking her head like she had an ear problem. After massaging her ears she never shook her head again.

[hoot619]

This is one I had forgottern about -- you mix it up yourself and works maybe better than the other one I posted.
Spaniel Ear Cleaner Recipe
Ingredients: White vinegarPowdered boric acidIsopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol)Betadine antiseptic (or generic equivalent) Directions for mixing the solution together: Pour 6 ounces of isopropyl alcohol in to a plastic applicator bottle.Add 1/2 tablespoon of boric acid powder.Add 2 ounces of white vinegar. Shake the solution extremely well, until the boric acid powder is fully dissolved.Once the powder is dissolved, add one teaspoon of the Betadine antiseptic, and shake it up some more. Squirt the solution inside your dog's ear until the ear canal is completely full.Massage the outside of the ear to help slosh the cleaning solution around inside.Hold the dog still for about a minute. Be sure to shake the solution up really well before each and every time you use it.The boric acid has a tendency to settle at the bottom of the bottle.Store at room temperature. Use the cleaning solution daily until you start to see some improvement.Gradually cut back to once per week when you are happy with the condition of the ear.When the ear seems completely free of infection, you can go two weeks between treatments. Warning: Do not use this ear cleaning solution on dogs with ruptured ear drums, or on dogs with open sores or wounds in the ear area.An ear exam by a veterinarian is recommended prior to beginning treatment with this ear cleaning solution.

[dogditcher]

Good Luck !
I have one Lab 14 years old and never a problem with anything and and another thats been nothing but problems and is only 2 years old ! have now switched food to a lamb and rice which seemed to help .

Have had good sucess with the purple formula posted in the responses but had switched the Alchohol for Witch hazel and put it in a pump sprayer to administer -becareful with the gentian violet it will stain -also had a to go to 4 or 5 pharmacies till i found it

here is recipe I got from another site

Ingredients can be found at any local drug store or even Walmart.
16 oz. witch hazel
4 tablespoons Boric Acid Powder
16 drops Gentian Violet 1% Solution

Mix all ingredients in the alcohol bottle & shake. (make sure you shake before every application).

Treatment: Fill ear with solution & massage gently for 30 seconds and wipe with a tissue. Fill a second time and just wipe without massaging.
The dog will shake the excess out. Be careful, the Gentian Violet could stain. I use a eye dropper to fill the ear.

Treatment:
2 times per day for the first 2 weeks
1 time per day for the next 2 weeks
1 time per month thereafter

[hondakid]

Have had good sucess with the purple formula posted in the responses but had switched the Alchohol for Witch hazel and put it in a pump sprayer to administer -becareful with the gentian violet it will stain -also had a to go to 4 or 5 pharmacies till i found it

here is recipe I got from another site

Ingredients can be found at any local drug store or even Walmart.
16 oz. witch hazel
4 tablespoons Boric Acid Powder
16 drops Gentian Violet 1% Solution


I have looked all over and can't find the ingredients at any of the drugstores around me. Do you remember where you picked up your supply from?

[DonP]

have now switched food to a lamb and rice which seemed to help
PJ (our big block-headed... and thus big eared yellow male) has a history of ear problems. Nothing tooooo major-ish... but none-the-less... still a problem. We fed Pedigree dogfood... and switched to Nutro Lamb & Rice which has seemed to help quite a bit. On his last visit to the vet... my girlfriend was also given a bottle of some solution to help (not quite sure what it was... but will check on it). The vet did say that his ears looked the best they have looked in a long... long time!!

Now Lexie... on the other hand... has a fairly small narrow head and her ears are somewhat small. She has not had one ear problem from what I can remember. Now... if we can just get her to stop from chasing those wrascally wabbits!! :lol:

[Big Daddy Benelli]

I currently have my Dog on Nutro Lamb & Rice maybe I should look at switching her food also.... I'm just afraid she might start chewing on her paws again...:rant:

[dogditcher]

I have looked all over and can't find the ingredients at any of the drugstores around me. Do you remember where you picked up your supply from?

I think it was at a Rite Aide - they had it behind pharmacey counter I did get the stangest look asking for it and salesperson seemed doubtful they had it -1 lonley bottle on shelf !! -I would think you could request it from one of the chains and they would get it from supplier in their regular delivery or you could try a health food store (just a shot in the dark)

[Branta]

seems like some labs are more prone to ear problems than others.

I used to go through this with Rem all the time, especially during the off season training periods. it seemed to always be in check, with a few flare-ups that required vet prescribed meds and tresaderm until I moved to a new ear wash. I use a product called T8 Keto. the active ingredient is KETOCONAZOLE , so maybe you can find a like product at a dedicated pet store or online. It's more than just an ear flush/cleaner, it's also an antibacterial and anti fungal wash that'll keep the yeast in check.

I know it's painful to the pocketbook, but it sounds like your blind buddy is beyond the homebrew remedy stage and even these more potent washes I mentioned above. Once it gets real bad (constant ear shakes, yipping if you touch the ear or on ear shakes, lickingand or biting of feet...) You might not be hurting anything, but it's probably not helping either since the bac. count is already so high - you may need to shock the system with some prescription meds/roids first to bring it in check and then go to the wash program.

not cheap, but you have to get the count down first.

also, I stay away from corn based foods. your lamb and rice should be fine.

[Huntnut]

I wish I had seen this post earlier,

I have battled ear infections in my labs for years, and many vet visits later, I found the solution that worked for my dogs.

Clearing up the infection:
Most ear infections are yeast infections, and are caused by allergies and moisture trapped in the ear.

You need to do ear washes once a day till the infection is cleared.
I dont use the vinegar washes anymore....they really irritated my dogs ears, and they hated getting their ears washed.
I use the blue colored ChlorhexiDerm ear wash available at most pet supply stores. It is a milder ear wash that doesnt have the vinegar, and doesnt irritate the dogs ears nearly as much. This solution comes in a large 12oz bottle.

Lay the dog on his side, and cup his ear open. Take the ear wash, and squirt a generous amount of ear wash solution into the ear. (fill the ear up!)Massage the ear so you can hear the ear wash sloshing around in his ear. After 30 seconds of massaging, let the dog shake the ear wash out of his ear.
Then lay the dog back down, and manually clean his ear with q-tips. Clean all the folds and crevices, and clean all the brownich gunk out. When the infections were bad, we may use upto 15 q-tips getting the ear clean. Careful in the ear canal, lots of gunk in there, but dont go to deep.
Once the ear is clean, we apply either Zymox OTIC Enzymatic Solution, or Quadratop cream (both available at the vets). Apply either of these solutions to the cleaned ear, and massage the ear again to ensure that the inner ear surface gets covered with the salve.
Once you get it down, cleaning both ears and applying the salve will take about 15 minutes total.

My dogs got used to it, and when they saw the bottle and q-tips come out they would pout, but wouldnt fight it.

Keeping the infection gone:
After a couple weeks of regular cleaning, the infection should be gone, and the ears should look alot better.
I was told by our vet that most of these infections are caused by allergies, and a pretty common cause was too much protien in the dogs diet.
We switched our dogs food to Natures Recipe Fish and Potato available at pet smart. Lower protein food designed for dogs with allergies.
Since the initial cleaning regiments and switching his food, we went from awful ear infections filled with brown gunk and red inflamed ears; to no gunk, and healthy white/pink ears. It may take a month or two to see the results of switching his diet.
The ear cleaning cleared the infection, but switching his diet was the largest factor in eliminating the problem.
We have not had any ear infections in our lab now for almost 2 years, and only clean his ear about once every 4 months. (I still wipe his ears out with q-tips after swimming).

The infections are completely gone, and the dog doesnt hold his ears wierd, or shake his head when he barks. I could really see the ear infections bothered him before.

We finally beat it after many years of battleing ear infections in our labs.

I recommend giving this a try, and I hope it works for your pup.

Good luck!

AL

[Big Daddy Benelli]

I won't use q-tips, even the vet STRESSED not using them because you can damage the ear, plus you push the infection down further into the canal...

[Huntnut]

Wow, it was my vet that showed me how to do it with q-tips...

I wrote all that in an effort to help your pup....apparently a waste of time I see.

sheesh, why even bother

your welcome :rolleyes:

[truesportsman]

Dig Daddy,
I don't know if this will help but here it goes. My lab had what the vets thought as a skin allergy, scatching aaaaall the time. After many attempts to figure it out, the one vet said to try some fish oil caplets. In particular, they had to have at least 1000mg of certain amino acid, Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Look for this on the bottle label. Might equate to 3-4 of those big caplets. Mine gets 4 every day. Throw them on the floor and he gobbles them right up. Worked miracles for his skin allergy. Maybe it will help your dog's....at the very least he'll have a great looking coat!
Good Luck!
PS
Used to clean my clean my labs ear with Sea Breeze Astringent (liquid). Smells great and he seemed to like it.

[ERnurse]

All these suggestions are good, but dont forget--(especially if there is a brown gunk and/or smell) ---it could be ear mites. Have your vet check for mites, I dont go to the vet I use Ivermectin. (I used to raise Bengal cats and cats get mites, thats when I started the Ivermectin.)
My dog had an ear problem last year for the 1st time-shes 7 y/o. I tried an otic antibiotic without relief, then gave Ivermectin injection--cleared it right up, and hasnt come back. I feed regular old Purina and always have, never have a problem.

Ivermectin injection will clear it up. Just make sure you dose it correctly.

I never clean my dogs ears and I live on the water, so they are in the water a lot! Lucky--or letting the dogs body work? Steroids hinder the immune system be careful with the use of them. It may reduce the swelling but the bacteria are going to flourish.

[D Buck]

We have a springer with constant ear trouble. We just put our yellow lab down. We use the alcohol , vinegar mix but we also use melalueca oil ( tea tree oil ) and olive oil mix. One drop to 1-2 tsps olive oil two times daily. . It seems to work . There is a lot of allergic, toxic, stuff in our homes. We switched to safer more natural household products. Wehad four people with asthma and now none. My littlest boy I had to hold down and put an inhaler over his face . Those things affect not only our pets. No your dogs ears should not smell bad. Hope you guys can get the ear problem under control. D Buck

[Big Daddy Benelli]

Huntnt, I'm sorry :( you took it that way, I didn't mean it bring ungrateful for your input. I have been changed Vets a few times because of this and they all told me to never you q-tips. I agree that it should get the ear more thoroughly cleaned, but they told me not to... Thanks for your help, I think we should all print this Thread and try all the remedies to see if they might help us? I did purchase the ear cleaner Epi-otic, I can post my results...

[SabikiRig]

Huntnt, I'm sorry :( you took it that way, I didn't mean it bring ungrateful for your input. I have been changed Vets a few times because of this and they all told me to never you q-tips. I agree that it should get the ear more thoroughly cleaned, but they told me not to... Thanks for your help, I think we should all print this Thread and try all the remedies to see if they might help us? I did purchase the ear cleaner Epi-otic, I can post my results...

Big Daddy,

Let us know how things go. Epi-Otic is good stuff and have produced positive results for my Lab.

[Big Daddy Benelli]

Well, it's been a few month's and I thought I would report my findings.... I was using the Epi-optic and it is pretty good stuff, but I have to admit the purple solution really does well!!! I think the purple solution that was suggested has been helpful especially since the one ear started to act up. I started the purple solution and it took the swelling and stink away and has the ear at a decent state considering this ear is very bad usually.. Good luck...

16 oz. rubbing Alcohol
4 TB boric acid
16 drops of the genitin violent





Big Daddy,

Let us know how things go. Epi-Otic is good stuff and have produced positive results for my Lab.

[bandseeker]

big daddy has it that is the stuff i use and works great ,could not find the mixture but that is it .it is called purple power good luck guys

[GIBBY74]

Well, it's been a few month's and I thought I would report my findings.... I was using the Epi-optic and it is pretty good stuff, but I have to admit the purple solution really does well!!! I think the purple solution that was suggested has been helpful especially since the one ear started to act up. I started the purple solution and it took the swelling and stink away and has the ear at a decent state considering this ear is very bad usually.. Good luck...

16 oz. rubbing Alcohol
4 TB boric acid
16 drops of the genitin violent

I've never heard of this solution, are all these products available at pets mart , or where can i find them.

[Socks]

I've never heard of this solution, are all these products available at pets mart , or where can i find them.

I believe earlier in this thread someone posted a link on how to make and mix this stuff.

[GIBBY74]

I believe earlier in this thread someone posted a link on how to make and mix this stuff.

Making it isn't the problem, my question is where to buy, but i did see where someone said that these are drug store item's so i must have over looked it.

[CL-Lewiston]

The oil mixtures are esp good for the mites. They block the mites breathing. Neighbor treated his lab with olive oil and a small amount (15 drops) Phenol in 2 oz olive oil. Sweet oil is olive oil. He also used it on rabbits with great success. Those big ears would get full of spongy looking deposits. That was the mites- 2 or 3 nights of treatment and they were pretty well fixed.

[Boatown]

I take my lab anchor bay vet they gave me a a ear flush called Chlorhexiderm
it's a blue color liquid and ear drops called Tresaderm,
I flush my dogs after he's goes in the water or get's bath. if a infection flares up a few drops of the Tresaderm and 2 days later all gone clean ears.

If you go to Anchor Bay and are not Happy go to Bayside the Vet there is a specilist for labs and has a few of his own .

[Big Daddy Benelli]

I go (did) to bayside, and I done!!! They won't even let me get my pres through PETMEDS to save $. Only her one ear gets bad, but I might try the drops...

[Big Daddy Benelli]

Well I have to say, if you are having ear trouble with your lab the purple solution is the best!! My dogs ear have been unbelievable for 6 month now, with NO trips to the RIPOFFS :rant:(Vets)! I kid you not, I have probably spent $3000 on her ear in the past 7 years. Now I only clean them every few days with no issues!! In April they had almost had me talked into surgery big $. They told me her ear were unfixable!!!:rant: The solution only cost a few bucks to make it. So if your lab has ear problems give this a try:

16 oz rubbing alchol
16 drops of gentain violet (spelling?)
4 tbs of boxic acid

[Big Daddy Benelli]

I did this post to move this thread up , so that other Hunters can benefit from this by saving $..:D

[Big Daddy Benelli]

I got the mix from Meijer's. If they don't have the Boxic acid powder ask the pharamist's to order it. They did for me..

Making it isn't the problem, my question is where to buy, but i did see where someone said that these are drug store item's so i must have over looked it.

[duckboy123]

Have you ever put vinegar in your ears - it burns.

Try witch hazel on some ladies face cleaning pads (CVS), or get some Tucks - hemoroids pads and swirl out the ears-they have witch hazel already on them and are great for cleaning wounds too and come in a jar great for the first aid kit, cheaper than oto-max-works better, and much easier on the inside of the ears. Even just peroxide gently w/q-tip or cotton pad or kleenex would be nicer than vinegar.

The food switch may be a good idea to try too.

Keep some "dog" towels handy in the back of the truck after every swim and swirl out those ears, especially to prevent the infections from coming back. Never put the pup away without drying out those ears.

GL

[Big Daddy Benelli]

I tried the Tuck's pads they didn't help at all.. The purple solution doesn't have vinegar in it?