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My dog has an ear infection. Can I use acetic acid ear drops at home?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Bullmastiff | Male | unneutered | 175 lbs

My 175 lb. bullmastiff has an ear infection. Other than that he is healthy. Can I give him acetic acid otic solution, USP, 2%?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Maria DVM

Veterinarian

Published on February 25th, 2018

I actually recommend bringing Hank to a veterinarian to have them evaluate his ears. The reason for this is some ear infections can be yeast not bacterial or they may have a mixture of both. You also can have a dog that appears to have an ear infection when in fact has ear mites (this is not very common but does happen). I also recommend making sure that the eardrum is intact prior to putting any medication into the ear. Your veterinarian can take a sample from Hank and look at it under the microscope to see what is causing the infection. I also recommend cleaning the ears out when a dog has an ear infection and depending on what is going on with the ear would depend on what ear cleaner I would recommend. If for some reason after treating his ear he still has an infection, your veterinarian can run a culture to see exactly what bacteria is in his ear and what antibiotics are best to treat. We typically do not do this as the first round of diagnostics due to the cost of about $200 give or take some depending on your vet and location. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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