My Shih Tzu has an ear infection. Are there home remedies for it?

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  Answered By Ann Dion, DVM

  Veterinarian

  Published on July 9th, 2017

  Hello. I am sorry that Annabelle is having issues with her ears. If you continually use products on and off, and don't do a full round of anti-fungals/antibiotics, then you can breed a resistant colony of bacteria or fungus, so be very careful about how you use medications. Shitzu's unfortunately are prone to ear issues. There are a few things you can try. I would get an ear cleaner (no medications), that is alcohol based (Epi-Otic is my favourite) from the pet store. I would clean the ears very well with this, and most importantly dry them out very well afterwards. I would do this once a day for about 10 days. If the infection isn't too bad, you can likely treat it just with cleaning and keeping the ears dry, and then once a week clean the ears and dry them in order to prevent future infections. Some people will use a hair-elastic or schrunchie to keep the ears up during the day to keep air-flow going. Also, having the hair plucked out of the ears when grooming can help, as some dogs have more than normal amounts of hair that traps moisture. The yeast typically grows secondary to moisture being trapped in the ears. If the ears are very bad and thickened, sometimes the best thing to do is just have surgery to open up the ear canals (called a TECABO (total ear canal ablation and bulla osteotomy)). This is expensive but a long term fix, so in the end can save money. If she won't let you clean the ears out now, it may require some pain meds to allow for the first couple cleanings. Make sure you get any pain medications from a vet as human products can be very dangerous and fatal if given inappropriately. Good luck with Annabelle!

  

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