How To Treat A Dog Ear Yeast Infection
Introduction
Have you ever noticed your dog scratching her ears, head-shaking, or whining? She may be suffering from an ear yeast infection. To get things under control quickly and efficiently, you have to treat the infection appropriately. In some cases, this requires a visit to your veterinarian for prescription medication. However, many dogs respond well to home treatment with natural remedies such as essential oils and herbs.
Wash your hands.
- Wash your hands with warm, soapy water and dry them thoroughly.
- If you have any cuts or wounds on your hands, wear gloves while cleaning the ear.
- Open the bottle of dog ear cleaner by twisting off the cap at an angle using a paper towel. This will prevent getting any liquid on you. You can also use a pair of tongs or rubber gloves to do this if you prefer not to use your bare hands at all!
- Open up the lid of your dog’s ears by gently pulling it back with another piece of paper towel until it releases from its housing in his head (you may need to pull hard).
Fill a syringe with the Lidocaine.
- Fill a syringe with the Lidocaine.
- For small dogs and cats, use an 18 gauge needle. For medium to large dogs, use a 20 gauge needle.
Put some pre-soaked cotton balls in the dog’s ears.
- Put some pre-soaked cotton balls in the dog’s ears.
- Soak the cotton balls in warm water for a few minutes, then let them sit in your pet’s ears for five to ten minutes. It may be best to hold the dog still while doing this, as they may try to scratch or shake their head around if they feel the cotton on their ear.
- Do not put any type of cotton swabs or other materials into your dog’s ear if it has an allergy to cotton or if he/she seems sensitive about having things put inside his/her ear canal.
Inject the Lidocaine into the dog’s ear canal.
Injecting Lidocaine into the ear canal may be a bit painful for your dog, especially if he has never had his ears treated before. However, you can use an injector that makes the process easier on both of you by preventing any discomfort. If you do not have access to such an injector, there are several methods that can be used instead:
- A syringe or needleless syringe will allow for a controlled amount of medication to be injected into each ear canal individually. You may need someone else’s help with this method as it requires putting pressure on one side while injecting on the other side. Make sure that when using either type of device (syringe or needleless), there is no air left in it before beginning treatment!
- If neither option above seems viable because they involve too much work/lack necessary supplies (no needleless injectors available), another alternative would be using a plunger with some force behind it – this will push fluid through without having any air bubbles mixed up inside!
Flush the dog’s ear using a squeeze bottle of water.
If you have a squeeze bottle of water, it’s best to use that. A syringe can be used as well, but will not be as effective because it doesn’t push out as much water at one time.
First, fill up the dog’s ear with water using your squeeze bottle or syringe. If you’re using a cotton swab to clean the inside of your dog’s ears, inject some water into it first before inserting it into his canal. You’ll need to make sure that none of this gets into his ear canal or nose—if any does make its way into either area, remove all excess moisture and pat dry with a clean cloth before proceeding with treatment steps above.[6]
Fill an applicator tube with the Ketoconazole ointment.
- Wash your hands with soap and water before handling the tube applicator.
- Pull back the hair around the affected ear, holding it up so you can see inside of it clearly.
- Fill an applicator tube with the Ketoconazole ointment (included in your vet’s office).
- Insert one end of the application tube inside your dog’s ear canal and press down gently on the plunger until all medicine is pushed out from inside onto his skin outside his ear canal
Place a drop of ointment into the dog’s ear, and then massage it in gently.
Next, place a drop of the ointment into the dog’s ear. Massage it gently with your fingers until you’ve worked about 1/4 teaspoon into the entire ear. Never use more than that to avoid pushing the infection further inside or getting too much medicine on your dog’s skin and fur.
When you’re finished applying it, don’t let your pet shake his head or scratch at his ears! This can spread yeasty bacteria to other parts of his body, which is exactly what we don’t want happening here.
Apply 1-2 cc of Vetroyl to each ear daily at bedtime until infection is gone, dip Q-tip in solution and swab inside of ear flap every evening
- Apply 1-2 cc of Vetroyl to each ear daily at bedtime until infection is gone, dip Q-tip in solution and swab inside of ear flap every evening. If a dog has a wax buildup, use scissors to trim the excess away from the opening of the ear canal.
- Place 1/4″ cotton ball inside each ear canal before you go to sleep for 24 hours (will be saturated with fluid). It helps drain out any fluid build up that might inhibit healing as well as keep away from developing mold growths if you forget to treat them for long periods of time (which we all do sometimes).
Conclusion
We hope that this article helps you understand what’s going on with your dog’s ear and how to treat a dog ear yeast infection. If your dog has been scratching at his ears, there’s no need to worry because we have the information for you. Now that you know about some of the main symptoms, causes, and treatments for yeast infections in dogs, please share it with other dog lovers like yourself!