ok now what

[rommel's mom]

I've been putting Ottomax in rommels ears now for six days and cleaning them and I still get dark moist junk out. Our vet is in the hospital so no consulting on this. Hope you can help me. Should this go on for awhile or not. His other ear is completely clean. Also is this a sign of allergy or wrong food, just curious. Thanks in advance you guys are terrific for advice so glad I found this site!!!!!!

[Judy Chrusch]

It could be from food or another allergy. Does it have an odor? When you clean them you must make sure you put the ear wash in a few times, each time and massage at the base of the ear for a couple minutes if need be depending on how much junk their is waaay down. This must be done more then a week if they're that bad. Czars one ear is worse then the other for some reason. I do ears every other week. I truly believe it's not always the food bc Czar is on a non allergic food so why does he still have trouble;) . It probably would be best to have your dogs ears checked to make sure he doesn't have an infection. Is he shaking his head alot. I suggest you routinely do them and see if that helps.

Either in the Nutrional section or Vet section there's lots of info on ears if you want to do a search.

Judy

[chivas]

Are you cleaning them with an ear wash first? My sheltie has chronic ear infections from a genetic problem and I have noticed (and my vet confirmed this through a seminar about proper ear care). If I dont clean first and wait about 45 mins to let the wash work and dry well and just put in otomax right after the ear wash - the wash actully keeps the otomax from working properly. So if you arent, try it that way and see what happens.
Kim

[moondog]

The Otomax is a salve, right? You might not be getting it far enough down to clear up any infection at the bottom where his ear canal is. When putting it in, are you pulling the base of his ear out away from his head and inserting the tube straight down well into his ear? If that's what you're already doing, you might not be putting enough of it in to get it massaged all the way down. Make sure you give his ear a good, gentle massage after applying the medication. Take a look all the way to the base with a small flashlight and see if there's a lot of gunk farther down that you've been cleaning.

At one time, my dog also had one ear that was always gunky. I had someone help by keeping her still and holding her ear flap up on her head while I pulled the base of her ear out and used a flashlight and Qtips to get the gunk that was collecting deeper inside her ear. The ear canal is shaped like an "L", and turns in towards the head at the bottom of the ear, so as long as you gently wipe vertically, up and away from where the canal turns, you won't harm his ear.

It can take a while to clear it up and sometimes it will come and go for awhile. With my dog I do think it was food related because she hasn't had an ear infection since I started home-cooking for her (not saying you have to go that far, but food can play a part in it). When you get it cleared up, use an ear wash once every week or two and that will help prevent the buildup, too.

[rommel's mom]

Thanks for all the good advice, and no I wasn't letting a time period pass from cleaning to putting in the Ottomax. Thanks for letting me know. It's strange that just one ear would be a problem and not both. And he does have a smell come out of it. I guess I thought once I cleaned it out and used the medicine it would just go away. Looks like I am in for the long haul huh. I am feeding him Innova and Canin Natural Blend so I wonder if these have something that is causing this. The other dog a minature dauschund has sneezing episodes every once and awhile I wonder if there is a connection? Well after they finish what's left what do you think I should use for food. I like the good quality stuff no junk food for my guys, again thanks for all the good asvice.:)

[chivas]

I think those are good foods - may NOT be a food allergy - according to my vet - food allergies arent really a very common issue. But i know there are some duck and potatoe foods out, not sure who makes them if your dogs do have food allergies. Most dogs that have food allergies are because of beef ive been told. Maybe he got water in his ear? Scratched the ear? Lots of different things it could be - just as in people - things just happen and go away just as fast!
Kim

[jessaroo]

I've been having the same problem with Kaiser. It's always just the one ear. Is your dog getting yeast in any of his food? It dawned on me that MAYBE the brewers yeast I had been giving him has been the cause of the problem. It makes sense to me, if the ear problem is yeast related, MAYBE the brewers yeast is the culprit. I have taken him off it and he's stopped shaking his head. Could be coincidence but it's something to think about.