Puppy Gal's Opinions On

Medical Information - Ears

Information presented here is strictly my opinion based upon research and or 50 years experience at rescuing animals of all sorts. If in doubt, consult your vet and perhaps even get a second opinion from another vet.

Some signs to be aware of in regard to ear problems are:

- Odor
- Scratching or rubbing of ears and head
- Discharge
- Redness or swelling of any part of the ear
- Shaking of the head or tilting it to one side

Main Medical Problems are:
- Foreign bodies - plant seeds/parts
- Microorganisms - bacteria and yeast
- Parasites - ear mites, ticks, fleas



Flap Style Ears, due to a lack of air circulation, bacteria and yeast could not ask for a better environment to live in than a warm, dark, moist ear canal.

- Yeast Infections results in a brown waxy gunk that stinks. Daily cleaning will help, but often these infections are difficult to treat. We have recommended using Otomax, an antibiotic-steriod. You can get this product from your vet or if they do not have it in stock get them to write you a prescription so it can be purchased from PetCareRx, Inc. You will have to enter "Otomax" into the search field on their website.

- Bacterial Infections result in dark yellow stinky gunk. Daily ear cleaning will often times resolve this situation, but antibiotics might be necessary. In this case we again recommend Otomax as explained above.

Ear mites: Ear mites cause a dark to black gunk in the ear. For this condition, ear cleaning followed by an ear medication to kill mites will eliminate the problem. My experience has been that only preseciption medications are affective and give fast long lasting relief/resolution.

To test for mites before you clean your Bully's ears. Take a q-tip and extract some of the debris, put it on a black or very dark surface (black trash bag is best but you may be able to use a dark blue Wal-Mart plastic merchandise bag. The mites are white and you will be able to see them.

See this website for instructions on cleaning ears, more detailed information about the above and information on less common problems affecting the ear.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1644&articleid=273




Information presented here is strictly my opinion based upon research and/or 50 years experience at rescuing animals of all sorts. Consult your vet and perhaps even get a second opinion from another vet about all you read on my website.