My dog ate cotton balls with ear infection gunk. What should I do?

Typically this isn't of any serious toxicity concerns. She may have some stomach upset, in which case you can offer her a bland diet of boiled plain chicken and rice or cottage cheese, to see if that helps to settle her stomach. The cotton balls pose a small risk of obstruction, but unlikely. Princess will likely be just fine. Best wishes and take care.

NEVER use something that small in a dog's ear. You should use a cotton ball and only wipe what you can see. Try blowing gently in and on that ear to get her to shake it out. If she doesn't shake it out then I recommend getting her in to your vet tomorrow so they can look in her ear to find it and remove it.

Thank you for providing a picture of something like the ear Bandit ate, it's really helpful. Given that he swallowed it last night, I'd just monitor him for now. Do not give him any more olive oil, it will not help and because it's an oil and so fatty, it can cause him to have pancreatitis. It's good that he's acting normally, and he is a bigger dog, so this may pass without issue. Monitor him for vomiting, diarrhea, blood in the stool, lethargy, and a loss of appetite. If you see any of those signs, take him into a vet immediately. I hope this helps!

Yes, I would take Dax into the vet for this problem. It’s not normal to have a big build up of gunk in the ear or to have an odor. These are signs of an ear infection. Ear infections in dogs can be caused by ear mites, yeast, or bacteria so the vet needs to diagnose what’s causing this build up so he can be treated properly. I would take him into the vet in the next day or two. Just be careful using q tips in his ears. You could accidentally hurt him or even perforate his ear drum if you stick one in too far. The vet can give you an ear cleaning solution like Epi-Otis which is much safer to use. Best of luck!

Poor Jax. Oral antibiotics are not used for ear infections, this is due to the poor blood supply to the ear. He needs topical medication to treat his ear infection. You need to take him into the vet tomorrow to have these medications prescribed.

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry to hear that Cookie yelped and vomited following her ear cleaning. The inside of dogs' ears is very sensitive, and we NEVER recommend cleaning their ears with Q-tips, for risk of causing damage to the ear drum (tympanic membrane). As long as she is acting normally at home (no head tilt, not ear scratching or head shaking, eating/drinking/urinating and defecating normally), she will likely be OK! From now on, please only ever clean her ears gently with a dry cotton ball, and only clean the visible, external portion of the ear canal. I hope this is helpful!

We will very commonly see ear infections in dogs. The infection is most commonly due to an overgrowth of normal yeast and bacteria in the ear. I am attaching a link with more information below. https://www.vin.com/veterinarypartner/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951507 Ear infections can be very painful or sometimes the only sign is that they are holding their ear in an abnormal position. I would recommend having your veterinarian examine Jax. They will be able to examine into the ear and take a sample of any discharge to evaluate under the microscope to determine if there is anything abnormal going on then determine the best treatment for him. Good luck! I hope that was helpful and that Jax feels better soon. Thanks for using PetCoach.