What's the vet cost for a dog's red, sensitive, smelly ear infection?

Unfortunately for bad ear infections that often involve bacteria and sometimes yeast, you will need a topical ear medication that contains an antibiotic. Antibiotics require a prescription. This is because antibiotics (whether oral or topical) have to be used judiciously to avoid creating resistant bacteria. You can try researching low cost clinics in your area through this website: www.mypet.com/vet-finder.aspx Or you can try applying for financial assistance through carecredit.com or redrover.org. Best of luck. Ear infections can get worse fairly quickly and are relatively easy to treat with proper medications, so hopefully you can get your dog to the vet soon.

It looks like your kid has a pretty severe ear infection there. The redness is inflammation and the gray area is thickening of the external ear canal from chronic inflammation. What would be best would be for your pup to be seen by your family vet for an ear exam and cytology. In order to treat this appropriately your vet will need to know if there are bacteria (and what type) or yeast or both in the ear canals and if the eardrum is intact. An anti inflammatory may also be needed because of the thickening. If ear infections are a chronic problem for your pup underlying allergy may also need to be explored. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

This looks like a rather severe ear infection that needs veterinary treatment, or it can cause permanent damage. I understand vets can be costly, but you may be able to find one with reasonable exam fees. We are used to working within budgets, so if you let them know how much you are willing to spend, they can offer the best treatment within that budget. For now, flush the ear with cool water where you see the redness. This will help give some relief. Flush for at least two minutes. After that, you can flush inside the ear canal to help remove any debris that is contributing to the infection. You can get a good ear flush at the pet store and there are some good instructional videos on youtube about how to do this. I recommend gently flushing the ear with cool water twice a day and flushing the inside of the ear once a day. Be sure not to apply too much pressure or scrub the ear with anything, because this can make the inflammation worse. I hope that helps and Boomer gets better soon.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Sam! His ears do look infected and painful. It is best to have him seen by a Vet. You can’t tell if it is a yeast or bacterial infection by looking at it. The vet will use a Q-tip to remove some discharge to smear on a slide. Under the microscope they can then tell. They will then prescribe an ear flush, ear drops and likely steroids for the redness and pain. I hope this helps and I wish Sam a speedy recovery!!

Hi there. From your description, it sounds like Rolo may have an ear infection - this is a very common problem in dogs, and often causes pain and itching. You will need prescription medication from your vet to treat the infection, so I'm afraid there's no way around taking him in for an exam. But, there's no reason that this should be a particularly expensive visit. If the problem is fairly simple, it should just be the exam fee, an ear stain to determine what kind of infection is present, and the appropriate drops or ointment to treat it :) In the meantime, you can try gently cleaning his ear with an over-the-counter ear flush for dogs such as Epi-Otic or MalAcetic. This will not treat the underlying infection, but may help to make him a bit more comfortable until you are able to see the vet.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question. Poor Sam. This could be a sign she has an ear infection. Ear infections in dogs can be caused my ear mites, yeast, or bacteria. I’d call her vet to make her an appointment. The vet can diagnose if she does have an ear infection, what’s causing it, and can treat it. I hope this helps!

Ouch! That definitely looks like it must hurt! While the medications you have on hand are great for ear infections, with one as severe as that I would not recommend putting anything into the ear until a vet has verified that the ear drum is still in tact. If it is not, this will influence what medications are used, how often, and what to do next. In the mean time if you have one, I would put a collar on Samson to prevent any further scratching and self-mutilation to the ear until he can be examined. Hope this makes sense!