What to do if my dog's ear is itchy, bleeding, with dark gunk?

Hi. Your pet most likely has an ear infection or ear mites. You can purchase ear cleaner from pet stores and clean with a cotton ball soaked with the cleaner. But an ear cleaner alone would cure an infection or ear mites.

Ouch, poor Remington! You are correct - most ear infections in dogs stem from underlying allergies. Allergy issues in dogs mostly cause skin problems and ears are skin, after all. The allergies could be associated with environmental issues (atopy), food allergies or flea allergies. I can certainly see the discharge and swelling in Remington's ear. Her excessive scratching obviously indicates that she's quite uncomfortable. Allergy issues cause dogs to itch, which damages the skin barrier and then leads to ear infections from an overgrowth of yeast and/or bacteria in the ear canal. There are no effective over the counter treatments for ear infections. At this point, I recommend taking Remington to her vet for an exam and ear cytology. Your vet will be able to look at her ear discharge under a microscope to determine the type of infection present, and will then prescribe an appropriate medication based on those results. Until you get to the vet, consider putting an e-collar (cone) on Remington to prevent her from causing further damage to hear ears. I hope this helps and that she's feeling better soon!

From what you describe it sounds like Koda may have an ear infection. I would encourage you to have him evaluated by your veterinarian. He will likely need a topical medication to help resolve it. Best of luck and I hope he improves quickly.

Those brown clumps could also be ear mites, which itch intensely and can cause a dog to injure themselves by scratching and shaking their head. It could also be some kind of ear infection or other problem. I recommend getting her checked at your vet as soon as possible to have her ear checked to determine why she's scratching so hard and get her treated so she (and you) can get some relief soon.

Poor Mocha sounds very uncomfortable. Yes it is possible she has ear mites, but ear problems such as hers can also be caused by bacteria or yeast. The only way to cure her ear problems is to have her seen by a vet. The vet can diagnose the cause of her symptoms and can prescribe medication to treat it. I would take her into the vet today, as leaving ear problems can lead to hearing loss if left untreated. I hope this helps!

It sounds like Scarlett may have an ear infection. You will need to take her into the vet first thing Monday. The vet can diagnose the ear infection, what's causing it (ear mites, yeast, or bacteria), and can prescribe the correct medication to treat it. Best of luck.

If you are noticing a lot of redness in the ears, the most common reason for scratching at them are infections, allergies to food/environment, or parasites like fleas or mites. To determine this, a veterinarian can obtain an ear swab to look for the presence of bacteria, yeast, inflammatory cells, or a mixture of everything. Usually an ear flush that is treated with something antimicrobial and anti inflammatory will help quite a bit. Some of these are over the counter while others are prescription only. You will also have to fit Mushy with an e-collar to prevent further itching during the healing process. He won't like it but it is for his own good! In terms of cleaning the ears, periodically you can use some q tips and an ear flush to wipe out the ears. You don't have to worry about puncturing the dogs ear drums since their ear canal is curved. You would have to be bending the q-tip to cause damage. There are several videos on Youtube on how to clean ears if you need to see someone do it first. Let me know if there is anything else that I can assist with.