My dog has a severe ear infection. How can I treat it at home?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Leo. I recommend that he sees his veterinarian. He will be examined. A special instrument known as an otoscope is used to look deep within the ear canal. Typically a swab is taken from each ear. This is evaluated under the microscope to confirm the infection and determine the cause. Dogs can have yeast, bacterial or mite infections. This helps to choose an appropriate medication and ear cleaner for him. Treatment will vary based on the severity of the infection. You can start by cleaning the ears at home if you have an ear cleaner for dogs. However, he will most likely need a prescription medication to clear the problem. I hope this information helps!

This is a pretty severe case of otitis externa which is also causing stenosis if the ear canal. There is no appropriate home treatment for this so I would go to the vet asap. They will check the ear canal and prescribe medicine and ear drops to settle the inflammation and treat infection.

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!

Hello, thank you for using PetCoach! Sorry that Chance is having this issue. I suggest you use a medicated ear wash (see link below) and an actual ear medication (also linked below). Clean the ears and medicate once per day but do them at opposite times of the day (clean in the evening and medicate in the morning or vice-versa). You don't want to put the medication in the ears on top of the cleaning solution. Do both for AT LEAST 7-10 days. If he is not improved by that time he will need to see your vet. https://worldtails.securevetsource.com/itemView/view/198944_HomeDelivery.pml?productId=136342 https://worldtails.securevetsource.com/itemView/view/198944_HomeDelivery.pml?productId=98587 Be sure you are cleaning the ears correctly. See YouTube video linked below. When you medicate be sure the medication is getting down into the ear canal and not just in the top portion of the canal that you can see. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_8f1fll42A&t=16s Hope this helps. If you have more questions you can always opt for a private consultation where we can chat back and forth. That way you can ask as many questions as you'd like. Best wishes!

Sorry to hear Marley isn't doing so well with his ears. It is not possible to tell from tge picture tve exact nature of the irritation but if it is indeed infected (typically red, hot, painful and smelly), he will need prescription medication from his regular vet. In the meantime I recommend gently cleaning tge outer war with cotton wool and a pet safe ear cleaner to reduce the build up of wax/discharge

If ear infections are left untreated, they can lead to hearing loss. Unfortunately this cannot be treated at home without prescription medication, but a vet should see you for this problem. Give your vet a call.

You should definitely not use hydrogen peroxide as it can cause serious damage to the ear, Benadryl will not help. It's probably an ear infection, often it cannot be seen from the outside. Ear infections are very common in dogs, it is usually caused by either yeast or bacterial disease. the treatment is usually simple and straightforward, you will have to take her to the vet and get the ears checked, then a prescription ear drops will be prescribed according to the infectious agent.