My dog has an ear infection. How to give medicine to a scared dog?

Poor Canelo! Ear infections can be very painful. I would recommend asking your veterinarian about one of the long lasting ear infection treatments that do not require you to medicate them at home. There are a few on the market now, but here is one of the them ( https://osurnia.com/ ). We certainly don't want to ruin your relationship with Canelo, so I would recommend having your vet do all treatments until this infection is resolved. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

It is not a good idea to try and apply ear mediccine while she is asleep. I suggest you ask your vet whether a differen medication such as Osurnia, which can be applied in the vet's office once and is good for 7 days is not an alternative to struggling with your dog. If not, you may need to put a muzzle on your dog every time you intend to apply the medication.

It can be really hard to treat a dog when they don't want it. I would recommend calling your vet to see if there is a different type of medication that would work. There are some that can be placed in the ear at the vet clinic that can last through the whole treatment period. You could try a distraction like peanut butter smeared on a tile floor. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/applying-ear-drops-to-dogs

Poor Billy! Ear infections are no fun! Ear infections can be caused by bacterial, parasitic or fungal infection, or a combination of these, and can be associated with dietary or environmental allergies or sensitivities, immune system disorders, or a combination of the above. There may be other options for treatment, such as a long lasting ear ointment that the vet applies once a week (so you do not have to do anything at home), or potentially oral medication, depending on what the cause of the infection is. I recommend you contact your vet to discuss your options and get Billy feeling better.

Poor girl. Unfortunately you will need to take her in for this. Over the counter cleaners aren't strong enough to treat for a true ear infection in dogs. If needed, the vet can give her a mild sedative to help calm her down enough to allow then to treat her. There are also suppository medications available to treat pets ears in cases like this where it is difficult to medicate at home. These are available through your veterinarian. I do hope that your fur baby Nina is able to resolve her ear infection soon! Best wishes and take care.

Antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medications can be given orally as well, but they will be indeed less effective and take longer to work. Please discuss with your local veterinarian this treatment option (as it has to be prescribed anyway). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry to hear you are having difficulty applying the ear medication - I understand this can be a challenging task! Ear infections themselves can be frustrating too. For my own dog, I find it helpful to stand over him with his head between my legs, that way I can gently use my legs to hold his body in place while one hand holds his head/ear and the other applies the ear medication. I then gently massage the base of the ear to allow the medication to contact all surfaces of the ear canal. It is certainly OK if Storm shakes his head immediately afterwards and a little medication comes out. Additionally, if you do not already have one at home, I STRONGLY recommend purchasing an Elizabethan collar (cone) for Storm, to prevent him from being able to itch his ears. Dogs can create a significant amount of trauma to their own ears and skin from scratching incessantly, and a cone will prevent him from getting to his ears while the infection heals. This will also help keep the medication in the ear. I hope this is helpful!