Carol: Mayo Medical Clinic recommends 1/2 vinegar mixed with 1/2 alcohol for swimmer's ear infection. But you have to make your dog lie down on one side completely, with one ear down to the floor, then put 3 large-dropper full-of that mixture in the OTHER ear that's opened to air. Repeat the process for 3 times FOR BOTH EARS, then give your dog something crunchy to munch on. The chewing action will push the wax & bacteria out of dog's ears.

Q-tips is OK to use ONLY on the external ear, AFTER the softened-wax is pushed out to the outer opening.

Hold her down for at least 5 min, since alcohol requires at least 5 min. to kill bacteria (learned this from my microbiology professor). When I had flu-shot-reaction which my right ear-tube got inflamed & blocked .. it took me 3 rinses of alcohol before the wax & dried blood came out.

Hydrogen peroxide is very effective on viral infection, plus it kills fungi by its bubbling & oxygenating action. Plus Hydrogen peroxide dissolves blood better than alcohol. But your dog will not like its bubbling action in his/her ears .. so it's best to use alcohol/vinegar first, then hydrogen peroxide afterwards.

Alcohol/vinegar can leave a burning sensation, but hydrogen peroxide is very soothing to inflamed tissue.

so the time for one ear is 15 min? and by alcohol do you mean rubbing alcohol? how long does he have the h202 in his ears. do i wipe rhe ears out after each alcohol/vinegar solution?

thanks, straw - my daughter has developed allergies in her ears, maybe she can try this too? her ears are very itchy, so is the top of her mouth. do you know of any way to help her with that?

thank you so much!!!

carol

It's 5 min. soaking per rinse. If you do 3 rinses on the dog's ear, it's 15 min. total. It's much better to do 3 rinses, each with 5-min. holding down the dog.

How I solved my itchy ear problem: I put 2 dropper-full of hydrogen peroxide in my ear, while lying down side-way and let it soak in for 5 min. Then I sit-up and tilt my ear the opposite direction so it can drain off .. have a tissue ready to catch the drip. For your daughter, hydrogen peroxide is milder than alcohol/vinegar, and can be used more often, but alcohol/vinegar is VERY DRYING, and is recommended only for Swimmer's Ear-infection.

Carol: See excerpt from below link

"EARWASH “RECIPE”

• 1 teaspoon of white vinegar.
• 1 teaspoon of rubbing alcohol.
• Mix the ingredients together in a cup.
• Use an eyedropper to put most of the mixture in the ear.
• Tilt the head to be sure the earwash runs all the way down inside the ear. Then tilt the head the other way and let the liquid drain out.

Alcohol is a drying agent and evaporates at a very low temperature. Because vinegar is highly acidic, it increases the acidity of the tissue in the ear canal making it difficult for bacteria and fungus to grow there. Using this earwash helps to sterilize the ear canal."

http://hearinghealthmatters.org/hearinprivatepractice/2013/the-alcohol-vinegar-earwash/

in your earlier response, you said to do the h202 after the rybbing alcohol. do you think i should do it your way or like the recipe suggests?

thank you so much, i really hope this works.

carol

I have a cat with the same problem Carol, the vet told me it's ear mites. He told me to clean his ears properly (with soft ear buds) and regularly because they multiply fast... also to wash his bed linen once a week because they get into that as well.. but the info Straw gave will surely make a huge difference in the mites....the vet gave me medicine to drip into his ear every time after I cleaned them, but that is perhaps not as effective as the ingredients Straw mentioned...and expensive...

Jess: vinegar and alcohol will kill mites for sure, it's very strong and kills ANYTHING, plus dissolves the calcified compacted ear-wax inside. Use that only for infection or hardened-ear-wax, but NOT frequently, or else it dries out and irritating to the ear-canals.

Carol: any vinegar/alcohol RESIDUE inside ear will dry out the membrane & not comfortable. The logic of rinsing it LAST with hydrogen peroxide is to soothe the ear's tissue. Hydrogen peroxide kills fungus and aerate (gives off oxygen) .. thus one will feel and hear the "bubbling-noise" inside one's ear. That might scare your dog, but hydrogen peroxide is actually milder & can be used often without irritating to the tissue like the HARSHER alcohol/vinegar.

no, it won't scare Toffee, he's an easy going dog that i can do anythin to.

he's the brown poodle. that's what a poodle's tail looks like when it isn't cut off like most breeders do to their dogs. i had to pay full price when he was 2 days old so they wouldn't cut his tail.

jess, it's not ear mites, cause otherwise my other two dogs would have them, plu i've spent hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dollars at the vet for his ears. the vet would have told me.

thanks for a ll the help!!! very much appreciated!!

carol

No this mix will not kill ear mites. Please use the prescribed medication!

Carol, have they cultured your dog's ears? May be time to try a new vet :)

Jess: I can see why you want homemade treatment for cats' ear-mites, folks in America reported paying $54 per vet visit/medication. Just like my over $1,000 bill for flu-shot reaction & vertigo & bleeding ear .. ..I solved it through rinsing my ear with alcohol/vinegar (to get rid of the blood & wax), then with hydrogen peroxide. And the doc didn't even tell me about that, I googled.

Regular cleaning & prevention is what helps, rather than $$$$ methods. During my flu-shot reaction with inner-ear blockage, I rinsed with alcohol/vinegar at least 10 times, and with hydrogen peroxide at least 20 times during a 2-month period .. just to clean the dried blood & fluid & wax that constantly accumulated overnight.

Even after strong antibiotics for my pneumonia, and AFTER the doc removed compacted ear-wax, I still have to rinse my ear with hydrogen peroxide whenever it gets blocked (after shower), leading to vertigo again.

Preventive measure makes more sense than $$$ treatment. The bill for bronchoscopy to get a sample fluid of my lung was over $5,000. And the bill for Fiberoptic Laryngoscopy was outrageous. No $$$$ diagnostic tool can take place of prevention and regular cleaning.

I had human-scabies (mite-skin-infection) while growing up in VN. My legs looked like a leper. Mom solved it .... she washed my legs frequently with soap, and dressed me in long pants, so flies won't re-infect again. Frequent cleaning & preventing re-infection is the key to get rid of mites.

Some info. from the below link "Geeks on pets" on cats' ear-mites. The below link makes sense: clean ear with alcohol & peroxide to kill mites, then sooth the irritated area with garlic and olive oil. We kill ants in the kitchen with tissue dipped in alcohol, and garlic repel pests bigger than mites.

http://www.geeksonpets.com/info_8745855_alcohol-remedy-ear-mites-cats.html

Cleaning

The cat's ears should be cleaned out before applying treatments. Pull on protective gloves and mix together equal parts of alcohol and peroxide. Use a medicine dropper to draw up the mixture and firmly hold the cat by its chest. Administer several drops into the cat's ear and use your fingers to slowly massage the ear to break up the debris. Insert a cotton ball into the outer ear and twist out to remove debris and wax buildup. Set up a routine to clean out the cat's ears regularly to check for ear mites.

Treatment

Crush four cloves of garlic and place into one cup of olive oil. Let the oil mixture sit overnight and then remove the garlic. Place the cup of oil into a bowl of hot water and remove when the oil is lukewarm. Use the medicine dropper to administer several drops into the cat's infected ears every day for four weeks. Clean the cat's bedding and other items that it uses regularly, such as blankets and pillows.

http://www.geeksonpets.com/info_8745855_alcohol-remedy-ear-mites-cats.html

*** From Straw: very impressed with the above link's tip of olive oil to heal the ear-membrane, and garlic to repel further mite-invasion. I went shopping, there's one guy that reeked of garlic, I had to run fast away from him ... I avoid garlic-pill-takers at any cost. If garlic can repel humans, it can easily repel mites. Amazon sells garlic/brewer's yeast pills to repel fleas on pets. People raved on how effective these pills are for fleas/ticks, $8.99 per bottle.

http://www.amazon.com/Garmon-Corporation-Brewers-Vitamin-Tablets/dp/B000O5JTPS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458053618&sr=8-1&keywords=brewers+yeast+with+garlic

Jess: Thank you for sharing your experience with effectiveness of natural treatments with your cats in South Africa, where things are more expensive than here.

Carol: You mentioned about lots of brown stuff from your dog's ear .. that could be a FUNGAL INFECTION, after many antibiotics treatment. Here's from WebMD on fungal/yeast infection in dog's ears:

http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/yeast-infection-in-dogs-causes-treatment-and-prevention?page=2

You may notice your dog scratching his ear or rubbing it on the floor or on a piece of furniture. That's a sign that he may have a yeast infection. Here's what else to look for:

• Brown, yellow, or bloody discharge
• Odor
• Redness or swelling
• Crusted skin on the ear flap
• Loss of hair around the ear
• Head shaking or tilting
• Loss of balance
• Loss of hearing
• Walking in circles
• Unusual eye movements

If your dog has a yeast infection of the outer ear canal, the vet might prescribe a topical antifungal ointment or cream. Miconazole and ketoconazole are two antifungal medicines that are often effective.

An infection of the middle ear is treated with systemic medications (meaning tablets or injections), though further tests and even surgery may be needed

http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/yeast-infection-in-dogs-causes-treatment-and-prevention?page=2

**** From Straw: My younger brother has both degrees: DVM and M.D., he was a vet first, before he got his M.D., and now works as a dermatologist. There are cheap ways to control fungal-infection. When I researched on probiotics after my antibiotics-treatment, I found studies that show L. Rhamnosus GG slashed pneumonia, plus reduced risk of future pneumonia. Healthy bacteria, or probiotics is NEEDED after any antibiotics, otherwise the bad-fungus, or yeast take over.

After antibiotics for last month's pneumonia, my lung still hurt UNTIL I finished 12 pills of Culturelle (with L. Rhamnosus GG). That probiotics really brought my lung to normal. Antibiotics can cause FURTHER problems, such as my severe stomach pain, and lung pain .. that went away after taking Culturelle.

I suffered with female-yeast-infection since I was 5 year-old .. no anti-fungal creams, no doc's visits could cure my yeast infection ... but that completely went away after taking Jarrow Femdophillus at 40 year old. The question is, what are the beneficial bacteria for dog's inner ear? That has to be introduced back to the dog's ear, to suppress the yeast infection.

Alcohol kills bacteria & virus. Vinegar kills fungus/yeast, I use vinegar to kill the brown-mold in my shower. Hydrogen peroxide also kill both fungus and virus. Since your dog already went through antibiotics, and If your dog has a fungal infection in the ear, then skip the alcohol, and just do vinegar and hydrogen peroxide together. The alcohol burns, plus kill beneficial bacteria, causing more yeast-proliferation.

The most stubborn fungal infection of toenail also cause brownish discoloration. See below link on vinegar soak, and other anti-fungals:

http://www.ehow.com/way_5144005_effective-toenail-fungus-cure.html

Below link offers some natural anti-fungal treatments:

http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com/issue/15-how-to-kill-fungal-infections

Garlic

Raw garlic is a powerful anti-fungal that does not destroy beneficial bacteria in the gut. It does, however, kill bad bacteria while killing 24 out of 26 strains of Candida. It can also be rubbed on fungal skin infections. It can be eaten raw or taken in softgel capsules. Garlic cloves can be inserted into the vagina to treat vaginal yeast infections. (see link below).

Warning: Garlic can thin the blood.

Clove Oil

Clove oil is a powerful anti-fungal that also boosts the immune system. Use 15-30 drops in water, 3 times daily.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is a strong anti-fungal with many beneficial properties. Take one tablespoon 1-2 times a day. .

Tea Tree Oil

Tea tree oil kills bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Some recommend using internally (take 15-30 drops in a cup of water 3 times daily) but many professionals say to only use topically.

Oil of Oregano

Oil of oregano is a strong anti-fungal and antimicrobial. You can take 5 or more drops under the tongue or dilute in water 2-3 times a day. It can also be taken by capsule or oregano leaves can be steeped for a medicinal tea.

Olive Extracts

Olive oil and olive leaf extract doesn’t directly kill fungi; it disrupts the reproductive cycle. It also stabilizes and lowers blood sugars to help starve Candida.

Grapefruit Seed Extract

Grapefruit seed extract is effective against 100 strains of fungi as well as bacteria, viruses, and parasites. It works well with undecenoic acid and does not harm beneficial bacteria. Add 10 drops to water, 3 times a day.

Jess: Could you share details of the herbal oil that you use in your cat's ears?

best regards

Khalid, the herbal oil is locally produced by Mountain Herb Estate, and I can't see what the ingredients are, I'm so sorry...they only use herbal products in all their oils and other related products...I've been using ointment that the vet prescribed but after that was finished I started using this and it works wonders...

I just read that one can also rub it gently at the back of the ear...

http://herbgarden.co.za/mountainherb/product.php?id=94 

dingo - yes, over the years, i've changed vets. this dog's ears have been examined very thoroughly. :)

thanks everyone!! so helpful.

carol