Hi everyone. This is my first post so I hope I will get some feedback... My 5 month choc lab pup has had waxy ears since we have had him at 8 weeks. The last couple of weeks they have got worse and more smelly. I took him to the vet who said there was no mites/infections etc, but just said becasue of his big ears he may be prone to waxy ears. The wax is dark brown, not black, and he doesnt shake or scratch any more than expected. Any advice/tips would be appreciated....

You can get special cleaning pads for ears from the pet shop and use these every day on your dog to keep the wax at bay.
I've got 2 bedlington girls, Nala 10 months and Kia 15 weeks.
Have never had any problems with Nala's ears but have an ongoing battle with Kia's waxy ears.
Every day she has brown waxy ears that need cleaning.
I don't know if you have to do anything with the hair in a lab's ears but bedlington's need to have theirs plucked to stop a build up.
Pads are ideal for doing that too.
regards,
Linda

Thanks Linda. I have been cleaning with cotton wool and water, but the smell is not going. Any thoughts?

Kia's ears were very smelly too before I used the pads, they have active ingredients to dissolve wax build up.
Although she still gets wax in them they don't smell anymore.
The pads I use are called 8 in 1 ear clear for dogs and cats.
regards,
linda

If a scrape has been done and the vet is certain that there are not mites or infection he may well have a yeast overgrowth which is quite common in dogs especially those with drop ears.

Removing sugar from his diet, on which yeast thrives, can have a dramatic effect. You will need to look at the ingredients of his food and see if it contains Brewers Yeast, which is an ingredient which should be avoided. Carbohydrates from grains breakdown into simple sugars and feed yeast and therefore a diet which is low in grain (especially multi grain sources) would be appropriate. For example Burns or Naturediet which only contains rice.

To clean the ears use something non abrasive like saline solution or Colloidal silver and then you can use a powder called Thornit every day for a week twice a day and then once a week as a preventive measure. Thornit is available on the net from Champion pet supplies. Vets do not recommend it as it is not a recognised medecine but people have been using it successfully for decades.

Hope this helps.

Hi Tohme
Milo is already on Burns Mini Bites which he loves and suits him well. Does this contain brewers yeast?? Regarding Thornit powder.. I have just looked on the Champion Pets website, and they say Thornit is to treat mites. If Milo does not have mites, will this do any harm?? Thanks

Burns mini bites does not contain any brewers yeast, thornit will do no harm whether or not the dog has mites.

regards

So even if he doesnt have mites, will thornit help the wax??????? Thanks Tohme!

Wax is a symptom, a reaction against something; instead of treating the symptom it is best to find and treat the cause if possible. Not sure if Thornit will help with the wax per se; perhaps someone else knows?

Milosmum, we've found Thornit keeps our Spins ears wax free. Once you have the ears clean, using it weekly is sufficient for maintenance of the ears. Ours love having it put in and come running when they see me getting it out :)

Lesley

i use thornit

designed for dogs, cats and rabbits ears

im not sure where you get it from apart from some stands at shows

We have an isopropanol based 'bottle of stuff' for Minx's waxy ears (got it from vet, about 6 quid), it works a treat for dissolving the wax, but she hates it - it must sting like a very stingy thing when her ears are plaguing her and she's been scratching. So I'd only recommend it if your dog doesn't scratch - even if the skin is only slightly pinker than usual, it'll sting! Being cold, wet and stinky (menthol?) doesn't help either, Minx only has to smell it from across the room and she's off hiding under the sofa, poor lass. Have heard thornit recommended and was going to ask if it was powder or liquid (so cheers to whoever said it was powder earlier!), and will be trying it if I can get hold of some - bound to be less stressful for poor Minx than the liquid or having claggy ears!

I use Thornit as a regular prophylactic routine treatment...its wonderful stuff. :)

Thanks everyone. Thornit it is! Clean ears here we come.......