There are a plethora of brands of ear cleaners on the market. Which one should you use? We all have our favorites but here’s a few thoughts to keep in mind.
Different ears may require different cleaners so you may want to keep two or three on hand. Dogs with thick hanging ear leathers, especially those with a lot of hair, tend to more issues simply because there’s less air circulation so a moister environment is created that may promote bacterial or yeast infections. Drying agents are important for these dogs.
Many ear cleaners use alcohol or hydrogen peroxide as a base and to help dry and that’s fine, but neither should be used by themselves as they are much too harsh. Any dog with ears already red, sore, or irritated will not thank you for adding either at full strength to their discomfort. Combining these ingredients with others reduces the harshness while keeping the drying properties and makes them ideal for general ear cleaning. Witch hazel is often used as a gentler alternative to alcohol or hydrogen peroxide.
Other ingredients include acetic acid, boric acid, salicylic acid, lactic acid, benzoic acid, malic acid, silicone dioxide, and eucalyptus oil. Tea tree oil, while effective, seems to find a lot of dogs sensitive to it so watch carefully for reactions. Many of these ingredients are antiseptic and/or antifungal as well as helping to dry, and some reduce redness and swelling or help remove dead skin. Other ingredients may serve to soothe the ear.
Zymox uses enzymes to gently achieve a clean ear. Top Performance offers a standard alcohol base for use on most dogs and a gentler witch hazel version for pets with sensitive ears. All three are labeled for both cats and dogs. (Some cleaners have ingredients that should not be used on cats). Best of all, each has a retail size available as well as gallons for professional use – what pet owner doesn’t like to use the same products the pros do?
Dogs with clean, healthy ears may never need their ears cleaned. For those, use wipes or all-cotton balls or cotton coil (poly blends tend to be scratchy on skin) and just clean the external ear parts with one of those soaked in cleaner. For dogs with issues, pour a bit of cleaner into the ear and massage from just below the ear while holding it closed. Allow the dog to shake out the excess and wipe the external ear clean. Provide customers with these instructions and a retail size of cleaner and that sporting breed may never present you with that infected ear again.
By Carol Visser, Journalist, Master Pet Groomer, Certified Dog Trainer, Pet Product Expert
