Our dog's ears seem to always be a mess, doesn't matter what we do. For those of you with Beagles, what do you do to combat/treat ear issues? Are there any homeopathic remedies or preventative treatments out there? Please share!
ETA, our backyard is currently dirt, so her ears get messy frequently... Ugh! And yes, we take her to the vet, but I also can't afford to pay them the ridiculous fee to clean her ears every week, when we can do it at home.
For dogs with floppy ears, the best way to keep them clean is to flush them with peroxide and vinegar once a week.
We don't have Beagles, but we do have Labs and Lab mixes. Different breeds, same floppy ears, maybe the same issues. We finally got a prescription liquid through our vet; it's called Oti-clens, and it's made especially for dogs and cats. At least once every week we put some on a cotton ball and gently wipe inside the ears. She gets a really good treat afterwards! (My husband also tried just putting a couple of drops of the liquid directly into the dog's ears. Do not do that if you want your dogs to remain your friends!) Anyhow, it seems to have helped our dogs avoid ear infections - at least, the rate of occurrence has gone way down. So you would be putting out a little cash for the product, but you'd be saving a lot because you can do the work yourself. Talk to your vet about this. I'm *assuming* the problem with your Beagles and my Labs is about the same thing, and I don't know for sure if that's the case.
We have two dogs with FLOPPY ears, the small dog cleans the large dogs ears WIN!! But the small dog's ears are a hot mess because the large dog can't help him out, so vinegar on a cotton ball or cotton round once a week seems to help, maybe more often while the yard is dirt.
Well, I can tell you what we do for our COWS when we take them to a show but keep in mind that I am talking about cow ears and not dog ears and that you should probably ask your vet before you do this, just in case.
So, when we take our dairy cows to shows their ears have to be clean (No wax/dirt). We take some peroxide, wet a paper towel with it, and scrub away. It gets them clean. I can't say that they stay that way for very long... Because they are cows... But they are clean for a little bit :)
Has the vet determined what is causing it (mites, yeast, bacteria)? Just dirt doesnt usually cause bad problems like this. There are appropriate ear cleaners/medications you can purchase from them and I'm sure they will be happy how to demonstrate how to clean them well.
I would make sure she doesn't have a yeast or bacterial infection in the ears first - you need to see your vet for that, and get her on the appropriate medication. Besides being dirty, the ears may be red, itchy, and/or have a bad odor. Keep in mind too that they can have infection deep inside the canal, past the point where you can see from the outside, so again, you need to make sure the vet is checking in there with an otoscope, and taking swab samples for examination under a microscope. If she has chronic or recurrent ear infections, often allergies can be a reason, so that would need to be addressed too.
Your vet most likely has ear cleaners (some with antimicrobial ingredients) that you can use at home, and they should show you how to clean them yourself (we have one cleanser called Epi-Otic, and some others that are medicated, such as Malaseb Flush). We usually recommend filling up the canal with cleaner, massaging the outside for a minute to get all the debris broken up and flushed out more, and then using cotton balls to wipe it all out until they come out clean. I've also had people try a 50/50 solution of water and white vinegar and sometimes that can work really well, if there is no infection present that needs to be treated first. We do NOT recommending using alcohol or peroxide - they are really irritating and often just make the ears worse! Studies have shown just how much damage peroxide actually does to skin microscopically so NO peroxide or rubbing alcohol please!
Didn't have a beagle...but for my lab I used Apple Cider Vinegar on a towel and wiped out the inside (and outside) of ears. It helps keep away mites, combats smell, and prevents itchiness. Can also use to bath with and makes their coat shiny!
I would talk to your vet about an ear cleaner you can use at home. It depends too are they just dirty or do they get infected? If they are infected is it allergy related etc which would change treatment. I would start with a call to the vet to discuss your options for home maintenance and if it is frequent infections what might be causing the infectiona and if there is something you can do for that.
Oh, those floppy eared breeds! I have a Beagle/Basset mix and had a Lab with the same issues -- both prone to dirty stinky (yeast-y) ears. The cider vinegar helps but the best cleaner I've found is one I get from the vet called Epi-Otic by Virbac. It's not expensive and an 8-oz bottle lasts a long, long time. A little bit on a tissue wiped in his ears every week seems to do the trick. For the inner part of his ear I dampen the tissue then wrap it around a Q-tip. That way, I can get into those smaller folds where the dirt builds up. Funny, both my bad ear dogs hated Q-tips or cotton balls alone but have no problem sitting still if I wrap a tissue around the Q-tip.
Also, don't know if this is your guy or not but my dog is much better in the winter than in the summer. The vet says it's most likely allergies.
My beagle has gotten so used to having his ears cleaned that, when he sees me coming near him with a tissue and a Q-tip, he'll wag his tail and drop down with one ear facing up. When I've finished that one, he rolls over & offers me his other side! Strange dog....
