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Irritated Ears

My four year old female chow chow / Australian shepherd mix has been shaking her head nonstop as well as digging at her ear with her paws.  She'll frantically rub her head on the ground trying to scratch it and will even rub it on people's legs.  The ear itself has no foul odor but is relatively dirty with a brownish wax.  This morning I woke up to take her out and noticed her ear was slightly reddish on the inside - this is the first time I've seen this color.  There is no swelling of either ear, past or present.  

She has had irritated ears for about two weeks now, throughout an entire week-long treatment of 375mg of Clavamox; it was prescribed to her to prevent against infection in a surgical incision on her belly.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.  I do what I can for my dog and she just had surgery to remove a tumor so please don't think I'm negligent for not taking her in about her ears.  I simply cannot afford the $50 microscope examination right now (or another $40 examination fee) as her vet will not do payment plans.
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1696489 tn?1370821974
I'm sorry your dog is having so much ear trouble.  I worked for a vet 8 years, and what you describe is an infection perhaps associated with earmites.  I have to tell you to take her to the vet. :-)  In the meantime, the following may help: put her in the tub, and use a warm, very wet washcloth to clean her ears with Dawn Dishsoap.  Get them very wet and soapy.  You want it to get down into her ears.  when you have it good and frothy, take your thumb and forefinger to massage under/behind her ears where it bulges a bit before meeting her head.  Then rinse, rinse, rinse, inside and outside the ear.  Rinse until you no longer see evidence of soap.  Yes, her ears will have water in them.  Thats okay, as she will just skake it out.  Dry her ears as good as you can.  You can do this as often as twice a week (more than that will not allow her ears time to air-dry enough).  Again, I strongly suggest you at least ask your vet if what I have said here is okay, and get her to see him when you can.  Blessings - Blu
Helpful - 0
1436598 tn?1332896533
It may be yeast, possibly caused by the antibiotic killing some of the normal bacteria that would usually keep it in check. I would use a gentle cleaning solution a few times a day. If you can find an OTC solution that also helps dry the ear canal that would be best.

There are a number of OTC natural remedies for ear/yeast problems. My brain is not working right now :) but if you check amazon you will find them.

Good luck!
Helpful - 0
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