# Excessive Ear Wax.



## momtoMax (Apr 21, 2009)

It's not ear wax - it's very very very very very very very very likely a yeast infection.

You'll need to treat it with the appropriate medicine (which means a vet visit) or you can make your own ear concoction - search the forum for ear infection threads - you will see it listed in a lot of them. In a hurry now, can't type it in.

Please take care of this - they are painful to the dog. Especially if they are out of control.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

As *momtoMax *said, it's probably not ear wax but an infection or a start of an infection. Do the ears smell?

IMO, a healthy ear shouldn't need a lot of cleaning. There is something going on, possibly a food or enviromental sensitivity.


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## Katie and Paddy's Mum (Mar 31, 2010)

It definitely sounds like an ear infection to me as well. Especially if they have a bad smell to them. Often, by the time you see the wax, the ear is already infected. 

Has he been rubbing his ears on the carpet or trying to rub them with his paws? Is he shaking his head a lot? Generally these are signs of infection.

It does sound like a yeast overgrowth to me. This can be triggered by allergies - either environmental or food. Alternately a dog with a thyroid condition often gets ear infections and other skin related infections. Often owners with a hypothyroid dog complain of consistent skin infections that go away while on antibiotics, but come back again after the treatment is complete. If he hasn't already been screened, I would have a full thyroid panel run on his blood, just to rule out physiological symptoms. The full thyroid panel is important, as it gives a much more accurate picture than just looking at the T4 reading itself. It is important to note, that a low-normal thyroid - or a thyroid reading that comes back as normal, but is in the lower range, is considered LOW for Goldens and requires supplementatin. There is a wealth of information on this forum regarding hypothyroidism.

In relation to the ears. Right now, I would schedule a vet visit. He will likely need a good cleaning...and if he is infected, he might not like you doing such a thorough clean for him. His ear hairs might needed trimmed as well. Because of the poor design of their ears, if hair is thick and blocking the ear canal, it often traps moisture and air and becomes a breeding ground for yeast build-up (hence infection).

There are many home-made concoctions for ear infections, but personally at this stage I would advise you see a vet. If his ear drum is in any way ruptured, many of these remedies will only make things MUCH worse. It is advisable to have your vet evaluate whether the ear drum is intact, prior to beginning any treatment on your own.

After you have the infection cleared up, you can begin to use said remedies in order to prevent recurrence. But at the moment, and given that both ears are affected, I would advise a vet visit for some antibiotics. They often give a combination of oral and topical for bi-lateral ear infections.

You might want to have the vet run a culture to see what strain of bacteria and/or yeast is there...as some strains are very resistant to antibiotics and might need a longer course or a very strong dose.

Sorry this post is so long.
I guess in summary, if it were me, and again this is only my opinion, I would do the following:

1. go to the vets (have them evaluate the ear canal, clean the ear canal, trim and hairs, prescribe remedy)
2. have a full-thyroid panel run to rule out any underlying physiological symptoms
3. have a culture done to see what kind of bacteria and/or yeast is present

I hope that helps!
I wish you good luck. I know how frustrating ear infections can be.

All the best - Kim


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## MittaBear (Mar 9, 2010)

I've had experience with ear mites before. They're not that common in dogs, but my one dog had them. It is nearly impossible to actually see them without looking under a microscope since they're very tiny and are generally deeper down in the ear canal. The mites actually push the ear wax up to the surface which is why Jasper's ears were dirty all the time even after we would clean them. When we realized his ears were really starting to bother him, I decided to look up what it could possibly be. I read about ear mites and he had all the symptoms - brown/black coffee grind like wax in the ears that would keep coming back after cleaning, lots of scratching, and his ears smelt awful.

I told the vet that I thought it was ear mites so he took a swab to be looked at under the microscope. Right as he was explaining to me that it might not necessarily be ear mites, the assistant in the background says "oh he's got ear mites alright!"

But anyway, if you expect ear mites, don't hesitate to ask the vet to take a closer look. It could also possibly be some sort of infection. Healthy ears aren't dirty like that all the time, so he definitely has something. Whatever it is, I hope Cooper's ears get better soon.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

It does sound like an infection, and there are a couple of kinds it can be. Yeast is common and has a distinctive smell. There are also bacterial infections of the ear.

If the exudate is dark and stinky or sweet smelling, you know for sure you have an infection. Even if it looks like ordinary brown wax, you can still have one. And mites are definitely a possibility (and particularly easy to see on slides).

It's time to head to the vet for a swab. They need to look at it under a slide in order to know what kind of ointment or rinse to give you. They can also give you a regular ear solution to use for cleaning and show you how to do it safely and gently. A healthy GR may need his ears cleaned up to once a week and after swims in order to prevent infection.

Your vet can give you better hands on directions on how to take care of an ear than we can really do on the forum, but the single most important piece is this: don't stick anything in his ear. Q-tips are a huge no-no. You can use a cotton ball to swab the visible part of the ear and the canal, but that's it.


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## Connor (Aug 17, 2008)

Hello All,

Many thanks for your replies and advice, obviously much appreciated.

His ears now look a nice pale pink in colour with no sign of any redness anymore so it seems that the daily olive oil rinsing has helped. There never has been any unpleasant odour from his ears. His hearing does seem to have improved.

I'll continue with the olive oil treatment for a few days but if I have any doubts then he'll be visiting the vet.

Thanks again for all your replies and the useful info given.

Regards Connor.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

I would definitely not use olive oil to clean a dog's ears, personally. I'd use a veterinary otic solution.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

I'm curious why you're using olive oil - was it recommended by your vet? If so, would you mind giving the reasoning behind it?

Lots of good info on this thread already...I'll say in my personal experience, with a dog who suffers ear infections unless I'm on top them, my vet advised weekly cleaning with epi-otic solution to prevent ear infections. I hold Ranger's ear up, squirt some in, massage under his ear until I can hear/see the solution gurgling around in his ear, then let go. He shakes the solution of out his ear (which is why I recommend doing this outside) and then I swap with a cotton ball like tippykayak mentioned. I did this once a week and after baths for months until I swapped ranger's food to a grain-free alternative. Turns out the it was the grains causing ear infections and now I only have to clean our his ears about once month and they still never get as dirty as they did when I cleaned them out once a week. Before when he was on grain-food, they'd be waxy if I went 10 days without cleaning them.

This isn't a poke at kibble with grain, but merely a suggestion that it could be a food issue like others mentioned. I don't think a healthy dog should be getting dirty ears like that - even at Ranger's worst, he never had the wax build-up you're describing. Personally, I'd follow Kim's (katie and Paddy's Mum) advice and get him to the vet to find out WHY his ears are getting so waxy, instead of just treating their problem. If you had a splinter in your thumb, you wouldn't just keep it covering it with polysporin to stop infection right? You'd get the tweezers and dig it out, thus fixing the root of the problem. 

P.S Good on ya for rescuing a dog! My guy's a rescue, too!


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## Connor (Aug 17, 2008)

Olive oil was suggested by a vet. He said olive oil is a natural product containing no chemicals therebye negating any side effects. He also stated that if mites are present then the oil would smother and kill them off.

Here in Cyprus olive oil has many uses including the loosening up of wax in human ears / skin problems / applied to many foods to aid digestion etc etc.

( Edit ) We have an appointment with the vet on Saturday so we'll see what he has to say.


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## MILLIESMOM (Aug 13, 2006)

This isn't a poke at kibble with grain, but merely a suggestion that it could be a food issue like others mentioned. I agree with Ranger. It is a good idea to investigate whether or not it could be a food allergy also. It may not be bad enough to cause a full out flare up but just enough to cause discomfort and a need for more than the usual ear cleaning. Millie had food allergies. My vet prescribe Purina HA until it cleared then we tried her back on her regular food and the same happened. I switched her to California Natural Herring and Sweet Potato and she never had any more issues. Good luck at the vets.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Thanks for clearing up the olive oil thing - I'd never heard of that being used for dogs before, just humans. Here's hoping his ears get cleaned up quickly! I'm paranoid about Ranger's ears now and check them at least once a day. His first ear infection snuck up on me without any warning. I checked his ears on Saturday, then on Wednesday noticed a funny smell. Checked his ears and he had dark brown wax and gunky blood in his ear!! He hadn't been scratching it, or rubbing it, NOTHING. Poor guy.


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## Connor (Aug 17, 2008)

I checked Jacks ears this morning and they are looking much better with hardly any wax visible and the inner and outer areas are looking a nice pale pink in colour. He's not shaking his head at all now.

I had an ear infection some years ago and can remember how painful that was so the last thing I wanted was him going through that sort of discomfort. ( He's far too handsome to be poorly...! I'll figure out how to post a picture one day..... perhaps I could drag a 14 year old in off the street to show me how its done...! )

As a point if interest, maybe you are aware of this already, but the vet told me never to use ear cleaner intended for humans on a dog since their ear mechanism is far more sensitive than ours. Apparently doing so could cause serious problems. 

Anyway, thanks again to all who took the time to offer advice it was very much apprciated.

Regards, Connor.


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## bioteach (Nov 13, 2010)

One of our goldens was constantly on one ear medication or another. As it turned out his ear canals were very narrow. Compounding the problem he had extremely thick skin and heavy ear flaps. We checked on the fate of his littermates and learned that every puppy in the litter had narrow ear canals and suffered from constant infections.

He had several hematomas and eventually our vet "quilted" his ear flaps preventing further damage. Because we knew what we were facing were extremely careful with hygene and always dried his ears when he went swimming. It was a difficult routine; but we managed to stay on top of it most of the time. It was well worth it to see him happy and healthy. Hopefully, your vet will know which cleaners and medications will work best for you.


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## NYJoe (Mar 22, 2010)

Hi all,

Lots of great advice on this issue it seems.
Our 1 year old Ollie has had this "stinky ear" problem with heavy dark brown build-up for a long time now. The vet told us we should expect it from a Golden and he'll always suffer from ear infections. But that's all that was said. Typical.

A month ago, after suffering with these painful ears again, the vet gave us some medication (can't remember the name) that we put on cotton balls and put in his ears and rub it around. We did this for the prescribed time and the infection went away (as did the stink!), but the stinky brown filth comes right back.

Now I read where it might be a food issue. He has gotten nothing but Iams ProActive Health Smart Puppy (Large breed and regular puppy) food from day one. That's what the breeder feeds all their dogs. I look at the nutrition facts of both and they look identical to me... of course! But I cannot see where they might be high in grains.

So is this something that he'll always suffer from or is the Iams food a source of concern?
I do clean his ears with the medication on a Q-tip, but I know how far I can and cannot go into the ear with it. I only clean out what I can immediately see in the valleys. I need to go buy some more rubber gloves because I'm NOT touching that goo!


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