Eye & Ear Care

I clean Kingston's ears with solution and cotton balls about every three weeks or so. Should I be doing it more regularly? Also, does anyone use ear cleansing wipes? I was thinking of getting some of those to use in between cleanings. Anybody recommend a specific brand?

As for his eyes...Kingston often gets stuff in his eyes (hair, eyelashes, goo, etc). Would an eyedrop solution be useful for getting that stuff out? Right now I'm just using a tissue to wipe his eyes. Does anyone use eyedrops and, if so, what kind? I was thinking of getting eye wipes, but I don't think those would be safe to put on the actual eye itself.

Great question!

Bentley has started to have these problems too recently - I'm anxious to hear the response!

I do Bailey and Willows ears when they seem to need it - i.e. when they scratch or they look a bit too red, with CleanAural - get it from the vets but you can get it over the internet with no prescription.

Guinness has had severe problems over the years - if I use anything on his ears then they WILL flare up. He has a constant waxy ear, which I try to keep clipped to breath. From my experiences I think the cod liver oil we give him helps keep his ears in check. It keeps his skin in good condition and his coat - and so might make sense that it helps his ears too.
This picture shows the worst of Guinness's ear problem. Yes it looks like a bad eye, but in fact it is an infection behind his eye caused by his ear. The absess pushed his eye forwards and made his third eyelid swell. Yes, makes our stomachs turn too.



As for eyes.
Guinny has had eye problems before. The vet gave us some drops - which sort of were OK, but never seemed to stop the redness. My wife tried our other dog's drops (as he had dry eye) and this did the trick. Bit expensive stuff though.

As an everyday drops for cleaning(eyes), I use hypromelose - tear substitute from the chemist. If the pups get sand in their eyes onthe beach - I make sure I have one bottle available to flush it out. Cheap and safe. Just don't let the vet sell you some - ours once charged us 800% of price inthe chemist.

Hope this helps.

Simon and Shirley

Hi!

For general eye cleansing you can't beat a touch of salt in some warm water, I do my lot daily mostly because I have "above average" numbers, ears I do weekly using a mild solution of witch hazel on a piece of kitchen paper and gently wiping as much of the ear canal as possible but never forcing my fingers inside too deeply, then finish off with Thornit ear powder. Works for my lot anyway!!

I use saline ampules for the eyes you should be able to get them from any pharmacy, they actually came in very handy for me the other day when I got domestos in my eye. :sl*p:

With regards to the ears, I would ask your vet about the frequency as every dog is different and it depends on the activity they do. eg, lounge hog vs swimmer

I clean my boys ears out weekly. I use Epi-Otic solution on a rolled up piece of cotton wool, and I clean all parts of the inner ear that I can actually see, but never any deeper.

Forgot to mention that one of my girls was recently diagnosed with Dry Eye, the artificial tear solution is extremely expensive from the vets but can be obtained for a fraction of the cost at your local chemists!!