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How to keep ears from smelling?

lucidity

Well-known member
Lyra's ears smell pretty bad most of the time--the only time it doesn't smell is when I've just cleaned it with ear cleaner solution and maybe the day after. I clean her ears every time she has a bath, which is weekly. I'm wondering if you guys have any tips to keep her ears from smelling? Would it help if I clip her ears up on her head a couple of hours every day to let them sort of "air out"? I don't want to use the ear cleaner too often because the instructions on the bottle says to just use once a week at most.

The weather here is hot and humid, and right now it's rainy too, so I think the damp air and her ears getting wet from walks etc. is contributing to the smell. Any ideas?
 
In my experience smelly ears = infection or ear mites.

I would suggest you get her ears checked out at the vets, it may be she needs some antibiotic/ antifungal/anti-mite ear drops to clear something up.

Good luck
 
I would agree with checking with the vet. But you can also help by trimming her ears so that they are not so heavy, and trimming the inside hair around the opening - the important thing is to get air into the ears (plenty of running in fresh air!), because the weight of Cavalier ears tends to keep the inner ear moist and warm - ideal home for mites.

Kate, Oliver and Aled
 
Smelly ears always signaled an ear infection for Sydney. I agree with the others, a trip to the vet is in order to make sure what is it. Also is Lyra shaking her head more often or scratching her ears. That too can signal an infection, or pain. A piece of debris could be stuck that the vet will be able to see.

Prevention of ear infections is a good idea. Like Kate said, keeping the ears dry and trimmed on the inside is important.
 
My Rosie’s ears always smell but there is nothing wrong with them. I get the groomer to keep her ears trimmed on the inside and I clean them once a week.
Just to be on the safe side I would have them checked by the vet.
 
I would have them checked out by a vet. Smelly ears are typically related to infections. Try to keep the ears as dry as possible. I trim the hair inside the ears. I quite using over the counter ear washes. The stuff my vet recommended works wonders. You can buy it off Amazon & Ebay cheaper then the vet clinic. It's called Epi-Otic Ear Cleaner. We use it once a week unless they get wet. I always use it after a bath or after they come in from the rain.
 
Brooky is like Sabby's Rosie, her ears are a bit smelly, but she has nothing wrong with her ears. Though, I went to a vet first to rule every thing out, and she said that everything was a-okay just to clean them etc. We now trim the inside of her ears and when she sleeps next to me, I usually put her ears on top of her head to "air out" a bit. Ha.

Reptigirl, we have EpiOptic too, but i am never sure how to use it. I know some people put in the ear, but right now we just use it on a piece of cotton and clean out. What do you do?

Best to check with vet first, then if all is a-okay, just trim and clean and air out :)
 
Brooky is like Sabby's Rosie, her ears are a bit smelly, but she has nothing wrong with her ears. Though, I went to a vet first to rule every thing out, and she said that everything was a-okay just to clean them etc. We now trim the inside of her ears and when she sleeps next to me, I usually put her ears on top of her head to "air out" a bit. Ha.

Reptigirl, we have EpiOptic too, but i am never sure how to use it. I know some people put in the ear, but right now we just use it on a piece of cotton and clean out. What do you do?

Best to check with vet first, then if all is a-okay, just trim and clean and air out :)

We put a small squirt in the ear, massage it around a little bit (10 seconds or so) and then let them shake it out. Repeat in the other ear. Once they are done shaking it out I take a cotton swab and dry up any excess. That's how my vet had me do it. They don't necessarily "like" it but they get use to it. None of mine really seem to mind. They just run around afterwards all hyper Both Holly & Blitz had bad ear infections when I got them. They have not had any major ear issues since we cleared that up.
 
Actually, we were just at the vet's last week and I asked him to check her ears out.. He said there's nothing wrong with them. He even cleaned them out and the cotton was barely even dirty, so I'm pretty sure it's just the dampness.

Her ears don't smell bad per se, they just smell. You know, the kind of "wet dog ears" smell? I think it's sort of what a couple of you have mentioned... they have a distinct smell that gets worse till I give her a bath and clean her ears with the ear cleaner. It's the kind that you squirt in the ear canal, massage, and then let the dog shake it out.

ETA: I've been trying to "air" her ears out by flipping them over when she's asleep, but she moves around alot and her ears go back down, lol. I might be able to find one of my old hair clips to clip her ears up... she'll definitely look funny, LOL.
 
I use Thornit-it powder about once a month for maintenance-- it helps to keep them dry and yeast free. Just a pinch in each ear does the trick and keeps them clean and smelling good. A bottle lasts forever! We haven't had trouble with ear infections since I've been using it.

http://www.thornitearpowder.com/
 
I'll try to look for the Thorn-it here, but I doubt I'll be able to find it :(

Brooklyn's mom, I tried that last night, lol. No go! Lyra hated it and kept shaking her head so the scrunchy kept falling off, haha.
 
Ha, yeah, it took Brooky being passed out to let me put a scrunchy in her hair/ears. Funny what we do to them!!!
 
I'll try to look for the Thorn-it here, but I doubt I'll be able to find it :(

I live in the US and had to order it from the UK-- I used the site I gave you. It wasn't that expensive and lasts forever. It came quickly, also.
 
As with so many things with Cavaliers (and dogs generally), don't make a head-on issue of Lyra wearing a scrunchy. Put it on just before you put her food down, so that she forgets it in the need to eat. Feed her some treats while she wears it for a few seconds; distract her with her favourite toy and have a game for a few minutes; if she loves walks, wear it on a walk - anything so that she isn't focused on The Thing but will forget about it while concentrating on something else much more exciting.

Meg, my second Cavalier, had long ears that got very messy when she was eating, so I used to wrap them over her head and secure the fur with a laundry peg - the Sherlock Holmes Deerstalker Look for the fashion-conscious Cavalier...

Kate, Oliver and Aled

PS A good alternative to Thornit is CleanAural liquid, which I think is readily available in the US.
 
I live in the US and had to order it from the UK-- I used the site I gave you. It wasn't that expensive and lasts forever. It came quickly, also.

Unfortunately I live in Asia and the postal service here is unreliable, so I try not to order things online :( I'll have to get one of my friends in Canada (where I used to live) or something to order it for me if they're planning to make a trip here. Logistical nightmare! Sigh..

As with so many things with Cavaliers (and dogs generally), don't make a head-on issue of Lyra wearing a scrunchy. Put it on just before you put her food down, so that she forgets it in the need to eat. Feed her some treats while she wears it for a few seconds; distract her with her favourite toy and have a game for a few minutes; if she loves walks, wear it on a walk - anything so that she isn't focused on The Thing but will forget about it while concentrating on something else much more exciting.

Meg, my second Cavalier, had long ears that got very messy when she was eating, so I used to wrap them over her head and secure the fur with a laundry peg - the Sherlock Holmes Deerstalker Look for the fashion-conscious Cavalier...

Kate, Oliver and Aled

PS A good alternative to Thornit is CleanAural liquid, which I think is readily available in the US.

I'm going to start tying her ears up when she eats--she loves food so much I don't think she'll even notice the scrunchy is there, lol. Tell me about the mess while eating! It's one of the reasons why I haven't fed the dogs raw food in a while now.. I find myself having to rinse Lyra's ears after every meal.

I'll look out for the CleanAural liquid. Hopefully it's available in some pet specialty stores here.
 
Have you heard of a snood? That's what I use for Brooky and when she sees it she gets so excited because she knows a bone is coming! I use a snood or scrunchy.

I got my snood from Embee Cavaliers: http://embeecav.blogspot.com/p/want-to-buy-snood.html
She is in Canada too...she sent to me in Australia no problem and they are so cheap I didn't worry about if it got lost or not.

:)
 
I've actually been looking around for snoods! Although I'm not sure if I wanna use them... the weather here is so hot, I think it would make Lyra feel really uncomfortable. My mom is pretty handy with the sewing machine though, she should be able to help me make a snood pretty easily! I'm gonna look for some pics for her to see...

My friend uses those fabric headbands (you know, the kind with velcro on the ends) that people put on before washing their faces on her Cavalier whenever it's meal time. I thought it was a pretty good idea too!
 
The bacteria from Nalu's watery eyes makes her smell funny so I've been washing her face and it has helped.
 
The best ear product I've ever come across is Zymox. It's made from natural enzymes and is antibacterial, anti fungal and anti yeast. Your dog can't become immune because there are no antibiotics in it. I used to work at the vet and the products that they carry only work "so so". We had many regulars (poor dogs) that came in with frequent ear infections. That's what was happening with my sister-in-laws dog. They had religiously tried everthing from the vet and his ears were stiff awful. I told her about Zymox and she was AMAZED at how quickly his ears cleared up for the first time ever!
 
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