Pretty sure Joey has an ear infection

:pawprint: Joey and I are going to the vet today. Actually in an hour and half. I am pretty sure he may have an ear infection. Despite cleaning his ears once a week, either I need to do it more often or need to be more thorough with him. :sad:

First I though he was just scratching - then it got more figorous, he also wants me to rub his ear for him too - like it itches him, and he is shaking his head all the time. Now it looks like he is starting to tilt his head to one side - just a little bit. Anyways I tested him for ear mites first and he doesnt seem to have any - but will get the vet to check too. Apparently you take a Q tip and take a swap of his ear then poor Hydogen Peroxide on the Q tip (not in the ear) if it turns pink then he has ticks - it didnt turn pink.

Hopefully I have caught it early enough - there is no odor coming from the ear and when I look in it I dont see any build up of wax or anything.

Wish us luck

Allergies are brutal this year. Is it possible something enviro just came into season recently and he's allergic?

Cockers are notorious for ear problems. They have those heavy long ears that trap moisture, and yeast and bacteria can thrive. Whenevr he swims clean them with an ear cleaner/dryer that your vet can give you to take home. put a little directly into the ear canal and take the base of his ear between your thumb and pointer finger and squish until you hear a squishy sound, do that for about thirty seconds, then let him shake his head. After that use a little more on a piece of gauze (never use q-tips in the ear canal, you end up pushing the bacteria down further and can cause another infection) to clean the inside of the ear. You need to be vigilant about this, maybe more than once a week, and whenever he gets them wet. Cockers get chronic ear infections and they can get very serious, even causing hearing loss. Let me know if you have any more questions on how to clean them, and have your vet or one of the techs show you the best way to do it.

Yup definatley and ear infection of the yeast variety - we have medicated drops and some new ear cleaning stuff - I was using some ear cleaning pads once a week - but I guess they werent doing a good enough job - or I wasnt doing a good enough job. :D Anyways the vet showed my how to clean them properly by squirting the solution right in the ear and massaging the ear too.

I used to do that same dance with my Simon JECM, however, after switching his food, we're down to once a month rather than every 3 days. Given that every 3 days meant Peaches to the rescue, I can't say I miss our frequent routine :)

Makes me want to up my doggie grooming after reading this and go clean her ears at 4am.. but I don't want to disturb the house.. Watch me not do it now, and tomorrow night, lament that I really need to clean ears, now now now.
Ear infections worry me, just the potential of them happening.