Homemade Dog Earwash

We have a wonderful Golden Retriever named Shalmar.  He is goofy and loving and allergic to EVERYTHING including Antihistamines.  Shalmar had constant ear infections that were secondary infections caused by his allergies and, apparently, yeast infections.  This meant that Antibiotics would not work for him so we tried Antihistamines as recommended by our vet.

Shalmar began to gain weight and sleep a lot.  Within a few weeks, he couldn’t hold his bladder for more than a couple of hours.  He was deteriorating quickly.  His ears did clear up for a short time but this was obviously not a viable option.  We could not just leave him with the constant pain of an ear infection so we started to look for alternatives.

We first found a fruit based Ear Wash only available in the US.  It worked fairly well for him when we rinsed his ears twice a week.  I kept looking and experimenting.  Finally finding a recipe for a Homemade Ear Wash that are inexpensive and easy to make.  A trip to the pharmacy to get Boric Acid (a powder) and Rubbing Alcohol, and Apple Cider Vinegar from the grocery store, add a squeeze bottle and you have all you need to make a very effective product to keep your dogs ears in great shape.  Shalmar hasn’t had any problems since we started using one of these ear washes every week.  Now for the recipes:

½ cup Rubbing Alcohol
½ cup Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tbsps. Boric Acid

or

1 cup Rubbing Alcohol
2 tbsps. Boric Acid

Mix very well and put in the squeeze bottle.  Squirt into each ear once or twice a week as needed, and massage the ear well before the dog shakes it out.

This recipe also works for drying dogs’ ears after they get wet, and works for most other ear infections we’ve come across.  We use it for all of our dogs after every bath as a general maintenance and drying rinse, as well as, when we see a lot of ear scratching going on.

The best way to tell if your dog has an ear infection is to inspect the ear and if it is red and inflamed and/or has a dark discharge or flakes, then there is an infection present.

Good luck and I hope that this works as well for your dogs as it has for ours.

Tracey

You cannot copy content of this page