I have read one of the health articles on this web site where I saw a link to How to prepare your own ear solution. Now I am looking for it and can't seem to find it. Can somebody point me to the ingredients, or does anyone have a recipe on how to clean the dog's ears and what to use?

I have a dog with red ears, he sratches all the time, sometimes he hurts himself he scratches so hard and then he cries out. The vet said it is caused by allergies and changed the diet (to an expensive one) and weaned off the medications. I will try the natural food but I also want to keep the ears clean.

What is your dog eating? And what type of ear infection is it? Did vet culture it ir say yeast etc?? I would try and find the cause rather than treat the symptoms.

He is on a Hills prescription diet. The vet explained that allergies are caused by proteins. In this formula the proteins are processed to the point that the dog's system does not recognize them so it does not fight it. I was supposed to feed it to him and nothing else for 3 months to rule out any other foods. He is not allowed any type of food with meat in it, including treats and I use the kibbles as treats. The 3 months are up and I don't see any improvement, I think it is worse.

I am going to buy the book from a dog nutritionist that will help me prepare his food with recipes because I read that so many people switched from commercial dog foods to natural and the problems went away. I am not trying to treat the symptoms, I am trying to make it easier on my dog because I can clearly see that he is suffering. I am looking for something soothing until I can switch his diet completely (and my vet).
He also has a skin condition with growths all over his body. They sometimes break and bleed so we will check for skin cancer. (These spots that bleed he can't even reach to scratch so I know that is not why it bleeds.) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

What meat protein is in the Hill's Diet?

Starch is the first ingredient, then hydrolized chicken liver, vegetable oil, hydrolized cellulose, hydrolized chicken, the rest is mumbo-jumbo but basically lots of minerals and vitamins (in this order).

Poor dog. I would assume chicken proteins is a definite no go then for now - what was he eating prior? How old is your dog? What breed? Have you tried any holistic supplements? Has the dog always been this way? Any environmental changes that could have brought this on? Cleansers? Lawn spray? Detergent? Does he chew his paws?

Sounds a lot like how my Lab's ears used to be. My vet said it was allergies, and gave me ear wash to clean them with whenever they got really bad.
I have seen some improvement since switching over to a raw, grain free diet. He still has more "dirt" than I would like to see, and they still don't smell completely healthy, but they are no longer red and irritated looking, and I can't smell them from a mile away. I'm crossing my fingers that they will continue to improve over time.

My dog is 7.5 years old, cocker spaniel - I know about the cocker ears - I adopted him 4 months ago from a rescue organization. He was on a lamb-potato diet dry and canned mixed and yogurt. The vet said to stop this. I don't know how long he had been on that diet but I think it was just ashort time in the rescue. Before that he was running around on a farm with other dogs until the family gave him up. They said that they didn't trust him with the baby but I think he was just too high maintenance and costly to keep.
We take him for walks in clean streets and parks where there aren't any chemicals. I use special shampoos and I tell the groomer that he has a skin condition so I hope they use something that is right for him. We saw the groomer twice since I had him because I can keep him clean myself. I take him only when he needs a shave. I use only bleach to wash his blankets but not fabric softeners.
Anyway, he does chew his feet all the time. I try to keep him occupied in other ways when I catch him but when I am not home it is possible that he chews all the time when he is awake and scratches his ears. My vet said this is normal for him. I look at him and I know it is NOT normal.
I brush him every day and clean his ears every second day and he loves the brush scratching him all over including his ears. I used to rinse with the solution I got with him from the rescue, but the vet showed me how to do it with a dry cotton ball, no liquid. This does not seem to clean too well but I try. I keep the ear flaps clean I wash with a facecloth when they get dirty and dry with a low setting hair dryer. So it is kept dry but I can see earwax stains on his flaps after he scratches.

When we go for walks he does not stop to scratch but when we are at home and he is not doing anything, he scratches all the time. That is why sometimes I think it is nerves, otherwise he would be scratching outside too if he is itchy, right? It's as if he forgets that he needs to scratch (well, it is only my theory).

 Quote:

Originally posted by L Swanston:
Sounds a lot like how my Lab's ears used to be. My vet said it was allergies, and gave me ear wash to clean them with whenever they got really bad.
I have seen some improvement since switching over to a raw, grain free diet.

Ear problems are almost always not just "ear problems". This dog needs to have a diet change. Vets recommend and sell Hills products and IMO they are crap. If you want to help your dog start with changing the diet to fresh, natural foods (preferably raw) but definitely get him off the Hills stuff. Ed has an article on his website about an all natural diet, I would recommend for your dog's sake that you read it.

If you mention this to your vet or any of his employees, don't expect them to agree with anything I just posted. I know because I run my business out of a vet's office and see this EVERY day......really sad. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

If you are looking for a novel protein try canned fish. A big can of jack mackarel (sp) is only 66 cents at the Wal-mart supercenter near me. Leave the bones in and he gets calcium as well.

Auster was on Science Death as a pup because I didn't know better. She didn't do well on it, even though she did much better on other things including the Purina ONE the breeder fed.

Most vets are taught "nutrition" by pet food reps.