About ears

[kikil]

Should you pull out the hair in your Yorkie ears or just leave it in there. She does get a lot of ear infection. It seems like more since they have pulled the hair. They don't do I ever time she in there. It seems like her hair grow fast. Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

[Lovetodream88]

Yes you should if she is prone to ear infections especially if she has floppy ears.

[kikil]

But when they did that to my aunt Yorkie she got a ear infection if I remember correctly. And her Yorkie ears are the floppy ears to.

[matese]

Floppy ear dogs are prone to ear / yeast infection due to no air circulation in their ears. Dogs with stand up ears are less likely to have ear problems unless they have a lot of hair inside the ears that prevent air circulation. My guy gets a lot of hair growth inside his ears which causes ear infections,he fights the groomer so I take him to my vet and have the techs do it. He is good for 9 months or more. As for your aunts dog, she was probably already getting an infection before they took out the hair. Clean hairless ears = healthy ears.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by kikil

But when they did that to my aunt Yorkie she got a ear infection if I remember correctly. And her Yorkie ears are the floppy ears to.

I’m going to guess that was a rare thing. With hair in floppy ears it holds on to moister therefore causing ear infections and yeast infections. Floppy ears should definitely be plucked. I prefer to do my pups myself before a bath and then after the bath I clean their ears out with a cleaner that has a drying agent in it. As well as plucking ears though dogs prone to ear issues should have their ears cleaned at least once a week and definitely every time they get wet.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Originally Posted by kikil

But when they did that to my aunt Yorkie she got a ear infection if I remember correctly. And her Yorkie ears are the floppy ears to.

Probably already had festering ear infection that was going to develop into full-blown, acutely painful infection no matter what. I've plucked many, many a terrier and poodle ear over the years w/out resulting ear infection. The dogs really seem to love it if done properly. But resulting ear infection has never happened with my dogs.

Ear plucking and whether it causes ear infection is a question in some but more and more connect excessive dirty hair, dirty, germy/buggy, wax-filled ear canals and flaps to ear infection. In other words, ear infection most likely is caused by dirty ears with ears holding viruses, bacteria, yeast, mites, allergies, excessive ear secretions/wax/pus, sinus infection etc., vs. removing hairs that were holding in dirt, other foreign bodies, matter, wax, gunk, pus. Never had or known a clean-eared, mite/germ/virus-free-eared dog develop an ear infection.

Unless your dog does lots of field work or roams very dirty, dusty areas he/she likely doesn't need lots of ear hair.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Also, if the dogs ears were washed out or the dog was bathed along with the ear plucking, retained moisture or ear wax, debris, mites, viruses, bacteria, besids an already infected ear, can also cause ear infections, no matter the hair. Other dogs with ear parasites can most likely transfer to another dog's clean ear, so the dog being around only other healthy-eared dogs is a must, so one must be certain whomever is doing the ear-plucking keeps sanitary conditions and only healthy dogs around when a dog has ear-cleaning. Ears must be expertly cleaned, then allowed to dry inside, in addition to the ear plucking and keeping the dogs only around dogs free of ear boogies is a must.

[Mike_and_Me]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

Probably already had festering ear infection that was going to develop into full-blown, acutely painful infection no matter what.

I also think there might have been an infection prior to plucking and it was not the cause. Mike's ears are very hairy and floppy and I don't pluck it. However, as per vet's advice I clean them thoroughly with a solution that has tea tree oil in it, whether he has a bath that week or not and also right after bath. If I skip a week there is a lot of wax and debris. I also shave his ears in and out and trim the long hairs that grow inside.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by Mike_and_Me

I also think there might have been an infection prior to plucking and it was not the cause. Mike's ears are very hairy and floppy and I don't pluck it. However, as per vet's advice I clean them thoroughly with a solution that has tea tree oil in it, whether he has a bath that week or not and also right after bath. If I skip a week there is a lot of wax and debris. I also shave his ears in and out and trim the long hairs that grow inside.

Just so you know tea tree oil is toxic to dogs.

[Mike_and_Me]

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88

Just so you know tea tree oil is toxic to dogs.

Yes yes, of course, but as far as I know it's only extremely toxic if taken orally and not diluted properly. For the topical application especially for ears where the dog cannoy reach to lick it off, its a great natural drying and antibacterial agent.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by Mike_and_Me

Yes yes, of course, but as far as I know it's only extremely toxic if taken orally and not diluted properly. For the topical application especially for ears where the dog cannoy reach to lick it off, its a great natural drying and antibacterial agent.

The thing about even just putting it on the skin is it can still absorb into the body that’s why I just completely steer clear of it.

[kikil]

So far my aunt Yorkie had one ear infection and she has the floppy ears and she 5 or 6 years old. But mine get them just about every time we turned around. And we do everything to keep them clean.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Originally Posted by kikil

So far my aunt Yorkie had one ear infection and she has the floppy ears and she 5 or 6 years old. But mine get them just about every time we turned around. And we do everything to keep them clean.

Likely had the ear infection already present when the ears plucked or a dog with ear mites played with your dog around the time of the plucking. Ears just don't infect on their own or grow bacteria, viruses from having hairs removed if they stay clean, free of wax, debris. Some underlying cause would be necessary to cause bacteria or viruses to mutate, grow into infection, perhaps such as excessive wax secretion.

What does your vet say about the repeated ear infections and what is he/she doing about it? Repeated ear infections usually suggest some type of underlying condition that needs to be diagnosed, treated if you truly are keeping water, debris, wax and bad 'bugs'(bacteria, viruses, mites, etc.) sufficiently cleaned from and free of the ears at all times.

Likely your dog is experiencing severe pain with each ear infection just as you did as a child(most kids scream out from the severe pain) when you had one so I hope you and a good vet can work together to find out what keeps causing such a painful condition for that baby of yours. Sounds like you need to seek the good counsel of a specialist right now to help your poor sweetheart.

[kikil]

I never used that

[Mike_and_Me]

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88

The thing about even just putting it on the skin is it can still absorb into the body that’s why I just completely steer clear of it.

I agree, but again the proportions are important. The ear cleaner we use has 0,1% of this oil as per the packaging and our vet said it's safe to use... I would never try to mix and dilute it at home.

Originally Posted by kikil

So far my aunt Yorkie had one ear infection and she has the floppy ears and she 5 or 6 years old. But mine get them just about every time we turned around. And we do everything to keep them clean.

What does your vet say? What kind of infection does she have - yeast, mites, bacteria? Can it be related to allergies? If it happens this often it must be related to something.