She is due in 3 wks.

Suddenly rubbing and blackish stuff in ONE ear. No odor, no swelling. No history of ear problems/infections

Treatment recommendations?

Zymox (without cortisone)

Burrows solution

Clean the ears with ear cleaner and then use the zymox without the hydrocortizone... these dogs tend to get ear infections when pg , I think it is because of the hormones.
Aloha
Jackie

Is ear itching common in pregnant Labs? I have a girl that has never had an ear infection before, and she is early into her pregnancy and is itching her ears like crazy. How soon can it happen, after they have been bred? Is it kind of like a sign of conception?

Zymox without cortisone- amazon.com

Not recommended to clean the ears prior to administering Zymox. Just squirt it in!

Bringing this up from the archives. I have the exact situation except bitch is now post whelp and the litter is 1 week old. Am I still limited in what I can use in her ear since she is lactating? Poor mommy, she has this one itchy ear, I keep swabbing it out but its not enough

Same answer - Zymox without cortisone.

Did you by chance switch her food due to pregnancy? If you did, that is probably the cause and this did happen to me. I switched her food back, cleaned them very well, used Zymox and they were fine in about a week.

Put Witch Hazel (sold next to rubbing alcohol) on cotton ball or 4x4 gauze and wipe out deep and well 3 times a day. It works and feels so very good to poor dog.

This is interesting to me. It seems as though these sort of issues are more common in pregnancy for many. I have seen and heard of many girls who suddenly get gunky eyes or ears when they are pregnant and my guess would be that the lowered immune response (to prevent rejection of the pregnancy) might be what causes these issues to pop up when a bitch is in whelp. Usually it is self limiting with minimal intervention (eye drops, ear wash, etc.) and disappears after whelping.

triZedta solution, works like a charm!