Yesterday he was shaking his head and scratching at his left ear... I got a warm rag and cleaned the inside of his ear... no chemicals... Now, his ear is red and sensitive/painful to the touch... Suggestions?

Thanks,
-z

ps: he hasn't been in any water recently (over a week)

Take him to the vet My gal had the same problem

probably has an ear infection, common deal for labs. Need to get some medicine to clear it up and talk to your vet about a maintenance program.

Another thing your vet won't tell you that I'm convinced helps...give them a spoonfull of plain yogurt with their food once a day.

Very common. May be an allergy problem if it's happening a lot. Mix a spray bottle of 50/50 white vinegar and alcohol. Don't spend money on ear cleaners....this is what my vet told me, so not just my advice.
BUT I would still take pup in to the vet to see if there is a problem. My V gets lots of ear problems in allergy season. Have to keep them clean all the time.

I live at the lake and she is in the water everyday pretty much Thats what causing her problem and I put drops in her ear pretty much everyday You can get a ear cleaning solution from the vet

I agree with this with one caveat. DO NOT spray the solution in his ear right now while there could be open sores. You will create some huge issues if you do.

Vet said appears to be a bacterial infection that might have been spawned from allergies... she gave me some antibiotic drops for his ears 2x daily for 10 days... said i could give him 75mg of benadryl if necessary (which I have not). $75 for the visit & drops.

After 3 days of treatment, he seems to be much happier and less focused on his ears...

Thanks all for the advice/suggestions... I've started adding a teaspoon of yogurt to his food as well...

-z

Update: So I faithfully applied the drops as directed and after 12 days, one ear had improved and looked good... however, the other was still bothering him... I took him back to the vet and flat out told them I wasn't paying for another visit since I'd taken him in before for $75. The doc checked him out and confirmed the treatment directions were a bit conservative and I should have been applying more than just the 8 drops directed. Of course, now I'm out of the $45 solution and his ear is still bothering him... I did buy some cleaner from the vet for $20 since they did the follow up for free... will probably bite the bullet and buy some more of the solution online to send off with him to his gun dog camp that starts this weekend.

-z

What solution did the vet recommend?

I've used Gentizol and Zymox and had good luck with both. Had a similar issue except it was usually after going in water and was accompanied by tons of black crud and wax.

When I used Gentizol we used the entire tube and then had to go get another one before the infection finally was gone and didn't return. Similarly the first time we did it we followed the vets directions and applied X number of drops for Y number of days only to have minimal results. Another visit to the vet and they said we should treat more aggressively and continue treatment until X number of days after she seems to be fine. Worked much more effectively that time.

Otomax/Zymoc or Epiotic are good to keep on hand. Ounce of prevention. When my lab was a pup, his vet recommended using an anti microbial topical ear cleaner after each trip in the water. We kept those on hand and he never needed antibiotics from the vet for ear infections since.

Spent a whole Buncha money on other crap for that dog though.

The solution the vet gave me for $45 was TriOtic... Rather than getting that 1 oz bottle again, I just did some web research and based on several vet blogs/articles I bought ZYMOX OTIC WITH HYDROCORTISONE 4 OZ BOTTLE from PetMeds for $42+free ship...

-z

Judd is absolutely correct. He told me about the yogurt after my oldest had several repeat infections (both ears). The yogurt worked wonders. Dannon plain yogurt. And the pups love it. Don't forget the ear wash for maintenance as well.

Dang, going to try the yogurt trick. My lab has a chronic ear infection in 1 ear (his left). Never had a single infection until he turned 9 years old. Now, he has them all the time. Go figure.

Going to vet with mine in the am for this. Will try yogurt when we get it cleared up.

Update: that stuff i got from PetMeds (ZYMOX OTIC WITH HYDROCORTISONE) cleared up his ears in 3 days... i kid you not... couldn't believe it... now, to be fair, i did also change the food back to 4 Health from TSC that same week... could be a coincidence.

-z

I use Zymox ear solution with hc .05% and the zymox ear cleaner and they work great so far. No expensive trips to the vet since started using these.