And thanks to my lovely live in GF I have four. Two on each dog:
Yes they are Shih-Tzus. We keep their hair close cropped as they seem more comfortable in the Texas heat with short hair. Besides I always thought that dogs like this looked like crap.
Also hair like that is a pain in the ass to take care of. Butch and Cassidy (not my choice either, or hers) started out not my dogs, but as they came with the GF and she lives with me they are now my dogs too. And unlike most small dogs they tend not to be yappy little pains in the ass. In fact are quite a lot of fun. And a bonus benefit that their small size means they don’t destroy the house when they are Being A Dog. So all in all I am most happy they are around. I’ve always liked dogs (and barely put up with cats) but never had the patience to raise them on my own, so this works out quite well indeed. I am happy about the whole arrangement all the way around.
The problem these dogs share with most other dogs —ones with floppy ears— is that they tend to get infected rather easily. The first couple of times this happened we come away from the vet with a bill for $150.00. This included some gunk to put in their ears twice a day and some pills that they don’t tolerate well. So both the dogs and the GF and I are not happy with the bill or the treatment.
So the GF does some Googling and finds a treatment that uses some readily available ingredients that are a lot cheaper than a visit to the vet. So after much discussion and trepidation (are we Doing The Right Thing?) we order the stuff to make the stuff, which I am now calling Magical Purple Ear Stuff.
We found variants of this recipe all over the internet so you can search for it and find lots of references to it. In fact I would encourage you to do so and not use this post as the sole authority.
- 1 16 oz. jar of witch hazel.
- 4 tsp of boric acid powder.
- 16 drops of gentian violet.
Your local drugstore has the witch hazel, it’s cheap, a few bucks. Lots of places say you can substitute hydrogen peroxide, we used the witch hazel. The gentian violet is also available at your local drugstore, that’s where we got it for five/six bucks. The boric acid is surprisingly difficult to find. Most places sell it as a roach killer so it took a while to find a place that sold it in it’s pure form, labeled as suitable for contact with human (and otherwise) skin. This is the stuff [amazon.com]. A lot of places on the Internet says that drug stores carry it, we couldn’t find any that did in Austin.
Now don’t be afraid that the label on the powdered boric acid says that it is poison and for technical use only. This is the stuff we used and it works great. And the treatment is pretty easy, though you may need someone else to hold the dog depending on how squirmy they are when you put stuff in their ears. One of ours is a problem, the other is not happy about it but takes it in stride.
So mix the stuff up right in the witch hazel jar. It is purple and it will stain anything it touches, so put a towel over yourself or be quick with the laundry stain remover.
You will need an eyedropper or a small medicine dispensing syringe (no needle) like the pharmacy has for squirting cough syrup and such into your mouth, ask them for one, it should be cheap, we had one laying around.
The treatment is as follows:
Twice a day for two weeks. Then once a day for two weeks. From then on, once a week as needed.
Start by dipping a cotton swab in the stuff and rubbing it around and just inside the ear canal. Then a few drops down the ear canal (more for a larger dog). Then just massage the stuff in well. Careful though, when you put the dog down he will shake his head to get rid of the stuff you just put in his ears. If you use too much it will splatter all over the place. remember it stains so set them down on a tile floor, or use less next time.
This shit works and for about $15 we have enough to last a year or more. You will also have enough boric acid and gentian violet to make several more batches of the stuff; you just need another bottle of witch hazel.
So if you have dogs with chronic ear infections this is a cheap, easy and safe way to treat the condition and they will be much happier for it.