Apple Cider Vinegar for Ear Infections in Dogs

Acv and water for dogs ear Infection: I used the Apple Cider Vinegar and water solution for my dog ears and the next day his ears was swollen internally and red...why did that happen? Now I don't know what to do.

My Border Collie Louie has been suffering with seasonal ear infections since I adopted him 5 years ago. I have always believed in holistic healing for myself and recently started using it for my dog. For one, it's super cheap and you usually have all the ingredients or at least one of the ingredients to cure you in your very own kitchen. I also don't have to tell you vet costs/doctors visits are astronomical. And of course, all the great side effects the drug companies want you to experience so you will go to the doctor again and buy more drugs. So here we are.

Anyway, he woke up this morning shaking his head violently and repeatedly until I woke up to help the poor little angel. Low and behold, I went on this website to look up a cure and found the 1 part Apple cider vinegar and 1 part water remedy. I filled it with a dropper and squirted it in his ear, then rubbed the base of the ear canal to make sure it got down in there. It took about 15 minutes give or take, and he was good to go. No more head shakes! For good measure and because I use this on myself when I start to feel sick, I gave him 250 mg of vitamin c chewable and 5 mg dose of acidophilus (Lowered dosage for him of course) to boost his immunity and protect his stomach. He is 35lbs and he also suffers from frequent bouts of diahrrea. He wasn't eating yesterday and acting gloomy and since I gave him all that he perked right back up and started to eat all his food. He's the nerdy kid with allergies and also a very fussy eater!

Needless to say, I won't be going back to the vet for a while. No side effects except smelling like a salad but I will take it. Thank you earthclinic.com!

My 9 year old lab barnyard has a ear infection with inflamed ears. After reading your post. I decided to try it. I mixed apple cider vinegar to two parts water and applied it with a dropper and cotton ball. After two applications his ears are completely back to normal. Thanks Earth Clinic for saving me money at the Vet's office. I will continue to use Apple Cider Vinegar on a regular basis to keep ear infections at bay.

My 2 year old doggy is a rescue. I had him 7mth. How I love him. So he started with ear infection 3mth ago I was sad n worry seeing him in pain. I ran to my friend upstairs she gave me something from her vet worked great! But it start again this morning n I didn't have anymore I went on line n so glad I found earth clinic, the apple cider vinegar worked w water! Now I can sleep better knowing he can sleep n pain free will continue to do weekly lightly.

Thank you so much... Melissa dog lover

My 10 week old kitten came down with an ear infection two weeks ago. He had dark redish brown gunk coming out of both ears. I was really hoping I wouldn't have to take him to the vet, as I had just taken him a week before for a cold which cost me 85 dollars. I decided to try natural remedies first and see what happened. Knowing that garlic helps ear infections in humans, I tried cleaning out his ears with that and using a dropper to put it down the ear canal twice a day. I did that for over a week with varied results. He would seem to be getting better, and then be worse the next day. Then all of his ear fur started falling out, his ears were red and his skin was peeling really bad. I almost broke down and took him to the vet, but thankfully I found this webpage, and decided to give apple cider vinegar a try. I cleaned his ears with a half and half apple cider vinegar and water mixture and a cotton pad two times a day. I also put four drops (of 1/2 water and 1/2 apple cider vinegar) down each ear canal. Within the first day of using it his ears were looking better! He's been on it for 4 days now, and his ears are completely gunk free, and they aren't red anymore. I have also been putting coconut oil on the outside of his ears to stop the peeling and hair loss. There is hardly any peeling skin now, and his hair is growing back super quick! I am thrilled with these results, and glad I found this page!

Apple cider vinegar is awesome! It does clear out the infection better than anything else I've tried. A note to all the people saying their dogs had negative reactions to the experience: let me remind you that putting vinegar on an open wound is going to sting. Make sure there's no blood in the ear before you put vinegar in it, I made this mistake once and that was the only time my dog yelped and was obviously in discomfort afterwards. If they shake their head a little bit afterwards, I wouldn't be alarmed, again you are messing with their injured area and they don't enjoy that. My dog obviously feels relief after the first few minutes, and has never been "traumatized" by the apple cider vinegar experience. You are only traumatizing your dog by being insensitive to its injuries. Have a little common sense.

Equal parts of Apple cider vinegar (with mother), 90% alcohol (so it doesn't burn), hydrogen peroxide.

Put about 3 drops in ear. I do this at least 3 times a day. What a difference!

My 5yr German Shepard has suffered from ear infections for years and several hundreds of dollars later still has a issue. I tried the 1/2 water, 1/2 ACV and she is much happier. Will continue for another 2 days and than clean them once weekly. I am so happy I came across this site. Thank You!

I have been using 1 part apple cider vinegar and 2 parts water to wash out my dogs ears for ear infections. This has worked really really well. In 3 days the ears are clean, don't smell and the dog is not scratching at them. My dog has had a yeast ear infection in both ears that just will not clear up with vet prescribed medications and here it is gone in 3 days using cider vinegar. Thank you so much for posting this information.

Lab Shepard mix huge chronicly infected ears. Pain smelly head shaking. Multiple vet visits to no avail. Largeish alkoline water bottle with squirter in top. Empty half of water added. 1 big squirt isopropyl alcohol. Empty one teabag of probiotics herbal tea teaspoon of turmeric dash of black pepper. Fill up with ACV leaving a little room to shake. Shook it up and flushed dog's ears with it. GSE one drop down earhole and some on a cloth to clean ears. Mist all inside ear with Colloidal silver. Dog shook head violently. I just sat with him gently massage ears and calm him till shaking stop. 2 or 3 x a day. Improvement on day 1 ..improvment continues day 3 . First relief he has had in months. Continuing treatment until he no longer needs it. And thank you once again.

Hi Arlene What is GSE please ?

I mixed ACV with three parts water and used it to clean my cat's ear. After two weeks it is still infected. I am using salt water with a few drops of iodine instead.

Be careful with this one. Vinegar and H2O2 combined makes peracetic acid. (Very strong acid)

My cockapoos had awful ear mite infections, ears full of nasty black muck. After trying olive oil, Zymox, and other "remedies" for about 2 months, I finally found out about the vinegar/water treatment. AMAZING! Three days later and their ears are completely clean.

It appears that mites, fungus and bacteria cannot function in an acidic environment so they just die.

Flush the ears once a day with WARM vinegar/ water (1:2) and all the muck quickly comes out. My dogs are so happy now that the infection is gone. Thanks for turning me onto this.

dog with ear deterioration

My 6yo german shepard was diagnosed with ear margin dermatitis, allergies, yeast and bacteria in ears. One vet told me he may have to amputate her ears and gave her lots of meds, the naturopathic vet started her on a natural anti-inflammatory and a few other remedies--neither cured the underlying problem. I started using 1tbsp of ACV in her food each day about 1 month ago. She no longer is on the meds both vets gave me. Her ears are not completely healed but they are no longer bleeding and appear to be healing slowly. She also has not had diarrhea.

Is that 1 cup apple cider vinegar to 2 cups water or 1 cap to 2 caps..need to know asap, dog has infection in both ears and don't have money for a vet visit right now.

My own experience.... 2 parts olive oil to 1 part ACV with the mother .... Works miracles with only 2 treatments plus helps with a shiny coat and controls helps hair balls..... I never use anything else.

Hi Carolina,

Removing the ear canal for a chronic ear infection seems an extraordinarily severe solution for this problem! Please get a second opinion before agreeing to surgery to remove your dog's ear canal. My dog, who has since passed, had chronic ear infections until I put him on a freeze-dried raw food diet with the eventual addition of grain-free turkey kibble to help cut down on the cost of the raw food. His ear issues cleared up within a few days, never to return.

I would be careful with the ACV with a chronic ear infection. I did try highly diluted ACV drops along the way and it didn't help at all.

Have you tried Colloidal Silver yet? Please get some and use both drops in the ear and internally by drinking it. Animals instinctively know what is good for them and both my dog and cat drank it regularly. The vet will get less $; I'm disappointed they even recommended that!

Did you use the dropper to put drops of the mixture inside your dog's ear?

Dear Beverly,

I don't know why it happened.

You could try some coconut oil or olive oil into the ear to soothe it.

Our foster dog was so neglected that her vet thought he would have to remove one of her ear drums >After 2 surgeries he saved her hearing & put her on daily drops of Batril optic for life .Her Local vet had to order the drops but there was a delay .I called vet surgeon & they said in the mean time to use White vinegar & water in equal parts, so your web site information is very valuable, as well as informative.

I was woken in the middle of the night. My pit bull mixed dog was wimpering in his kennel next to my bed. He was shaking and scratching making his kennel shake. I inspected his ears. They didn't smell but we're red with brown gunk in it. It was a Sunday morning and I knew his vet was going to be closed. In a panic I searched the Web for things I could do to help him out.

I found this site and saw people were using 1 part ACV to 2 parts water. I decided to try it out. I put the solution into a clean squirt bottle and sprayed into his ear and gave him treats for letting me do that as well as wipe his ear with a cotton ball.

Within 15 minutes he stopped shaking his head and itching his ear. I will definitely continue to use this to help clean up his ears from now on! Thank you everyone for your feedback on this great ear cleaning method!

My 60lb beagle, Pnut, has had the same description going on inside his ears regarding chronic ear infections and the use of Apple cider vinegar. Well, I gave him his first treatment of a 50/50 mix of Apple Cider Vinegar and water and low and behold it has been over a hour or so and not one head shake or ear scratch and the ears look better inside already.

Sage is right. Let's use some common sense. Of course a dog is going to dislike having something poured into its ear - it doesn't understand why you're doing it! Sometimes, with patience, you can gain the dog's trust. Try letting the dog see/sniff what you're using, so it knows it's not something to be afraid of. We used to have a problem with one of our bull terriers, but with patience she now tolerates having something put into her ear. And, of course, as has been repeated several times, the vinegar MUST be diluted. And, even then, it may sting when applied - that will depend on how inflamed and sore the ear is. So just because some dogs reacted badly to the treatment, doesn't mean it's a bad remedy - perhaps their ears were already very sore, or the dog is particularly timid. It also depends to some extent on the breed - some are very stoic and seem to tolerate pain much more than others. So please - a bit more common sense and a bit less hysteria.