The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Improvement continues 4 or 5 days in I switched to a more soothing formula and dog comes to me to get ears treated. Raw coconut oil. Chop raw garlic. A squirt of polysporine. a squeeze of Cortaid. A squeeze of monostat. a sprinkle of sea salt and turmeric and black pepper and oregano . a drop or two of tea tree and GSE. A good tablespoon of apple cider vineger and raw honey ..warm just barely luke warm squeezed into ear and clean out ear ..he literally lays down for it and gives moans of relief ..his ears are tons better turning pink and healthy all stench is gone..he sleeps through the night...he suffered greatly before .
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.
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.
Used apple cider vinegar on my 10 year old yellow lab. He had a nasty ear infection in his left ear for a while that wouldn’t go away. Smelled really bad and had a gross fluid coming out. I tried just wiping his ears out but didn’t work. Seen this page and said I would try the ACV treatment as a last resort before the vet. I’m glad I did! After 1 day, his ear stopped stinking and now it’s been three days, just applying once every evening, he is almost back to normal. No gross stink fluid and hardly any head shakes at all! Worked like a charm. Going to keep it going daily for at least another week to make sure it’s totally cleared up!
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.
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.
Hey I just did the apple cider vineger to my dogs ear and the reaction I just got wasnt very good she made her head stay on the right side thats the side that is sore. She is 12-14months old she has a bad problem with her right ear and gets irration and its like all the time I cant get into a vet and im lost on things to do please can someone help me asap pretty please
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 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!
My 14 year old collie mix had his first ear infection last week.. even after antibiotics...it was not clearing up. I read this article and tried the ACV last night. By this morning the horrible smell was almost gone, and the discharge had reduced significantly. A couple of more days and I believe my furbaby will be just fine! Thanks for the great advice!
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!
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 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.
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.
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.
Well my daughters choc lab has had trouble with ear infections nearly every time she goes swimming (which is often) ever since she got her. Very distressing. Vet treatments didn't seem that effective. So I tried her with the apple cider vinegar this morning. She was very disressed when I put it in and I felt real bad but now a couple of hours later she has stopped shaking her head and seems much happier. Have just given another rinse out and her ear is obviously feeling heaps better as she didn't worry much at all this time. Will keep up for another couple of days then use as a preventative treatment. Great remedy.
Poleydog (Paraparaumu, Wellington, New Zealand) on 05/04/2013:
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.
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.
Concerneddogowner (Salescity, United States) on 12/03/2011:
HORRIBLE! I used this "remedy" on my Chorkie puppy because he was scratching at his ears and shaking his head and would make himself holler. Well I did this prior to taking him to the vet hoping that it would lessen his symptoms in the mean time. Well I started with the first ear and my puppy screamed so loudly I knew I had hurt him. He shook his head ran around rubbed his head on every surface around. Finally get him to the vet for his appointment and he fought with the vet when she went to look at his ear. He is now apparently traumatized by the experience with ACV wash. Now even when I try to put in the medicine that the vet prescribed my husband has to hold my poor puppy down because he is so scared it might be the ACV going into his ear again. THIS IS A NO GO SYSTEM for dogs. Just keep in mind that your dog might react in the same way mine did to the treatment. Be careful and think about what you are about to try before you do it. It could cause your puppy to have a traumatic experience that may result in fear of anything coming close to his ears.EC: APPLE CIDER VINEGAR -- AND WATER. One part ACV to two parts water seems about right.
I have just added the drops and my dog has been shaking his head and whining ever since. I will never do this to my dog again. He lookd like he is in so much pain. I am headed out to take him to the vet right now.
WARNING: After 12 days of my 45 lb dog's dog's ear infection, I put about 8 drops of 50% AC vinegar/50% water solution into the ear. It bothered her so much she shook her head for 25 minutes, resulting in a very large hematoma (swelling) covering 2/3 of her ear. It looked like she would need surgery for this. Luckily it resolved, but my holistic vet said that ACV can aggravate an ear infection. Be careful with ACV for very inflammed ears.
I just wanted to say to the "Pepole" who support this web site are "AwSoMe" and thank you for all the information on this site. My cat had an ear infection and I tryed the ACV treament, WOW, it works great.my cat is not drooling anymore, which is signs of infection in the ears and gums.again
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.
The only thing that worked for my dog's ear infection was the antibiotic drop from our Vet. I'm so glad he took him to the vet. This is just our story.
My Maltese poodle's both ears got infected and had dark brown gunk coming out. I have tried different remedies mentioned here to clear my dog's ear infection. I tried the ACV flush, ACV Alcohol solution, Coconut Oil, aloe vera jel, the witch hazel, etc. It worked temporary and some didn't work at all. So after a 2.5 months, his ears were still red and had dark gunk coming out. I finally took him to the Vet who gave us an antibiotic ear drop. In less than 3 days, I could see my dog was feel better and his ear looked better. We used the drops 2 times/day for 7 days and his ear cleared up completely. The Vet bill and cost of the 1 oz drop was $40, it was so worth it to see him feel better. I wish I had taken him to the vet sooner. He was suffering for too long while I was trying to figure out what would worked for him.
So far it has been 3 months and he has no ear problems. Our Vet did recommend using vinegar/warm water solution to flush his ears as a preventive treatment. And I have been flushing my dog's ears with vinegar/water solution every 2 wks. We still have the ear drops to use if the infection comes back.
When my Irish Wolfhound puppy has a waxy smelly ear problem, I use ACV glycerine instead of water. Glycerine is anhydrous and therefore absorbs the water in the ACV and is itself readily absorbed by the skin. This keeps the ear dry and prevents a moist "squishy" ear, which is an ideal environment for bacteria and such. This goes back decades to when my very young son was swimming a lot and got an ear infection. The pediatrician suggested it... Works like a charm!
it really works!!!! the apple cider vin, work in two days for my pit with his clipped ears ear infections are a normal thing after $$$ at the vet i tried it and he doesn't scratch at his ears or shake his head all the time. plus i use the ear dropper to shoot it down his throat and his winter pains are gone too.. its like having my puppy back... he hates the taste and i put alot in his ears and make him sit there for a half a min at least but its so worth the results and him being happy again!!!
EC: WARNING: Please note that Apple Cider Vinegar must be diluted with water (at least 50/50) before applying to any area on a pet, otherwise it can burn the skin and cause terrible pain. Apple Cider Vinegar should also be diluted before giving it internally as well.
We have a long haired 10 year old cat that has had chronic ear infections all her life. Vets have told us that it is a yeast infection, not mites. Same story as everyone else. Many vet visits and much $$$ later, no relief.
I read about Apple Cider Vinegar and tried some in her ear last night. Just a couple of drops of organic ACV. I didn't dilute it with water - didn't read the posts on this site until after I had done it. It was clearly painful for her and I felt terrible so I'm hesitant to try it again. Would diluting it have made a difference in the how much it would sting?
Her ear is red, hot and has some scratches from her constant digging at it. I was wondering if I could use Traumeel Gel for a few days to help with the inflammation and scratches so that if I use the ACV again it won't sting her as much.
Also wondering about witch hazel. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
EC: APPLE CIDER VINEGAR -- AND WATER. One part ACV to two parts water seems about right.
(3) 
