Having Trouble Picking Out The Best Ear Wash For Dogs?
I know there’s tons of different ones out there, so I know what that’s like.
That’s why I thought I’d do my best to help you out in deciding on what regular ear wash would work best for your canine pal.
These are ones I’d use for healthy, not infected ears. These can usually be used weekly or sometimes even more often as a regular part of grooming.
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Reviews of Dog Ear Wash Products
Zymox Ear Cleaner with Bio-Active Enzymes
Vibrac Epi-Otic Advanced Ear Cleaner
Use the links above to go directly to each review or just scroll down to read each one.
Zymox Ear Cleanser with Bio-Active Enzymes, 4 oz. by Pet King Brands
Price: Check Prices on Amazon
Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars *
Country: USA
Size: 4 oz.
*Based on 374 880 (update 04-02-2016) customer reviews found on Amazon as of the date of this review.
This dog ear cleaner or wash is used for regular cleaning and according to directions it is used for cleaning non-infected ears.
Pros
- Non-toxic
- Gentle on ears
- Easy to apply
- Light, pleasant fragrance
Cons
- Overuse may cause ears to dry out too much
- Contains Benzyl Alcohol, so it may feel like it’s “burning” if your dog has been scratching its ears
- Some complaints of both too strong smelling and not enough fragrance
If you’re looking for something to use to clean your dog’s ears then I’d give this a try since most others seem to think very highly of it. This product is not for use to get rid of ear infection, it is for regular cleaning to remove dirt and wax from ears.
Use one to two times a week according to the directions. I wouldn’t overdo it with this since there is alcohol in it. Using it too much will dry your dogs ears out and cause them to get flaky.
Virbac Epi-Otic Advanced Ear Cleaner, 8-ounce by Virbac
Price: Check Prices on Amazon
Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars*
Country: USA (Fort Worth, Texas)
Size: 8 oz.
*Based on 54 601(Update:04-02-16) reviews from Amazon at the time of this review.
Virbac Epi-Otic Advanced Ear Cleaner is used for cleaning on a regular basis. This is not used to treat ear infections. If you suspect your dog may have an infection, I’d recommend having a vet check it out first.
This ear wash for dogs can be used on dogs, cats, puppies, or kittens. Contains Salicylic acid 0.2%
Pros
- Anti-adhesive to prevent microbial organisms from sticking to ears
- Non-irritating, gentle and safe to use
- No alcohol or chlorhexidine
- Can be used on ears with otitis externa (which is inflammation of the outer ears)
- Formula cleans out ears and helps them to dry
- Does not sting or burn
- Pleasant smell, keeps odors away & pets ears smelling good too
Cons
- None that I could find…so far
- Update: 11-11-15:
- Looking again at the reviews on Amazon from other people I did find a few reviews with some saying it didn’t work for their dog as well as they thought.
- didn’t like the smell of the product
- one that mentioned it caused their dog’s ear to become dry and inflamed. But, this is only 6 out of 166 people…(at this time anyways).
- Update: 04-02-2016:
- Thought I’d check out to see what others are saying about Virbac Epi-Otic Advanced and here’s what I found now…
- A few users found it irritated their dog’s ears more and caused them to become itchy, red, and/or inflamed. However, there are also many more that seem to love it for their dogs 82% actually give it a 5-star rating.
I’d definitely recommend trying this one out anyways since the majority of dog owners appear to find this product to work. Not all dogs are the same, so there may be some it won’t work for…plus, it probably depends whether it was used correctly or not and how many times, and there also could be other factors such as the dog’s general health, skin sensitivity, allergies, etc.
*Again, I’m not a vet, so if you’re dog has health problems or is prone to allergies, I’d recommend checking with your vet before using ANY product.*
If you’d like to give it a try, you can order one here…
Think You Need medicated cleaning solutions for your dog? Don’t know how to clean your dog’s ears?
You might want to….
- Check out my Dog Ear Cleaning Solution post for product reviews on ear cleaners that will help get rid of the infection.
- *Please read all labels before use no matter which product as it may have further instructions!
- If you aren’t sure how to clean your dog’s ears or if your dog might have an infection, check out one of my earlier posts.
- I’d also keep an eye on how your dog’s ears are looking afterwards, some products work great for some dogs, but it may not work or cause irritation for others.
I’ll be adding more reviews shortly, and if you have any questions about these products or would like me to add a review of a certain dog-related product please let me know in the comment box below or fill out the contact form.
I’d be more than happy to hear from you!
Hey there.
That’s unfortunate to hear what your dog is going through. I know it irks them if their ears get irritated like that. I would highly recommend regular cleaning, the procedure is fairly simple and could be done every other day at most or once a week at least.
Let me know what you think about it.
Yes, I agree. It certainly is a rather simple procedure to clean your dogs ears at least once a week or as needed with regular, non-medicated ear cleaner. It’s much easier than taking care of ears once they become irritated by dirt or worse yet, infected.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing!
Can some one please help I have a 8-year old pit bull think she has mites not sure but can’t stand her hurting what can I use that we have at home can’t afford a vet??/please thank you Jody
Hi Jody,
Sorry to hear about your pit bull having these problems. I know, sometimes it’s hard to afford taking them to a vet for everything. It can get expensive very fast.
If your dog has the symptoms of ear mites such as a dark brown, or even black substance in it’s ears, kind of looks like old coffee grounds, it probably does have ear mites. I’d either try one of the products suggested if possible or if at the moment you can’t get any of these, maybe these remedies would help.
I haven’t personally tried these, but researching through quite a bit of info it appears many other dog owner’s found them to work on their pets.
1) Mineral Oil — you can find this at most pharmacies or sometimes grocery stores. Use an eye dropper to apply in your dog’s ears…Apply 1/2 of an eye dropper full into each ear and gently massage your dog’s ear at the base of it. You may hear a “squishy” sound. That’s okay, it just means it’s getting into the ear canal.
Next, soak a cotton ball in mineral oil and use it to clean the inside of your dog’s ear flaps using an upward motion, so any of the junk in its ear comes out instead of being pushed further in. Make sure to continue doing this twice a week for at least one month to completely get rid of the mites. It will smother and kill the existing ones, but maybe not all the eggs. Once they hatch, it’s the same problem again, which is why you have to do this for a whole month twice a week.
2) Coconut Oil — Another thing you may already have on hand is coconut oil. Warm it up til it’s in a liquid form, not too hot though. I find it turns to liquid easily just by running hot water over the jar. Use an eye dropper again and apply about 5 drops into the ear, massage around the base of the ear and clean it out using a cotton ball. Again, use an upward motion when doing so. It’s recommended to do this twice a day for 7 days initially. After 7 days of treatment, stop for 7 days. After stopping the treatment with coconut oil for 7 days, then start it over again with adding 5 drops into the ears twice a day for another 7 days. So, it would be a total of 21 days all together or 3 weeks until your dog should be ear mite free.
Just remember, apply 5 drops in each ear for the 1st Week: 2 times each day;
The 2nd week: stop for the whole 7 days;
the 3rd Week: 5 drops each ear 2 times each day for these 7 days.
Make sure to massage it in each time and clean it out afterwards using a cotton ball.
3) Aloe Vera Gel may also help soothe your dog’s ear. However, I didn’t find too much on whether or not it gets rid of the ear mites. But, it at least should help relieve the itching and help soothe the skin.
I hope one of these ideas helps your dog. I know what it’s like to see them feeling miserable and in pain…it’s heartbreaking! If things get worse, however, I’d still call your local veterinarian and ask what they’d recommend.
Sometimes, they’re willing to work out a payment arrangement or even give advice on what to do over the phone…thankfully, ours was quite willing to accept payments when one of our dogs needed surgery and even a few other more minor issues. You just never know til you ask.
Please feel free to let me know whether or not one of these suggestions work!
Thank you so much for dropping by and asking, Jody!
I’ll be looking more into some of the things you could try as a home remedy and writing another post with what I find out asap.
Best wishes to both of you! ~Sherry
My vote goes to Virbac Epiotic. It’s by far the most pleasant cleanser to use on our pet dog. It does a great job in removing stubborn ear wax especially in cats with ear mites too. Sometimes, I would use some Q tips alongside Epiotic to remove the wax hidden within the ear pinna but wouldn’t go any further than that without the guidance of a vet.
Hi Cathy,
Thanks for stopping by and letting me know which one you prefer to use on your dog and cat. Ugh, ear mites can be so awful! Good to know Virbac Epiotic does work to get rid of these pests too and not just ear wax.
Q tips do help, I’ve done that too, if they’re staying reasonably still, and like you, I wouldn’t go any further without the guidance of a vet. Never a good idea to go too far and end up hurting their eardrum.
Thanks again for such an informative comment! Best wishes to you 🙂