Has anyone ever put warmed neomycin antibiotic *ointment* in their dogs ear to treat an ear infection?
If you do that, and there is any damage to the tympanic membrane (eardrum), you could cause deafness in that ear. The only way to determine that is by experienced examination with an instrument called an otoscope. And if the infection is caused by an overgrowth of yeast, using an antibiotic by itself will actually make it worse. Sooooo…….PLEASE don’t do it. (Btw, although it might seem like the ingredients are the “same”, they’re not “exactly” the same.)—-No, they are NOT “exactly” the same. If you had a degree in pharmacology, you’d know this. 🙂 I have had to repair damage done by clients who have done what you are proposing, entirely too many times.
So, you just answered your own question regarding medicating your pet’s ears – take your pet to the vet. Your vet will do an ear cytology and otoscopic exam. The exam visualizes the ear drum to make sure it’s intact and there is no middle ear infection. The ear cytology tells us what is growing in your dog’s ears. It could be a yeast infection (which you would not treat with antibiotics), or a bacterial infection. It could also be due to lack of maintenance and the cycology could just consist of skin cells and wax. The otoscopic exam is the most important part here though. If you put something in the ear and the ear drum is not intact or damaged due to infection – putting something like neomycin in the ear could actually severely impair (loss of hearing, and other nerve damage) or even kill your dog. I have a cat that had a horrible ear infection that destroyed his ear drum and due to the rupture and treatment, now has a permanent head tilt. Many medications are toxic to the ear, espec
