Ear infection?

[BlackSwan]

Spaniel DDog has been fussing about one of his ears - for the first time ever it looked a bit gunky, so I squirted some Virbac Epiotic ear cleaner in & with a soft finger pad removed brown/red muck... doesn't smell godawful or anything...

Do we need to call the vet? What would you do now?

I would not call the vet unless your dog continues to fuss about the ear. You might try giving it another clean in a week in case you can get more gunk out.

Thanks I will see how we go. YouTube vets suggest cleaning every couple of days while this lasts...

It's not an emergency so you won't be seen
Clean daily with epiotic for a week - make sure you give the war cabal below the ear a good massage so it squelches - you should notice the wax you wipe out reducing

Switch to 1-2x weekly once you're getting clean ears

Thank you that's really helpful - I watched a video of a very obliging beagle getting the squelchy massage... my boy not so happy about it, but will keep it up.

Most dogs enjoy the squelching massage of their ears. But if it gets to the point where the dog yelps when you touch his ear, then it's infected and he needs to see the vet.

Are his ears very hairy inside? In some breeds, those hairs can overgrow and it's helpful to pluck them out to allow air to flow. (It doesn't hurt, so the dogs don't mind you doing it)

Hair plucking does hurt and also breaks the skin barrier increasing the chances of infection. It's better to clean regularly to prevent wax build up on hair

Sorry, I was just passing on what my vet instructed me to do with my dog.