Using Baby Oil to Treat Your Dog’s Ear Mites: Safe, Effective, and Easy

If your notice your dog pawing and scratching at his ears, it's highly likely he has ear mites -- tiny parasites that must be cleared before causing serious issues, such as bloody and raw ears from the dog's scratching at the constant irritation. Other symptoms of ear mites include the dog shaking his head, black ear discharge, and an odor from the ears. The good news is that you can clear your dog's ear mites with common household products, including baby oil.

Clean

To clean the ear mites using baby oil, drop a few drops into your dog's ear and let it remain there for a few hours to soften the crust that develops from an ear mite infection. After a few hours, flush your dog's ear clean with a mixture of equal parts vinegar and distilled water. Repeat this process until the ear is clean.

Medicate

Apply a medication -- preferably one containing pyrethrin -- designed to rid your dog's ears of mites. These medications can be bought at pet stores or from your veterinarian. Apply a few drops of the medication to your dog's ears after they have been cleaned using the baby oil, distilled water and vinegar process.

Repeat

You likely will have to repeat this process for several days to completely rid your dog of the ear mite infection. The key is to keep cleaning and medicating until the ear mites are gone. Others dogs or cats living in your home are likely infected with ear mites as well. The parasites will jump from one animal to another. This means you will must perform the same process on all of your pets.

Topical

Consider asking your veterinarian to prescribe Revolution for your dog. The topical solution, applied monthly between the dog's shoulder blades, will prevent ear mites in addition to fleas, heartworms, intestinal worms and sarcoptic mites. The product will also get rid of any mites or mite eggs that survived the cleaning process.

Always check with your veterinarian before changing your pet’s diet, medication, or physical activity routines. This information is not a substitute for a vet’s opinion.