Know Ear Infections In Dogs: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis and Treatments
If you are thinking just avoiding fleas and ticks can keep your dogs free from infection and complete healthy then here comes ear infection that strikes a huge bolt. Normally, dogs are highly irritated with ear infections that frequently occur due to their odd ear shape.
Next to smelling, dog’s ability to hear is in its special senses. For acute hearing capacity, dog ears need to be cleaned and kept free from infection. Dogs cannot groom their ears and as such need special care for keeping them clean and healthy.
ERRRRY MATTERS – Peep Into Those Ears To Find The
Causes Of Dog Ear Infection
Those smelly ears, oozing out yellow watery substance and inflammation and redness are some of the symptoms that show that your pet is suffering from ear infection. Certain reasons are responsible for ear infections in dogs.
Learning about the actual causes of ear infection can help for the right treatment of dog ear infection.
Major causes of Ear Infections in Dogs
Allergy
Pets do suffer from various types of allergies and it is the most common underlying cause of infection in pets. Allergy in dogs causes itchy and inflamed skin over various parts of the body along with dog ear canal. More often inflamed ears are the only symptom that helps you know that your dog has ear infection. Later, bacteria catch up results into secondary infection. For complete treatment, proper allergic treatment along with treating the ear infection is necessary.
Ear Mites
Most times ear mites are the major reason behind ear infections in dogs. When viewed with an otoscope by a vet, these ear mites are visible in the dog ears. These can easily transfer from one dog to another just by contact and they can also infect cats. However, the best part is they are easily treated. Certain medications treat ear mite infection, moreover regular treatment with a few flea and tick control products also help in preventing these ear mite infections.
Grass Seeds
Usually in summers, grass seeds are responsible for ear problems causing irritation, inflammation and infection. During your vet consultation, these are easily seen and then removed only after sedating the pet. If these grass seeds are not removed timely, they can further slip down into the inner ear canal and cause infection.
Bacteria and Yeasts
Mainly the major source of infection in dog ears is bacteria and yeast. Being usually the secondary causes, they follow a primary irritation. These micro-organisms are responsible for inflammation and ulceration of the ear canal due to wax and exudates build-up. In order to control and treat this bacterial infection, proper antibiotic treatment need to be given with regular ear cleaning.
Preventive Measures For Dog’s Ear Infections
Pet owners need to be always on the verge to keep their pet ears infection free. Ears are quite delicate part and especially in dogs, they are little sophisticated and that’s why usually prone to infection. Proper cleaning with ear cleansing drops along with removing excessive ear wax help keep ear infection at bay.
- Involve regular ear cleaning in your pet’s grooming regime.
- Visit a vet once a month for your pet’s ear checkup.
- Remove excessive wax buildup.
- In case of slight inflammation or redness near the ears, consult a vet.
- Keep your dog on regular parasitic preventives to control ear mites.