Ear infections are painful for dogs and frustrating for owners. Unfortunately, dog ear infections are also extremely common. The key to keeping your dog healthy is taking preventative steps to avoid infection, and being aware of the three most common signs of dog ear infections.
The most common sign of a canine ear infection is scratching. The dog realizes something is wrong and will continually scratch at their ear to try to solve the problem. If your dog is spending an inordinate amount of time scratching, rubbing or wiping their ear on the ground, this could be a sign something is wrong.
A second common sign of dog ear infections is tenderness and redness in the ear. If you scratch your dog behind the ears like he normally enjoys and he whimpers or pulls away, you should take a look to see if there is any redness or swelling present and if there is, get him to a vet as soon as possible.
Finally, another unpleasant yet common sign of a canine ear infection is discharge. Often brown, yellow or bloody in color, discharge is a definite sign that something is wrong. It may be normal for your dog to have wax in and around their ears, but that wax should be standard in color – variations could be a sign of infection.
There are a number of factors that could be contributing to the ear infection symptoms in your dog. Mites are one such factor. Mites occur most often in puppies or dogs that have been exposed to puppies. Dog mites can cause a secondary infection with bacteria and yeast.
Animals with large floppy ears are particularly susceptible to dog ear infections. Also, dogs that are prone to allergies may also be prone to increased occurrences of ear infections. Many times, preventative ear cleaning is necessary to keep dogs that are prone to infections healthy.
Ear infections do require a visit to your veterinarian, where he or she will examine the inner and outer ear, prescribe medicine to be used at home and often times clean out the ear.
Author Resource:-
Lawrence Howlett is the author of this article on Cat fleas.
Find more information about Feline ear mites here.
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