dog ear infection treatment advice

Dog ear infections require close cooperation with your vet to treat successfully.

Handouts like this one help you understand the problem and the steps needed to fix it.  If not diagnosed early and treated correctly, dog ear infections often recur.

Dog ear vet

Read more about dog ear infection treatment

When your dog has sore, itchy ears.

272 MARCH 2004 Veterinary Medicine

Your veterinarian has just informed you that

your dog has otitis, or inflammation of the ear.

There are three stages of otitis. In the beginning,

the external ear canal is affected, and you may

notice that your dog is shaking its head or pawing at

its ear. Your dog might also have an ear discharge,

with or without odor. In the next stage, the disease

spreads to the middle ear, which includes the

eardrum. In the final stage, otitis spreads to the inner

ear, which houses your dog’s balance system.

In the more severe stages, dogs are reluctant to

open their mouths or chew and have a pronounced

head tilt, balance problems, and drooping lips or eyelids.

Luckily, most cases of otitis are caught during the

first stage, and, at this stage, the chances for getting

your dog’s ears back in tip-top shape are good.

How did the otitis develop?

Many things cause dogs’ ears to become

inflamed, including ear mites, a bacterial

or yeast infection, a foreign object or mass

within the ear, allergies, or medical conditions

that allow infection to develop within the

ear. Some breeds are more likely to develop

problems because of their ear structure. It

can take time and a variety of diagnostic

tests for your veterinarian to determine the

underlying cause. But this cause must be

identified, or the problem can worsen

and spread farther into the ear,

causing your dog intense pain and,

possibly, necessitating surgery to drain the

infected material and remove the affected tissues.

Even if bacterial or yeast infections aren’t the primary

cause, they often develop in affected ears. Your veterinarian

will likely prescribe medication to treat these

infections and show you how to administer it. Keep in

mind that frequent follow-up visits will be necessary to

monitor response to therapy.

Cleaning your dog’s ears

An important part of treating your dog’s otitis involves

frequent ear cleanings, which you can do at home.

Make sure you clean your dog’s ears either outdoors

or in an area such as a tiled bathroom where nothing

can be stained by debris from the ear canal. Use a

two-stage cleaning technique. First, flood the ear

canal with cleaning solution prescribed by your veterinarian.

Make sure you fill the canal—don’t just use

a few drops. Allow the solution to remain in contact

with the canal for at least 60 seconds, and gently massage

the entire canal during this time. Dry the canal

with a cotton ball. Use only real cotton balls, which

are less irritating than synthetic ones are. Never clean

your dog’s ears with a cotton swab. The

swab pushes debris farther into the ear

canal and puts the eardrum under pressure,

possibly causing it to rupture. The

second stage is a repeat of the first.

Again allow the solution to contact

the canal for a full 60 seconds or

more and massage the ear. Then

step back and let your dog shake

its head.

The frequency of cleaning

varies based on how severely

your dog’s ears are affected, but,

in general, perform this cleaning

process twice a day for the first one

or two weeks, once a day for the

next one or two weeks, and then

once or twice a week thereafter.

Communicate with your veterinarian

Follow your veterinarian’s instructions for cleaning

your dog’s ears and administering medications. Be

sure to bring your dog in for each recheck appointment

your veterinarian schedules, even after the

inflammation has subsided. Otitis often recurs in dogs,

and the medication that cleared it up the first time

may not work the next time because a different type

of infection may have developed. So be sure to see

your veterinarian if signs do recur. â– 

Help! My dog has an itchy and smelly ear! Free vet advice

If your dog has a smelly ear it’s usually accompanied by a tickly inflammation that makes him scratch it, shake his head and perhaps hold his head to one side. Read on for free vet advice on how to give the necessary pet care whilst avoiding unnecessary vet fees.

What causes it?

Well, most of it is down to us. It’s our fault because of the way we took the basic wolf-type dog and then, through breeding, started to tweak things – adding a bit here, taking a bit off there, shortening this, lengthening that.

Just think of the wolf – erect ears actively moving around to pick up sounds, no loose skin folds, an outdoor life with fresh air circulating around and through a medium-length springy coat, and grooming other pack members ensuring body areas inaccessible to individuals are kept clean. Now think of many of our modern breeds leading a modern life – heavy folded-down ears, long hair, skin folds, a mostly sedentary life in a warm house usually with no other dogs. With all this going on, our dogs’ ears are a wonderful site for all sorts of things to set up camp – bacteria, yeasts and parasites being top of the list. And once they’ve found a home they start causing irritation which causes more ear wax to be produced which makes it party time for still more bacteria, yeasts and parasites.

Anatomically, dogs’ ears (like ours) are divided into three distinct parts: the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. Given that problems tend to come from the outside, not surprisingly it’s the outer ear (which extends in as far as the ear-drum) which is most often affected. Usually the ear drum stays intact and the bugs and mess is kept on the outside – this is fortunate because it allows effective treatment from the outside too.

Occasionally infection becomes established in the middle ear where the mechanical components responsible for transmitting sound to the inner ear reside. This usually happens because the ear drum has ruptured but it can also happen in the absence of an outer ear problem – if infection travels in the blood stream or up the Eustachian tube which links the middle ear to the throat. Infection here tends to cause more pain than irritation and also interferes more with hearing. Infections of the inner ear, which is where the balance organs and the cochlea (which converts sound waves into nerve impulses) reside, are fortunately quite rare. It’s fortunate because damage here can be permanent and disabling, and because problems such as infection here are too close to the brain for comfort.

Having said most problems are basically our fault, for breeding all shapes and sizes of dogs, nature is also partly to blame – but for excusable reasons. For ears to work well sounds are best gathered from high up – so each ear flap (the ‘pinna’) is located to draw down sound from the top off the head, channelling sound down to the middle ear within the skull. This ‘channel’ is a vertical tube which turns to become horizontal before ending in the ear drum. Vertical tubes open at the top and closed at the bottom aren’t the cleverest of shapes for allowing wax, dirt and any foreign bodies to easily escape. In this respect dogs’ ears are quite unlike ours – we have only short horizontal tubes between pinna and ear drum so we don’t have the same difficulties with dirt and wax building up.

Coming back to inflammation in the outer ear, ‘otitis externa’ as it’s called, it’s clear that ventilation, or lack of it, and poor natural drainage is a big problem for many dogs. This becomes even more of a problem once inflammation gets hold because it causes the skin lining the ear canal to swell, and also to produce more wax and that in turn cuts down ventilation still further. Repeated bouts of otitis externa keep adding to the problem by causing chronic skin thickening. All this goes to emphasise the need to act quickly to try to clear up infection fast.

The parasites sometimes associated with ear infections are ear mites. These are only just visible to the naked eye and can sometimes be seen moving around on the waxy discharge removed from affected ears.

An occasional cause of ear problems is grass awns becoming stuck in the ear after a dog goes for a walk snuffling through long grass or undergrowth. These awns are shaped in such a way that they can easily go down the ear canal but won’t come back out unless physically removed – this is a job for your vet as it involves introducing forceps deep into the ear canal.

What can I do to help?

Your role is to keep on top of things for the future – for now, and for the immediate needs of your dog, you need to see your vet if there’s smell, inflammation and itching. Once your vet has given the prescription medicines necessary to sort out the probable otitis externa, and you’ve applied them effectively, the best thing you can do to prevent recurrence is to keep your dog’s ear clear of wax and dirt. You can get many effective ear cleaners for dogs without the need for a vet’s prescription.

When should I call my vet?

Ear problems need to be dealt with correctly to give the best chance for a quick and effective cure. Your vet will examine your dog’s ears with an auriscope to help arrive at a good diagnosis and decide upon treatment. You should take your dog to see your vet for any new ear problem that emerges, but once the immediate problem has been solved, and having discussed it with your vet, you may be able to deal with any mild recurrences yourself, and you’ll certainly be able to contribute to your pet’s wellbeing by keeping his ears clean with wax-dissolving ear cleaners available without prescription.

Ears cause dogs more problems than ours cause us, so make sure you help your pet deal with this by adopting a routine of keeping them healthy  – remember the wolf’s grooming of its pack mates, keeping clean those things like ears that an individual can’t keep clean itself. Underneath it all, your dog is just like a wolf – and so must you be!