Is your dog scratching his ears, shaking his head and does his ears smell like
corn chips? Your dog might have an ear infection which could lead to deaf...
ness! Watch this video to find out what this means and what you can do to help cure this condition.
Hey guys, Dogtor Pete here. I am a veterinarian from South Africa
and in this video, I'm going to explain exactly what the causes,
symptoms, diagnosis and treatment for ear infections in dogs are
and at the end I will give you five easy tips on how you can prevent ear
infections from occurring in your dog! "Otitis", or inflammation of
the ears, is one of the most common health
problems in dogs and while they might seem like quick and easy issues to deal
with, they can actually lead to some serious
health complications if not recognized and treated early on.
Now, ear infections can be caused by many
things. Bacteria is probably the most common disease causing agent
that lead to infection and later inflammation of the middle and inner ear.
This can often be accompanied by other agents,
including yeasts such as Malassezia, fungi such as Aspergillus
and ear mites, which often aggravates the bacterial
infection. Other causes include trauma, tumors, polyps and the presence of
foreign objects in the ear canal and more often than not
the ear infection could be due to an underlying skin allergy, such as food and
environmental allergies. Excessive moisture caused by swimming
and bathing ,or improper cleaning technique and medications
may also lead to middle ear infections, as bacteria and yeast
often thrives in dark moist places.
The body often responds to ear infections by increasing the production
of earwax to try and expel the infection, but this
usually only makes the infection worse. Symptoms really depend on how deep
the infection has spread, with swollen, redness, head shaking,
pawing at the affected ear and a foul discharge from the ear canal
pointing towards otitis externa; and head tilting, incoordination,
anorexia, nausea and unilateral facial paralysis pointing
towards otitis media or interna. In more severe chronic cases,
the dog might even become deaf when the ear canal becomes swollen
shut or when the eardrum eventually bursts. Signs of inflammation,
together with black gooey gunk and a foul odor in the ear canal, are
usually diagnostic of an ear infection. It is however, really important to first
determine what the underlying problem causing the ear infection is in
order to prevent reoccurrence and to assess how severe the damage is,
as the eardrum can sometimes be ruptured. Your vet will need to perform a physical
examination and look into both ears with an otoscope,
which is basically like a magnifying glass,
where foreign objects, polyps, and growths can easily be visualized. A smear of the
discharge will then be made and the ear cytology will be examined
under a microscope in order to diagnose ear mites, fungal or
bacterial infections. If the infection has spread
really far and there is a concern that the middle ear is affected,
then X-rays, CT and MRI scans can be performed in order to evaluate the bone
and tissue involvement, but this is usually very rare. Depending
on the underlying cause, your veterinarian will discuss
appropriate treatment options with you. Foreign bodies will be gently removed
and ear mites can effectively be treated with topical
ectoparasitic treatments. If there is a bacterial and fungal infection present,
the ear canal will need to be flushed and dried with an appropriate ear
cleaner after which antibiotic, antifungal and
steroid preparations will be instilled into the ear canal. If the ears are very
painful and the dog does not seem to tolerate
being handled, sedation might be required to
properly clean and examine the ears. If there are open sores present in the
ear canal, then systemic antibiotics, antifungals
and steroids might be prescribed concurrently.
If the ear infection is suspected to be due to an underlying skin allergy,
your vet will need to treat the allergy as well. I made another video on skin
allergies in dogs where i go into a bit more depth on this
condition, so please make sure to watch that after
this video. Ear infections are often not cured with only one treatment
and can take up to four weeks to completely resolve. Your vet might need
your help to clean a dog's ears and to install an
ointment at home for a certain period, so make sure that you
know how the procedure works and only use what your vet prescribed.
Avoid digging too deep into your pet's ear canal with cotton swabs or other
objects, as this will simply push the material
deeper and can possibly lead to a ruptured eardrum. If ear infections are
left without treatment it can have disastrous consequences!
These patients get stuck in a cycle of inflammation
and infection and fibrosis which eventually leads to the collapsing of
the ear canals and a ruptured eardrum. Over time, the
ear canal ossifies and scar tissues occludes the canal,
preventing topical medications from reaching the diseased
area as well as blocking the natural sloughing of the ear canal's skin cells,
wax and hair which then accumulates and aggravates the problem even further.
As you can imagine, this can become extremely painful
and often results in deafness in which case your vet might recommend that the
ear canals be removed entirely, which we refer to as a "total ear canal
ablation." This is mostly a salvage procedure which
relieves most of the built-up pressure and pain
and dogs generally recover really well after surgery.
So here are five easy tips that you can follow to help prevent ear infections in
your dog! Number one, rule out the underlying cause
by taking your dog to veterinarian early on to be properly examined. Number two,
keep the ears dry. If your dog is a swimmer
or is bathed regularly, clean out the ears as soon as possible after water
exposure in order to prevent bacteria and yeast
from getting a chance to colonize the ear canals.
Number three, keep the ears clean. Use veterinary approved solutions to clean
out the dog's ears once a week to once a month and avoid
using homemade ear cleaning solutions such as hydrogen peroxide, rubbing
alcohol and vinegar as these can be caustic to your dog's ear canal
if open sores are present and can have disastrous consequences when applied to
an ear canal that has a ruptured eardrum. Number four,
put your dog on a high quality diet. If allergies are at the root of your dog's
ear infections, then changing the diet to a
Hypoallergenic Skin Diet containing supplements such as omega-3
fatty acids, can help reduce inflammation which can
lessen the risk of infections developing. And Number five, reconsider plucking ear
hairs. If your dog has very hairy ear canals,
then plucking the hair might technically help keep the ear canal open
and prevent infection caused by matted hair, but
if it is not the main root of the problem then
rather avoid doing so as overly aggressive plucking
might leave the sensitive ear canal abraded and
scabby deep inside where it is most vulnerable
to microbial attack. As you can see, prompt veterinary care
is essential to avoid more serious consequences
such as a ruptured eardrum, middle or inner ear infection
and hearing loss. If you suspect your dog has an ear infection,
take him to the vet sooner rather than later as this will save you a lot of
money in the future and will help prevent needless suffering
to your beloved pet. Thank you for watching this video.
Let me know down in the comments if you ever had a dog that suffered from an ear
infection and what you and your vet did to help
treat this condition? If you found the content to be helpful,
make sure to smash that like button and share the video with your friends
and your family. If you are new to my channel, consider subscribing,
as i'll be posting new videos on interesting pet related topics
every week. As always, have a lekker day and I'll see you in another video
next week. Cheers!