How To Keep Your Dog’s Ear Healthy And Clean

How To Keep Your Dog's Ear Healthy

It is said that dog’s sense of hearing is one of the best amongst all the pets. Dog’s ear can hear even those noise frequencies which humans can’t. Taking care of ears is as important as proving healthy food to your dogs. Ear infections are the worst ones because ears are a way of communicating with dogs.

To understand the ear infections and its causes, one should first be familiar with the structure of the ear.

The ear build of the dogs is divided into 3 potions:

1. Outer ear

It consists of ear flap whose shape is different in all the breeds. Ear flaps have the tendency to move independently of each other and pick up sounds from its surroundings.

It also consists of ear canal which is a tube that connects the flap to the ear drum. The ear canal contains glands which secretes wax to protect the ear.

2. Middle ear

It consists of ear drum and 3 small bones which channels the vibrations to inner ear coming through the outer ear. It also contains a tube which maintains the air pressure on both the sides of the ear drum.

3. Inner ear

This is the innermost part of the ear where the sound coming from the outer area is processed by cochlea into signals and sent to the brain via an auditory nerve.

Any of the above portions of the ear can get infected so, proper maintenance of ear is essential. Dogs have several symptoms of ear pain and ear infections. Some of them are:

  • Head Shaking
  • Rubbing or scratching ears
  • Pain and redness on the flap
  • Excessive wax deposition
  • Foul smell

Common causes are:

  • Allergies
  • Ear Mites
  • Anatomy
  • Diet

ear infection in dogs

Keeping Your Dog’s Ears Healthy And Clean

Treatments of dog’s ear infections differs with the cause and severity of it. After the vet has completely checked the ear and diagnosed the root cause, he will prescribe treatments and medications to be given to your dog.

Start with regular cleaning of your dog’s ear. If you are new to it, ask your vet’s help and learn all the do’s and don’s. Ear cleaning solutions such as Cleanaural Ear and CleanEar can be used to clear excess wax, debris deposition from the dogs.

A proper diet which contains less starch is suitable for the dogs. Starch leads to the formation of yeast. A fresh diet should be fed to the dogs.

There is no harm in using natural cures for your dog’s ears. If in doubt, consult a vet whether the following can be done or not.

1. Sulphur

Sulphur is sometimes used in treatment of the ear infections. It is a natural antiseptic which cures excessive scratching and skin conditions.

2. Phosphorus

If your dog has been wounded or have got a cut in the ear and it’s bleeding, then you can apply phosphorus on it.

3. Tea Tree Oil

It can be very effective to treat yeast infections with tea tree oil. Make sure your dog does not ingest the oil solution as it is toxic. Preferably dilute the teal tree oil with water before application because using it directly can cause allergies.

4. Boric Acid

Boric acid should be used in very small amounts to sprinkle on the dog’s ear s. Make sure to avoid contact with other areas as boric acid is highly dangerous and causes irritation if applied in large amounts. It is used as a cleaning solution as well as to dry the skin and to break down the excess wax.

For impaired ears, hearing aid is also developed for dogs to improve the quality of hearing for them. It can also be used for deaf dogs.

In technically advanced era, all the solutions can be built. Although they are expensive but a ray of hope helps a lot.

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William Wegman

William Wegman is a responsible and proud father of Lucy (now his pet dog). He is a sales manager by profession but his hobby of writing and reading makes his life worth living. He loves to spend his time with Lucy after office hours.