Banish dog ear mites, infection and swollen ears – top tips to grooming your dog

Prevent Dog Ear Mites, Infection and Swollen Ears Through Proper Grooming

Do you suspect your dog has dog ear mites? Does she shake her head often? Is she always scratching her ears and is she in obvious discomfort?

This could mean she has one of the many different types of dog ear infections that dogs, especially those with long floppy ear lobes get and we will be discussing all of these in greater detail soon.

If you’ve ever had an ear-ache or ear infection you know how miserable this can make you feel, so if you think your dog has an ear infection, please take her to the vets as soon as possible.

Make itchy dog ears a thing of the past. Prevention, as the say, is better than cure, and here you will learn of simple but effective ways to ensure your dog’s ears stay clean, healthy and free from dog ear mites and all other complications which can cause her a great deal of discomfort and bother.

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Here you will find helpful and useful advice on Detecting and Eliminating Dog Ear Mites and how you can save your pet from ear infections, haematomas and swollen ears by Cleaning Your Dog’s Ears as part of her grooming routine.

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Detecting and Eliminating Dog Ear Mites

Dog ear mites are the most common mites to infest dogs and the sooner you detect these and treat them the better, as they are extremely contagious and will spread to any other pets in the house.

Here is a dog ear mites picture – now just imagine 1000s of these microscopic crab like creatures swarming around deep inside your dog’s ears. Isn't it just terrible?

Dog ear mites will quickly and easily transfer to cats, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs – in fact, all furry pets. And, not only are these awful parasites capable of doing great damage to your pets’ ears – they can also spread out over the rest of your pet’s body and cause general irritation, which can lead to secondary infections, hair loss and total loss of condition. Here are five things to look out for:-

is your dog scratching her ears?

is your dog shaking her head?

when you look in your dog’s ear – do you see increased earwax?

do you notice a thick, black, crusty (coffee ground like) discharge from your dog’s ears?

do you notice your dog generally scratching and itching more?

If you suspect your pet has an advanced case of dog ear mite infection, the best course of action is to take her to the vets immediately. The vets will run a few tests to see how far the infection has gone and will then prescribe a suitable medication, usually a combination of drops, wipes and spray (for the rest of her body) to treat the infestation.

Please do not try to treat your dog at home. Some other dog ear infections can also look like a dog ear mite infection and using an anti-mite treatment in these cases can actually make the matter a lot worse.

Please do not let the problem be in the hopes it will go away. It will only get worse, and can result in total hearing loss for your dog. The constant scratching will also result in secondary infections of the broken skin, hair loss and haematomas of the ear, which could need surgical intervention to cure.

So, in the case of dog ear mites, a stitch in time really does save nine! Read on for advice in how you can prevent this happening in the first place.

Cleaning Your Dog’s Ears

Checking and cleaning your dog’s ears should be part of your dog’s grooming routine. This way, you will be able to stop any infections occurring in the first place, but also, should a problem show up, you will be able to eliminate it by dealing with it straight away.

Dogs with droopy ears are particularly susceptible to fungus and bacterial infections – but ask your vet for cleansing agents to help dry your dog’s ears out. Regular use of these will help keep your dog’s ears in good condition.

In fact, a healthy dog’s ear should need very little done to it except a general, gentle wipe with a soft damp gauze or tissue, just to remove any excess debris clinging to the ear lobes. A helpful safety tip is to only clean the parts of a dog’s ears that are actually visible to you. Any deeper cleaning is best left to the more experienced.

Cleaning your dog’s ears can be a difficult task and may be best left to your vet or your dog’s groomer. If you feel confident enough to tackle them yourself, do ask your vet or groomer for a demonstration on best techniques to do this.

General cleaning of your dog’s ears is an excellent preventative measure to ensuring your dog’s ears stay healthy. Other measures you can take are to ask your groomer to shave the inside of the floppy part of your dog’s ear to allow air to circulate, and to gently pluck the hair growing in the ear canal.

On a personal note, besides checking our dog’s ears regularly and occasionally giving them a bit of a wipe down with a soft damp cloth, we have never had to do much else. It really is a case of prevention is better than cure – and just that little bit of care can go such a long way toward ensuring your dog’s ears stays free from swelling, infection and the dreaded dog ear mites.

You will find more helpful advice on grooming your dog for maximum health and condition by clicking on the links below.

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