Most dogs will contract an ear infection at one time or another in their lifetime. This is a fairly common aspect that dog owners have to deal with and ear infections are pretty easy to cure. Dogs that have those cute floppy ears are more susceptible to having inner ear infections than dogs with smaller upright ears. This is due to the lack of air flow inside the ear canal.
While ear infections are quite common, knowing what causes an ear infection in a dog will enable you to help cure your dog’s affliction and keep it from getting worse.
Some ear infections are caused by foreign objects getting lodged inside the ear canal. This can be something that a child has placed in there or something like a small twig or pebble that got trapped while the dog was playing outside. Sometimes this will require surgery to have the item removed. Other times it can be flushed out with saline or water by your vet. Either way, you should take it to a vet to have the item removed as taking it out with tweezers by yourself can cause greater damage to your dog’s ear.
Your dog may be suffering from a bacterial or yeast infection. While these conditions may not start in the ear, rather they start as a simple skin infection; they can lead to an ear infection. Making sure your dog is bathed and groomed properly will keep these kinds of infections from ever starting. Something like this could also mean that there is a more severe disease affecting your dog and the ear infection is just another symptom. Have your dog checked by your vet to make sure there is nothing else that is happening and it’s just an ear infection.
Ear mites are one of the most common causes of ear infections in dogs. Although, this usually happens in younger dogs whereas older dogs will more than likely have tumors in their ears. Tumors will require surgery where ear mites will require ear drops that you can get from your vet. If your dog has ear mites he will tend to scratch his head and ears quite a bit. You can look inside your dog’s ear, carefully, and see the mites moving around. This will let you know that your dog will be needing ear mite drops to kill off these parasites.
While there are many more causes for ear infections in dogs, these are some of the more prevalent issues that you will have to deal with. Make sure you keep your dog groomed and bathed properly. Have it checked by a vet on a regular basis and these ear infections won’t cause you or your dog much suffering in any case.