Otitis in dogs - diagnosis, treatment and prevention
Otitis in dogs is a fairly common disease. Can be given in any dog throughout your life, although the truth is that there are some more prone races than others and environmental conditions also greatly influence.
Causes of otitis in dogs
There are several causes that can cause this inflammation in the ear of the dogs, starting because the animal produces a lot of wax or has too much hair inside the ears (a combination of both also produces otitis).
It also occurs if a foreign object is introduced, which is usual in dogs that go to the field often, although it can occur in the same way if we use cotton sticks when cleaning your ears.
Mites are other culprits, as well as allergic reactions. An otitis in dogs can also be developed by tumors in the ear, by hormonal changes or because the animal produces much keratin.
Even race can predispose a dog having otitis, as is the case with large ears and falls, of the type of cocker, the basset and the wishes in general.
Finally, a humid environment helps a lot for dogs to suffer from this infection from time to time, which does not happen so often if they live in dry climates.
How to know if my dog has otitis
There is no better way to know if a dog has otitis than going to the veterinarian, although we are going to see that the animal behaves in a strange way, as if it had pain in the upper area of the head.
Symptoms
Although we have to go to the veterinarian, which will make the diagnosis through a series of very simple tests, The truth is that dog otitis is something very easy to detect because it has characteristic symptoms.
The dog walks with his head tilted
One of the most characteristic signs is that The animal begins to walk with its head tilted, which catches our attention and makes us alert immediately.
The side to the one that places the head indicates the ear in which the otitis has, because although it can occur in both of them, it is normal for the disease to only occur in one of them, or at least it does not appear in both at the same time.
Bad smell in the ear
Another symptoms of otitis is bad smell inside the ear. The smell is quite nauseabundo. It comes to us when it is close to us and puts our ear in the vicinity of the nose, or at the time of cleaning it.
This bad smell is usually accompanied by yellow or green secretions, which are another indicative that there is an infection.
The animal does not stop shaking the head
If the dog has otitis, it will have pain, which tries to relieve its head very often, especially on the ear side in which the infection is. That symptom is usually accompanied by the first one we have seen, wearing the head tilted.
Ear pain when touching him and can even stop eating
When the pain is not so intense, there is probable that there are no visible symptoms. However, if we touch it, you complain when we put your hand near the ear and you can even stop eating for the discomfort caused by the movement of the jaws.
Loss of balance and deafness
Luckily, severe otitis in dogs is not common, but if it occurs (it is more serious the more it is introduced into the ear) The symptoms go further and get to make the dog fall.
As in humans, the balance organ is in the ear, so that when the dog is affected, it is not able to stand up.
Deafness is also another complications of severe otitis in dogs, something we notice if we call it and does not come (before it always did) or in the sudden reactions when we touched it, there is a very strong noise, etc.
Diagnosis
The diagnosis is very simple for a professional, who only to see the symptoms that the dog has as soon as the clinic door has, you will know what happens to it.
The first thing that will do, although it already suspects that there is an otitis, is Check the ear in order to check if there is a bad smell, if there are secretions and what color they are, since this guides it on the type of bacteria that have caused it.
You can take a sample in order to look at it at the microscope, thus ensuring the diagnosis and paying the best treatment.
It will also use the otoscope, despite the fact that the truth is that if the dog presents pain it will not be simple, although it is possible to use local anesthesia in order to facilitate the task.
This is done to see the damage in the ear, in order to verify how far the infection has come, and especially at the time of Make sure there are no foreign bodies that are guilty of having produced otitis.
In the event that there is something inside the ear, such as a piece of branch, if the medications are not extracted, since otitis will continue its course.
Treatment
The treatment is usually quite simple and It almost always consists of a few antibiotic drops of wide spectrum for the ears, that fight the bacteria that produce otitis.
In turn, the veterinarian usually cleans the ear and will tell us how it is done in order to eliminate wax, in addition to secretions. The reason is that although the drops work in dirty ears, they do better if the inside of the ear is clean.
When there is pain, which shows because the dog shakes his head a lot or scratches, he can also administer some medication to alleviate it. They almost always click on the first dose, thus acts right away, and then they can prescribe some pills.
The cases of serious otitis in dogs are less common, but if we have the bad luck that our dog suffers (a good way to avoid it is to go to the veterinarian before the first symptom) The treatment usually consists of an operation to fix the damages caused by the infection.
Prevention
Otitis can be prevented in most cases following a series of guidelines that are quite simple.
With regular cleaning we will avoid a good part of the infections. You can do a couple of times a week and we only need gauze and physiological serum, although we can also buy a specific product.
Another way to avoid infections is to shave hair inside the ear. We can do it with a dog machine, with one for people with a narrow comb or with scissors, thus avoiding the wax to have places to accumulate.
Reviewing the ears when we come from abroad also helps enough, since we will see if there are objects inside that they will cause otitis in dogs with total security.
If we see a branch, a sheet, etc., and we cannot take it out we will go to the veterinarian immediately. Thus, we will get the infection not to occur.
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