Dog Ear Infection Treatment – Sore Ears In Dogs Medication
How do you know if your pet has dog ear infection and has to undergo treatment? There are several signs and symptoms to look out for when your dog develops otitis, or an inflammation of the ear. Before treatment is sought, if it satisfies these signs, then it is clear that some medication is needed to be used to cure the sore ears in dogs. The most obvious sign usually is the least serious and the best stage for an easy cure. This usually comes with irritation of the dog’s external ear canal and causes it to paw at its ears or strenuous shaking of its head in an attempt to get rid of it. You might also wish to check if there is some form of discharge from your dog’s ears at this point. It can be smelly or odorless, but the most important thing is that some liquid of pus is being secreted from its audio cavity. If your dog is not treated for its ear infection at this point and it is allowed to worsen, then the next stage is much more serious, painful and might lead to serious disability or hurt for your pet. Once the dog starts to have problems with basic movements like chewing or even opening their mouths, consistently tilts its head or develops drooping lips or eyelids, then the infection has spread to its inner ear and has affected its body balance and perhaps its nerves.
There can be various causes that have led to your dog’s ears being infected. Usually this is a direct result of inflammation. Inflammation can in turn be caused by having some form of bacterial being allowed to fester and infect the dog ear, such as a yeast infection. Sometimes, your dog might have developed a form of allergy which has otitis as a by product. Ear mites might also be another reason for the problem. Before applying any sort of medication to cure the sore ears in your dog, be sure to ascertain what is the exact cause and reason of the inflammation. There are some natural home remedies that can be used, or one can purchase the medicinal solutions either from the vet or from online stores which can be bought at cheaper prices. You might need to consult your vet to determine what form of medication is best for the specific problem that your dog is suffering from.
Do not wait too long before finding out what is causing the dog ear infection and what treatment to seek. Medication must be applied as soon as possible and regularly until the problem has cleared up. If the problem is allowed to persist, it will quickly spread to the inner ear and cause unbearable pain and disability, becoming more than just a dog ear sore. In such serious cases, surgery might be necessary to alleviate the problem, as inner ear and possibly even brain tissues might be adversely affected.
Together with the medication that is used to treat the sore ears in a dog, there must also be regular cleaning of the affected audio cavity done. Use soft cotton swabs to do this and make sure everything is sterilized and cleaned well. The frequency of cleaning will depend on the seriousness of your dog’s ear condition. If it is a minor infection, then the necessary twice a day routine should be observed. If the situation is more serious, then more elaborate cleaning procedures would probably have to be performed, with advice from the veterinarian.
Now for the interesting part. Once your dog is cured of its ear problem, do not assume that it will not happen again. In fact, sore dog ears can likely occur several times during its lifetime. You will need to make sure its surroundings are kept clean and free from dust mites and any other possible sources of infection. A dog’s ear is very sensitive and an important part of their defence mechanism. Keep the dog bed, dog house (if it has one), and clothing like your dog jackets clean as often as possible. Continue to clean its ears regularly so that medication need not be necessary in the future.
A very effective and popular treatment for dog sore ears due to otitis or any form of chronic or acute external ear inflammation is the use of Zymox Otic which is available here
Thanks to reader Jean’s comments about her experience with Zymox Otic which she used on her dogs and got the results she wanted. Many pet owners have also shared their experiences with it that you can see here
Thanks for the recommendation on Zymox Otic! It worked very well on both my dogs who got infected and seemed to spread. We were about to visit the vet but came across your mention of Zymox Otic together with the many positive reviews on Amazon and decided to try the 1.25 oz bottle with about 1% Hydrocortisone. After about a week and a half the problems for one of them have cleared while the other appears to be on his way too. We were told the vet would have prescribed antibiotics which are expensive so needless to say are very pleased about the amount of money we saved using this product. Thanks again!