What You Should Know About Ear Problems in Pets? Pet owners will often time find that their pets have ear problems. This is something that happens sometimes, and the truth is that it can really be frustrating, especially if you don’t know how to take care of it. If your pet scratches their ears, shakes their head, or rubs their ears on furniture and other things, it may be a sign that they have an ear problem. They may even have some type of discharge, or have red, tender and swollen ears. Here are a few things that you will want to consider if you notice ear problems in your pet.
The Causes of Ear Problems Dogs and Cats ear canals have an L shape, which can sometimes cause dirt, debris, moisture, ear wax or even parasites to get trapped in. This can lead to an ear infection. Dogs that have ears that are long and floppy are especially prone to infection because they don’t have a lot of air circulation in their ear canal. Ear mites and other parasites can also be a culprit, because they can lead to itching, scratching, and a general feeling of being unwell. Some pets may actually even get an ear infection due to an allergy, and treating the allergy may be your best bet when it comes to overcoming this issue.
Keeping Your Pets Ears Cleaned One of the first things that you will want to do is make sure that you keep your pet’s ears cleaned. You need to do this carefully, because you don’t want to do damage to their ear canal or their ear drum. Some pet owners actually leave this up to the vet, because they are afraid of doing it on their own. If you want to do it on your own, you can buy a pet ear cleaner such as Clean Aural from a Genuine Pet Pharmacy such as VetDispense), and squirt it into their ear with a syringe. You can rub the base of their ear to allow the solution to work its way into their ear canal and do its magic. Clean it with a soft cloth or a cotton ball, but never use a Q-tip. Vinegar works great at getting rid of debris, dirt and other build up, but it is also good at killing bacteria.