The ear is one of the most developed organs of the dog, with it it manages to capture sounds that escape us at a great distance. It is vitally important to keep this part of your body healthy because you will use your hearing quite a bit throughout your life to interact with the world. Knowing the symptoms of otitis will help us to start treating it from the first moment, preventing it from evolving into a more serious problem.
There are various elements that mediate the development of this disease. There are some elements that we call main because they are capable of initiating inflammation in a normal and healthy ear : foreign bodies such as spikes or dirt; reactions to foods, medications; ectoparasites such as otodectes, demodex or sarcoptes and some viral disease.
On the other hand, there are some factors that facilitate the appearance of the pathology: that the animal has a genetic predisposition because, for example, its ear is pendulous, it has dense fur at the entrance of the ear or it has narrow canals such as shar pei; excessive moisture in the ear due to ambient temperature, inadequate hygiene, or systemic diseases.
Finally, we find the perpetual elements that can maintain chronic disease: bacteria, yeasts, otitis media or errors such as self-medication.
Our dog has been strange for days, we do not know what is wrong with him but he behaves strangely: he does not want to play, going to the street does not fill him with enthusiasm and leaves food in the bowl … These can be symptoms of almost all diseases, but we must Heeding our instincts and, even if he does not present serious symptoms of illness, if we, the owners, notice him strange, it is an unequivocal sign that something is wrong. But what are the strange behaviors that you do if you have otitis?
Shaking and tilting of head. Our dog shakes his head violently as if he wants to unscrew it or tilts it to the injured side, falls or rolls over to the injured side . Surely he has an infection, some substance has slipped, a spike … His way of solving the matter is to shake himself in case what has been put into him falls and the annoyance goes away with it. We will not dedicate ourselves to looking for a home remedy to cure you because many times by trying to solve the problem alone we are making the situation worse and causing more serious difficulties or that are unnecessarily prolonged in time. Poorly cured otitis can be the beginning of chronic otitis . When we see that our animal shakes its head, we will immediately go to the vet.
Scratches . Our dog tries to alleviate the pain in the way he can and knows how. If we see him scratching a lot, it is not a good sign.
Lack of appetite The animal eats worse or does not eat and this is accompanied by other symptoms, we go to the vet.
When we caress her face, she complains. His ear hurts and he’s telling us this way.
Discharge and odor If you expel a substance through your ears and the area smells bad on top of it, there is no doubt that you have an infected ear.
Narrowing of the canal. It is a typical symptom of otitis media.
Drop of the ear. And also of the lip, we are facing a paralysis of the facial nerve and it is a serious consequence of otitis media.
Drooling It can be due to other causes, such as problems in the mouth or nerves, but if it is accompanied by any of the other symptoms, it is surely a cause of otitis media.
Before the appearance of external otitis, we will go to the vet, we will not apply any treatment without consulting the professional even though we have a product that was prescribed for us on previous occasions, it was used for the same purpose and with optimal results.
The veterinarian will ask us and carry out the necessary studies (physical examination, culture, antibiogram …) to find the possible disease and prescribe the ideal treatment.
The best prevention is frequent ear cleaning
To prevent this pathology we must clean the pavilion, at least once a week, and the entrance of the duct. We will not take too much care of the interior because we could cause irritations. The most appropriate is dry cleaning with gauze, removing visible dirt.
It would also be convenient to remove the hairs that obstruct the entrance of the duct in the following way: with our own fingers or with tweezers we will pull them. For this it is better to accustom the dog from puppyhood and consult our veterinarian how to do it.
Do not miss the video below on the consequences of otitis in the inner ear of the dog.
