How to Get Rid of Ear Mites in Dogs
Ear mites are extremely irritating to dogs, not to mention contagious! Learn how to identify, treat and prevent ear mites in dogs.
Instructions
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Determine if Your Dog Has Ear Mites
Common symptoms of ear mites include constant itching or scratching of the ears. The dog will typically stop at nothing to relieve the itch and can even resort to scratching their ears on potentially sharp objects, like a brush-bristle welcome mat! Dogs will sometimes have a head tilt and will keep trying to shake out their ears.
Ear mites look like a dark brown, gray, or black spots in the ear.
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Treat Existing Ear Mites
If you determine that you dog does indeed have ear mites, you can treat them at home. Place a few drops of mineral oil inside of the ear with an eye dropper. Close your pet's ear with your hands and massage the mineral oil into the ear. This will help to loosen out the gunk. After massaging the ear for about 1 minute, use a cotton ball to remove the debris. Repeat daily until there are no signs of mites.
The mineral oil not only helps to clean out the ears, but it smothers the mites to help eliminate them.
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Prevent Ear Mites From Coming Back
Once you had rid your pet of mites, make sure that they don't come back! You can use the mineral oil once per week or you can use a commercial ear cleaner. After cleaning, insert an ear mite preventative into the ear and massage in. This treatment typically dries to a powder and helps to both repel ear mites as well as help with ear odors.
Be sure to launder your dog's bedding often. Ear mites can live in bedding even after you've killed them in the ear!
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Tips & Warnings
Be careful when cleaning your pet's ears - do not stick a finger in the ear as it can rupture an eardrum
The same technique used for treating and preventing ear mites in dogs can also be used on cats
See additional pet tips below
