How to Treat Any Dog's Ear Infection

Your dog’s ear infection can vary from a simple yeast infection, bacterial infection, parasite presence (ear mites) or even can come from allergies, which is usually from his or her food. Your pet will exhibit different signs and symptoms in the canine ear or ears that are infected and you will be able to then use home treatments to get rid of your dog’s ear infection.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Identify the cause to your dog’s ear infection. Lift the canine ear or ears that your dog has been scratching or shaking consistently. Observe what the inside of the canine ear looks and smells like. A canine ear yeast infection will show symptoms such as the inside being very red and tender to touch. Your dog’s ear infection that is caused by yeast will also exhibit drainage and a foul smell. A bacterial infection can also exhibit the same kind of symptoms but sometimes does not have any odor inside the canine ear. A dog’s ear infection that is caused by ear mites will show symptoms of a musty odor and black or brown debris inside the canine ear.

2. Clean the canine ear or ears first. Before performing any treatments for your dog’s ear infection, gather a few q-tips and gently clean out any debris that are inside his or her affected canine ear or ears. Be careful not to go down too far where you can damage your animal’s eardrum.

3. Treat your dog’s ear infection. To treat a yeast infection, there are many canine ear infection remedies. Take a 50/50 mixture of either apple cider vinegar or white vinegar and water and add drops to the canine ear. Perform this task twice daily until symptoms and signs have stopped. You can also treat a canine ear infection that is caused by yeast by buying an over the counter medication used for women and follow the instructions. Feed your animal yogurt with probiotics or purchase probiotics that contain live bacteria. This good bacteria works by fighting off your dog’s ear infection. To treat a bacterial infection in the canine ear, buy tea tree oil and add 5 to 10 drops of it into a measuring cup full of water. Take a cotton ball and soak it in the solution and squeeze drops into the canal and wipe all around the inside of the canine ear. Do this task twice a day to treat your dog’s ear infection that is caused by bacteria. To treat the dog’s ear infection that is result from ear mites, you need to make a mixture of half of an ounce of almond or olive oil and break open vitamin E gel capsules. The vitamin E needs to be 400 IU. To treat your dog’s ear infection, life the canine ear and use an eye dropper to squirt drops inside. Take your finger and rub it all around. The oil will smother the ear mites while the Vitamin E will promote healing in the canine ear. Use the oil – vitamin E mixture for 3 weeks, which is about the lifecycle of ear mites. If problems persist, your dog’s ear infection may be caused by an allergy. Seek the advice of your veterinarian if symptoms and signs persist or get worse within a week. You may need a stronger medication to treat your dog’s ear infection and you may be able to buy much cheaper on the internet.

Tips & Warnings

• Becareful when cleaning a canine ear with q-tips to treat a dog's ear infection. You may make the situation worse by pushing down debris. Consult a veternarian if you do not feel confident performing the task.
• Consult a vet if the situation becomes worse or remains the same for your dog's ear infection after a week or treatment.
• Don't use tea tree oil on cats, it may be harmful if they lick it.

Resources

• Tea Tree Oil: Medicine Chest In A Bottle

[ilivetoteach]

on 9/28/2009 I've never heard of these before, but it's cheaper than the vet so I'm going to try it.