Dog Ear Mites

Dogs are prone to many dog health problems, if one does not take good dog care. One such problem is ear mites. These are little ectoparasites that live in the dog's ear canal and even on other parts of the body. Scientifically, mites are known as Otodectes cynotis. They are tiny parasites that resemble ticks or a tiny spider. They are the most common cause of ear problems in dogs.

Causes
Mites are very contagious ectoparasites. They can easily spread through contact with other infected animals. They can spread from a mother to her puppies. Dogs who are sent to dog obedience and training classes, may get infected, by coming in contact with other dogs who have mites.

If you own more than one dog, or even a cat, and even one of them has ear mites, you need to have all the other dogs, as well as cats, treated for the same. These mites are not only found living in ear canal, but anywhere on the body. Thus, make sure during the dog ear mite treatment, not only the ears, but the entire body is treated.

Symptoms
These commonly affect dog breeds with long floppy ears. They love to live in ears that are warm, moist and have restricted air flow. One of the usual symptoms involves frequent scratching of the ear and shaking of the head. If your dog continuously shakes his head or scratches his ears, it is time to examine his ear canal closely. These tiny critters are not just one two or ten, but thousands of them scurrying across your dogs ears. If you do not treat the problem immediately, you are inviting serious trouble for the dog.

Another tell-tale sign is reddening and inflammation of the ears. The tiny critters crawl around the surface of the ear canal. They feed on the tissue debris, tissue fluids and earwax. This causes the ears to itch and the dog will continuously scratch to get rid of the discomfort. This causes inflammation and reddening of the ears.

You should also watch out for increase in earwax along with thick black, crusty ear discharge. You may also notice a foul odor coming from the ears. If the dog continues to itch, he may damage the small blood vessels in his ears. This causes the ears to bleed and formation of hematomas.

Treatment
If the veterinarian detects ear mites as the cause of ear inflammation, he will begin with the treatment. Dog ear mite treatment involves use of ear preparations that contain pyrethrin. They will not be killed by use of simple ear products. The ear preparations need to contain insecticides to kill the nasty critters. Other ear preparations containing ivermectin, fipronil, selamectin, are also used. As mentioned earlier, the entire body of the animal needs to be treated, therefore, shampoos, sprays, dips, containing ingredients to kill fleas and ticks are used. The product should be applied from the head to the tip of the tail. They cannot survive without a host for a long time, therefore, it is not necessary to treat your yard and house.

Home Remedy
Apart from treatment from a vet, you can also choose home remedies to help ease the discomfort. You should bring home an ear dropper or syringe, and fill it with some olive oil or vegetable oil. Then hold you pet's head still and drop some of it in the ear canal. Still holding your dog's head, continue massaging the ear thoroughly. This will help loosen the ear mite dirt, and remove it from the ear. Then, with clean cotton balls or q-tips you can clean within the ear canal. Be very careful and if your dog is not comfortable, stop immediately.

Another effective dog ear mite home remedy is, using a mixture of ½ ounce of almond oil or olive oil. Mix 400 IU of vitamin E with the oil. Then, warm this mixture to body temperature (do not make it hot or unbearable), and fill ½ dropper with the solution. Drop the oil mixture in the dog's ear, and gently massage the ear canal for about a minute. You can allow the dog to shake his head after the massage. This will help get the oil deeper into the ear canal. Then, using cotton balls clean the ear canal. Use this therapy every alternate day, for six days. Then, after a gap of 3 days, begin with the oil mixture therapy again.

Yellow Dock Root extract is also one of the effective home treatment. You can dilute Yellow Dock Root extract with water by adding 9 drops of extract to 1 tablespoon water. Then, using the method described in the above paragraph, clean the dog's ear once every 3 days. This therapy should continue for 6 continuous weeks.

Make sure you continue with the treatment advised by the veterinarian, as well as any of the home remedy you choose. Ear mites are not easy to get rid of, therefore you need to continue with the treatment, without a single gap. You should bathe your pet with flea or mite shampoo and make sure you clean them from the tip of their nose to the tip of the tail. If they remain lodged in any other part of the dog's body, it is very easy for them to return to the ear.

You should make sure you feed a healthy, dog diet to your pet. You should use a raw meat diet, or preservative free, dog foods that helps make the dog healthier. These dog foods should be supplemented with garlic and brewer's yeast, as it will help get rid of the pesky pests.

This was all about symptoms and treatment. If you observe black, coffee bean like discharge, continuous shaking of the head, scratching of the ear, you need to take the dog to the vet immediately. If not treated as early as possible, it may lead to serious complications like deafness. Hope, the above paragraphs have helped you understand causes and symptoms and learn a bit about the home remedies.