Dog Ear Mites Treatment and Symptoms

Dogs can really be cuddly and fun to have at your home. But a lot of care and attention must be put to them since they are prone to experiencing health problems such as viral or bacterial infections, immune abnormalities, metabolic disorders and allergies. The most common infection a dog can acquire is ear mite.

Ear mites in dogs are very infectious. They are crab-like in shape and they are very tiny. They survive by feeding on debris secreted from the ear of the dog, which makes it their thriving place. Ear mites should be treated and eliminated immediately because they can lead to serious ear infection. If not treated, it can cause loss of hearing leading to deafness. Although ear mites live in the ear canal, they can also travel and infect other body parts too such as its back, neck and tail. Ear mites are common among puppies since their immune system is weak and underdeveloped.

Symptoms of Dog Ear Mites

You need to observe your dog closely to know if he or she has infested these parasites. Some of the symptoms would be the following:

• The dog shaking head frequently
• Rubbing its head and ears against objects
• Scratching infected ear excessively
• Black or dark brown crumbly wax visible in the affected ear
• Due to irritation, the affected ear may appear swollen and accumulated with fluids
• There may be increase of earwax
• Observe for hair loss around the affected area

If you observe some black crumbs in the ear, these are dried blood. This means you should treat the dog immediately, or else the infestation may worsen and will cause more pain. It may burst the eardrum, and travel down into the middle ear.

Treatment

When treating a dog, an insecticide called pyrethrin must be used as ear mites medication. This may include ivermectin, fipronil and selamectin. The medication should continue regularly for two or four weeks until all the ear mites are gone. Other additional treatments would include medicated shampoo, sprays or dips to kill the ear mites on other parts of the body.