The dog has hot ears and shakes its head. A dog’s ear hurts: it scratches the ear, shakes its head, it’s leaking, it’s swollen, what to do, how to treat it

Good owner can hardly miss a moment in the life of a beloved pet when the dog suddenly unknown reasons begins to scratch his ears and shake his head intensely. What to do in this case?

First of all, you need to determine the reason for this behavior. Exists great amount factors that can cause discomfort in the animal’s ears.

Otitis media

Most often, such symptoms lead the owner to think that his pet has a disease such as ear otitis, which is very common. If the animal does not receive timely treatment, then it will not only suffer, but may even die.

Ear otitis is not only a separate disease, but can also be a consequence of other diseases in the animal.

A dog can suffer from 3 types of otitis media, which in turn cause:

Ear mite.
Staphylococcal infection.
Allergy.

Veterinarian holding a series laboratory research and, having studied the disease, selects individual treatment for the dog. Prevention measures will certainly have to be aimed at the pathogen that provoked the appearance of the disease in the animal’s body.

As soon as the owner begins to notice that his dog has begun to scratch his ears and shake his head, he should immediately be taken to the nearest veterinary clinic.

Ear mite

Many veterinarians choose not to perform a series comprehensive research, allowing to identify the real reason diseases, and remove everything that to their eyes seems unnecessary to them from the animal. There are even specialists who will suggest that the dog owner not torment the animal and simply solve the problem in such a way as to perform an operation to remove the sore ear.

You should not immediately agree to an offer of this kind and rush to disfigure your loved one pet. It would be most advisable to ask the veterinarian to take the dog’s earwax for analysis, so that this sample can be used to understand the reason for the onset of the disease. If such an opportunity is absent for some reason, but the owner still wants to achieve the truth and see the reason for his dog’s suffering, then he must conduct the analysis himself at home. To do this, he will need a regular flashlight.

The owner must carefully examine the animal's ear affected by the disease. Most likely, he will not be able to see the causative agent of the disease with a flashlight because of its too microscopic size, and the mites can hide in the sulfur mass. It is impossible to see a tick with the naked eye, because their length is approximately 0.2 millimeters and they themselves are transparent.

The owner should use a cotton swab to take a swab from the dog's diseased ear and examine the wax under a magnifying glass. If there are mites in the animal's ear, they will be visible under a magnifying glass.

If there is a huge amount of mites in the earwax, the dog owner, in turn, will have to do the following:

Clean auricle dogs daily, using cotton swabs that will help clean the ears of dried elements of exudate. Many veterinarians are inclined to believe that the cotton buds It is best to soak it in green tea. For each diseased ear, it is necessary to take a clean stick in order to avoid transferring the causative agent of the disease from one ear to another (which may well be healthy) - ear mite.
Use antibiotics and other medications in treatment.

For the treatment of otitis in dogs, modern veterinary medicine actively suggests the use of an antibiotic such as Tresaderm. This drug is aimed at the complete destruction of not only the ticks themselves, but also their larvae; it also has a beneficial effect on various types inflammatory processes which can be caused by insect bites. The course of treatment ranges from 9 to 15 days. Many veterinarians recommend preventive measures drip the drug onto the animal’s withers.

Many owners clean their pets' ears with products based on fiproniloma. Such drugs are absolutely useless in the fight against this disease, as they are used to get rid of fleas.

Infection

In the event that a tick was not found to be the cause of the dog’s behavior, intense ear scratching and head shaking are associated with the presence of bacteriological infection . In this case pain syndrome will help you remove ear drops Sofradex, Ottipax, Ottinum. These drops are a completely harmless medicine; they are aimed at eliminating pain and itching in the ear.

These drugs contain anti-inflammatory, antipruritic and analgesic components. Ottinum and Ottipax contain only pain-relieving analgesics, while Sofradex contains the antibiotic Neomycin, which does this medicine most effective. Drops should only be instilled into a clean ear.

Allergic reaction

Ear disease can occur due to banal allergies. Unfortunately, today it can be quite difficult to identify an allergen. In this case, the owner will have to keep a diary in which he will describe in detail what food the dog ate, where he walked, what types of plants he sniffed, and so on.

Based on the entries made in the diary, you can identify the allergen and eliminate it from the life of your beloved pet. If the allergen was still not independently detected, the owner will have to seek help from a veterinarian, who will help determine the cause of the disease based on tests.

An illness in a beloved pet is always a test for the owner, and often one may not immediately recognize the symptoms of the illness in the animal’s behavior. For example, if a dog often shakes its head, presses its ears, or constantly scratches them, it is obvious that the animal is tormenting discomfort and pain. To fix the problem, you need to understand the cause of what is happening. It may be on the surface or hidden, but in any case, such behavior cannot be ignored. If a dog scratches its ears, the skin is damaged, which leads to additional pain.

Reasons for changes in animal behavior

The reason also happens not connected with illness - it could be foreign body, caught in the ear canal. In this case, you cannot solve the problem at home; it is better to visit a veterinarian. Extract foreign object necessary for an immobilized pet, because when removed, the dog will feel pain, so it may involuntarily twitch and the object will end up even deeper.

Very often, the disease in an animal occurs in hidden form. Need to understand the real reason discomfort and try to eliminate it, and you shouldn’t do it yourself.

If there are no assumptions, and the veterinarian has ruled everything out possible options, then comes into force therapeutic treatment. It consists of anti-inflammatory and sedatives. Possible reasons are determined by the body's reaction, so treatment proceeds from the opposite.

Diagnosis difficulties lie in the fact that the animal may shake its head and scratch its ears for several reasons. They cannot be determined in one visit to the veterinarian. If the disease is not obvious, then the owner needs to observe the condition of the animal and note what the changes are associated with.

Ear diseases of dogs

If your dog is shaking its ears, you should be wary: this may be the first sign of ear disease. The first thing you need to do is visit a veterinarian because ear disease brings great discomfort to the dog: it wants to itch constantly. When your pet shakes its head, it partially relieves pain because it... irritation large nerve fibers, distracting the animal from pain on small fibers.

The cause of ear pain is not always otitis media. There are many diseases that affect a pet's head and ears. The problem may be the appearance of ear mites, as well as otodectosis. In small breeds of dogs, weather dependence is still observed, which is accompanied by headache when changing atmospheric pressure.

Ear mite

If your Toy Terrier is shaking its ears, ear mites may be the cause. Because of it, the dog often shakes its head, scratches and curls up its ears; Scratching quickly appears on the face and back of the head. At the same time, the animal experiences severe pain and whines when examining the ears. Forms in a dog's ears brown coating, similar to plasticine.

If the dog has an advanced disease, then such discharge can clog the ear canal. At first, the discharge from the ears looks like ichor, but in advanced cases it becomes green color, sometimes pus is released. When an illness occurs, a toy terrier develops a characteristic odor from its ears. This is due to insect waste products, blood and earwax mix, so crusts form, which begin to exude putrid smell.

If the owner has examined the pet, and its ears are clean, pink and do not smell, then an injury to the ear or head can be ruled out. If an animal has a concussion, it will feel nauseous and dizzy.

Injuries and moisture

The reasons why a dog shakes its ears and scratches them can be the following circumstances:

Injury. Such a nuisance as ear injury is typical for breeds with long, sensitive ears that hang down to the cheekbones. The breeder must treat such animals Special attention and inspect them after each exit to the street.
Another common cause is water getting into the ears. This occurs as a result of the following mistakes: the dog is not bathed correctly; the pet is poorly dried after taking a shower; walking outside in the rain; swimming in ponds or the sea.

Yorkie ear disease

The Yorkshire Terrier is a delicate and sickly breed, so disastrous consequences cannot be avoided if water gets into the ear:

From a stagnant body of water, which is a rich source of bacteria and viruses that will begin to multiply quickly in a warm environment.
From the ocean or sea. The water there is salty and can burn your Yorkie's delicate skin. In addition, when swimming in the sea, microscopic mollusks can get into the dog's ear canal. IN medical practice There are cases where mollusks live in the ears for years, not only in animals, but also in people.
If water comes from detergent, mouthwash, shampoo or soap, then negative consequences can't be avoided.

In such cases, the pet needs to be provided emergency assistance . The ear is wiped with a damp cloth to clean it. Then you need to wipe with a paper napkin to absorb the moisture. This procedure must be repeated every time the animal shakes its head. Maybe the dog itself can get rid of the water in ear canal, but the owner must carefully monitor the symptoms, because with bacterial damage or infection of the ear, symptoms may not be detected for 4 days.

Otitis media in dogs

Many breeds with drooping ears suffer from ear infections. For example, Labrador dogs are often susceptible to the disease. If you carry out regular prevention, which includes cleaning and examining your ears, the disease can be avoided. In veterinary medical practice, there are a number of special factors in which an animal may suffer:

If the owner cannot understand why the Chihuahua is scratching its ears, it is necessary to check the signs and have the pet checked by a veterinarian for otitis media.

If a dog constantly tilts its head to the side, then most likely it has otitis media. When a pet shakes its head, it thus reduces the pressure in the ear, which leads to dulling of pain. Changes in the color of the ear and its microflora indicate internal otitis, occurring in a painful form. If a dog constantly scratches its ears or the area around them, then we can conclude that the Chihuahua either has ear mites or otitis media.

Types and their characteristics

After the initial infection, the disease develops rapidly and is accompanied by discharge. At first they are transparent, then ichor, blood or pus appears. Even before purulent discharge occurs, the ears begin to smell bad, which indicates the occurrence of putrefactive processes and the formation of pus. When there is more of it, it will come out. Very often, at an early stage of otitis media, the pet’s hearing deteriorates.

If the disease is accompanied by closure of the ear canal, then hearing may be completely lost. With any type of otitis, the animal experiences a deterioration in appetite and a lethargic state. On early stages diseases the ears become hot. When the infection reaches deeper layers and triggers the body's immune response, the body temperature rises.

It is necessary to correctly determine type of otitis, because the speed of recovery depends on the diagnosis. Otitis is divided into the following types:

Outer. The inflammation affects the visible part of the ear. In this case, infected scratches are often observed.
Average. This disease occurs in a painful form, it begins in a part of the ear that is invisible to the owner, and scratching also appears behind the ears. The first signs are abundant transparent discharge and slurping sounds that are observed when massaging the auricle.
Internal otitis is a hidden and painful form of the disease. There are no visual symptoms, but it is painful for the dog to move his head, so he turns his whole body. The first signs of the disease are anxiety and apathy, elevated temperature or refusal to eat.

Please note that the use folk remedies acceptable only in the early stages of otitis externa. If the dog is found purulent discharge, then in mandatory You need to visit a doctor, because the infection quickly goes deep into the ear and causes irreparable harm to the dog’s health.

Forms of the disease

It is known that many animals can tolerate otitis media without treatment. Some dog breeders become aware of the disease after a change in the shape of the ear. This happens because it occurs with different intensities:

Chronic otitis media. It is not so painful, and exacerbation occurs under certain conditions. For example, the cause may be hypothermia and walking in rainy weather. The cause of chronic otitis is physiology or incompletely cured acute otitis media.
Sluggish - this disease leads to complete complications, but it for a long time remains hidden and painless. The dog is itchy, the ear is wet, but there is no pus. Sluggish disease is most often found in the middle ear.
Acute is the most painful form with rapid infection. The disease begins as otitis externa, but it quickly affects the inner and middle part ear. The disease develops unilaterally, but the second ear begins to become infected during scratching.

You cannot delay any disease and self-medicate; you must take your pet to a veterinarian. Only he can make the correct diagnosis.

Attention, TODAY only!

If you notice that your dog is shaking his ears, pressing his ear, or scratching his ear, he is likely experiencing pain or discomfort in his hearing organs. In today's article we will try to find out the reasons for this phenomenon, and also tell you how to help your pet.

Ear diseases

After sleep, dogs shake their heads and scratch, which is normal for them, as well as some earwax. But if your pet shakes its head and ears constantly, and there is bad smell, this should be alarming.

Animals suffer from ear diseases much more often than we think. The dog often shakes its head violently, but the owner does not pay attention to it. The pet has no choice but to suffer in silence. After all, he cannot say anything, but only points out the problem with his behavior. If a dog whines, his temperature rises, his ears swell, and there is an unpleasant odor coming from his ears, this indicates that the animal has an otolaryngological disease.

Otitis media is common. This disease is caused by bacteria that cannot be completely eliminated from the animal's body. In the case when the body is able to give a strong immune response, microorganisms do not manifest themselves, but as soon as the body is weakened as a result of an unbalanced diet, the manifestation of the disease is obvious. The dog can also scratch its ears if it is allergic to specific product nutrition.

If a pet “caught” an ear mite, then a very strong inflammatory process develops. The animal is itching and shaking its ears. Dogs that have an open ear canal are susceptible to such diseases, as well as fold-eared breeds. A black ear inside may indicate the presence of a tick.

This is the only non-disease-related case where a dog shakes its head. In such a situation, you should not do anything yourself, but immediately contact a veterinary clinic. In order to remove a foreign body, the possibility of movement of the animal should be excluded. Otherwise, the four-legged friend will behave restlessly and turn his head, as a result of which the foreign object may penetrate even deeper.

Another common cause of head shaking is water getting into your ears. This happens when it rains and when swimming in ponds. If the water is clean, then nothing bad will happen. However, if the water is from a stagnant body of water, then microorganisms may enter the auricle. causing various infectious diseases.

In all other cases, the answer to the question of why a dog shakes its head is the presence of a disease.

Video “Dog shaking ears: treatment of inflammation”

In this video, your veterinarian will tell you why your dog is shaking its ears and how to treat it.

How to help an animal

Dogs tend to shake their ears sometimes, but we will now find out why a dog shakes its head constantly.

The first place to start is to examine your ears. This needs to be done not only outside, but also inside, as if turning the ear out. If you find inflammation, purulent discharge or blackness, you should immediately visit a veterinarian, who can prescribe heating, ultrasound, and also prescribe drops and medications. For otitis media, antibiotics are prescribed. They may prescribe rinsing the ears, and if necessary, surgical intervention.

Ear mites can be treated with special drops. This is a long process. If there are other animals in the apartment, then they also need treatment.

If you are the owner of a dog with non-standard ears, then you should properly care for them. In addition, the owner must know how to act if the disease is caused by the shape of the ears.

Why is delay dangerous?

If you suspect that your four-legged friend has an ear disease, then you should not postpone a visit to the veterinarian, otherwise there may be unpleasant consequences. Ear diseases have pronounced dynamics and progress quickly, which means that the dog will get worse and worse. The animal will begin to get irritated and behave aggressively.

For various inflammatory and infectious diseases, if treatment is not started in time, it may collapse eardrum, and inflammatory processes will affect the brain. In any case, you should not self-medicate.

It is very dangerous if it gets into the ear. sea water. Salty water will cause burns to delicate skin. In addition, microorganisms and mollusks can get into the auricle and live there for years, causing discomfort.

Your dog is handsome and a family favorite and brings joy, but suddenly he’s puzzled you with his behavior: he’s constantly shaking his head and scratching his ears. Let's figure out how to help your pet in this situation.

Possible reasons

If a dog scratches its ears, the causes of the disease may be:

Sometimes the reason why a dog scratches its ears may be genetic features shape of the auricle. Then the long shape does not provide sufficient ventilation, and long wool causes irritation and itching.

In what cases should you contact a veterinarian?

If your dog is shaking its head and scratching its ear, this could be a symptom dangerous disease. Contact a specialist for a diagnosis and prescription of medications if, in addition to itching, you experience:

reddish-dark sulfur deposits,
yellowish or reddish spots on the pet's ear,
unpleasant odor from the ears,
swelling and increased temperature of the ear,
tumor,
pet's hanging jaw.

If your dog constantly scratches its ear, lowers its head, or you notice that other strange symptoms– do not self-medicate. An animal may become aggressive due to pain.

Don't know what to do when your dog scratches his ear (but at the same time... dangerous symptoms no) – do it regularly hygiene procedures for cleaning your pet's ear. In this case, the puppy with early childhood He will get used to the operation and will ask to perform it himself. For this:

Buy liquid product for cleaning ears in a veterinary clinic.
Carefully pour the drug into the auricle, cover with a swab, and massage the auricle.
After a few minutes, remove the swab and tilt your pet’s head to remove the solution with dissolved earwax.

Treatment for itchy ears in dogs

Diseases cause severe discomfort in the animal. The dog often scratches its ear and whines, and long-term pain can provoke aggression even in a peaceful pet. At home, you can alleviate the itching, but make a diagnosis and prescribe adequate treatment Only a specialist can.

If your dog's ears hurt and it constantly scratches them, examine your pet, provide first aid to relieve the pain and contact a specialist for a diagnosis and treatment. Any ear disease is dangerous for a pet and can turn a friend into an aggressor. Be attentive to your little pupils, and they will bring you a lot of pleasure and joy.

The most common reason ear diseases in dogs - infestation (infection) with ear mites. The name of this disease is otodectosis.

Animals aged from 2-3 weeks to 1 year are most often infected. Puppies become infected from their mother. Adults become infected from stray animals, during walks, and when interacting with other dogs. Cats most often suffer from otodectosis. Transmission of the pathogen can occur through grass, dirty shoes and other objects with which the pet comes into contact. If measures are not taken, then ear scabies in a dog can cause complications in the form of otitis media, meningitis, followed by inflammation meninges. In this case, it will be extremely difficult to treat the dog.

How to recognize otodectosis?

It is important to determine in time why the animal is worried and why the dog scratches its ears too often. Even if a superficial examination does not reveal pronounced signs illness, it is recommended to take your pet to a veterinarian. After diagnosing ear scabies in a dog, the specialist will prescribe treatment, which will be easy and successful due to the early detection of infection.

Development of the disease

Serous discharge begins in the auricle. Use the corners of furniture to scratch your head. Subsequently, the serous discharge will be replaced by purulent discharge. An unpleasant putrid smell appears from the ears. On inside ear, a crust forms in the auricle. The dog whines, shakes its head, unable to find peace. Her hearing is significantly deteriorating. At the most late stages complications begin:

Otitis is an inflammation of the external ear canal; The dog has difficulty swallowing and may make circular movements towards the most affected ear.
Labyrinthitis (inflammation inner ear) leads to the fact that the animal sits tilted sore ear down (bowheaded).

On last stage disease, inflammation of the lining of the brain begins. The dog may experience nervous attacks, convulsions, and shakes. This stage is almost always fatal.

Treatment

In the early stages of ear scabies, you can do the procedures yourself, with the help of family members. Place the dog on its side, calm it down, and fix its head. Cotton swabs soaked (optional) in hydrogen peroxide, in solutions of furatsilin (1:10,000), boric acid(3%), rivanol (0.1%), moisten the affected surfaces of the ear. Wait a few minutes for the crust to soften and remove it. If treatment is carried out with the drug Otoferonol, then you can moisten the tampon with the same product.

It is necessary to clean the auricle from purulent and serous discharge, remove the crust, clean the ear thoroughly. This is an indispensable condition, without which subsequent treatment will be ineffective. Uncleaned dirt in the ear will not help medicine access to mites that are located under the epidermis of the skin. A new tampon is used each time for one action. This will prevent infection from spreading to healthy areas of the ears. Then you need to put some drops in your ear required amount medicines. It is advisable to keep the dog for a while in a motionless state, in which the treatment was carried out. After instillation, the dog shakes its body, the medicine flies out and the effectiveness of the treatment decreases. If possible, massage gently behind the ears with the pads of your fingers.

It doesn’t matter whether the dog’s second ear hurts or not, both are subject to the procedure.

Treatment must be repeated after 10 days. Otherwise, the remaining tick eggs will develop into adults and the disease will resume. In advanced stages, treatment is carried out by specialists. In case of complications (otitis media and labyrinthitis), surgery cannot be ruled out.

Drugs and medicines

Treating your pet nowadays is not difficult if you recognize the infection in time and do regular care. Pet owners have at their disposal a wide selection of treatments for their pets. All drugs for the treatment of ear mites can be divided into categories:

Ointments and gels.
Ear drops.
Drops in pipettes and emulsion concentrates.
Sprays.
Injections.
Drops on the withers.

It is most effective to treat a sick animal with drops in the ear. They have a direct effect on the causative agent of the disease - the tick. Drops "Otovedin", "Anandin-plus", "Otoferonol-Gold", "Otoferonol-Premium" are complex drugs. In addition to the direct acaricidal effect (they kill the tick), they have an anti-inflammatory effect.

You can give your pet injections based on ivermectin if there is a need for a complex effect on the dog’s body. Invermectin suppresses the development of helminthiasis (worms) in almost all parts of the animal’s body. Also effective against skin diseases: scabies, dermatoses, fleas and lice.

If everything is fine with the dog’s ears, you can still sometimes use drops on the withers. The most common and effective are “Advocate”, “Frontline”, “Stronghall”. Applying drops to the withers will help avoid infections during walks.

Invermectin-based injections cannot be used on collie dogs and their subspecies: bobtails, border collies, shelties, etc. These breeds have an intolerance to these drugs and their use can lead to the death of the dog. Why is this happening? During the selection process, the gene (MDR1) was mutated in Scottish sheepdogs and their subspecies, which caused increased sensitivity these breeds to opioids, some antibiotics, invermectin and steroids. Invermectin is also not recommended for pregnant or lactating female dogs of all breeds.

Prevention of ear mite diseases

Prevention of otodectosis is simple and is part of the normal daily care of your pet. Compliance with several simple rules allows you to prevent the appearance and development of this painful disease.

After each walk, during evening procedures, wipe internal surfaces ears with clean swabs or napkins. You can moisten them with gentle disinfectant solutions. For example, hydrogen peroxide.
Try to prevent your dog from coming into contact with stray animals, especially cats.
Regularly disinfect your pet's living area. If your dog has an enclosure, treat it with acaricidal sprays, in addition to regular cleaning.
Constantly disinfect equipment: collars, leashes, muzzles, toys and exercise equipment.