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Tips to Keep Pet's Ears Healthy

Submitted by Michael Adams on December 22, 2009

Your household pets depend on you to stay healthy, it’s therefore essential that you know how to care for their needs and meet them. One important area that requires attention but may often get neglected is keeping your pet’s ears healthy. A good practice is to regularly take your pet for a check up to the vet.

However, you don’t have to wait for scheduled check ups with the vet. Some of the following tips will help you care for pet’s ears while at home.

Your pet will usually be used to being held by you, so hoist him up on your lap or place him on a flat surface, where you can comfortably look into his ear.

Place one arm over the animal’s body and hold the head with your other hand. You can also gently grab the back of the animal’s neck to keep him still. Use your thumb and forefinger to gently roll back the ear flap. This will allow you to look into the ear canal. Watch out for debris, wax, or any discharge. Usually the animal’s ears should not give off a foul odor; however, if you notice any foul odor it could point to an infection or even an allergy. While some dog breeds have ears that stand straight up allowing for more air to flow into the ear canal and thus preventing ear infections; others such as Spaniels and Bloodhounds have floppy ears, and are more prone to ear infections because of restricted air flow. Some breeds such as the Lhasa, have a heavy growth of hair inside the ear canal. This hair needs to be removed regularly to prevent chronic ear problems; you can do this at home as part of regular grooming.

If you need to put ear drops, ear wash, or other medication into the animal’s ear, then hold your pet in the manner described above. Make sure to keep the ear flap open with your thumb and then pour the medication into the ear canal. When pouring ear drops, into your pet’s ear, avoid touching the tip of the nozzle to the ear, to avoid contaminating the bottle. Massage the base of the animal’s ear to spread out the ear drops across the ear canal. Be sure to wear clothes that you don’t mind getting messed, in case some of the medication spills on you while you are administering it to your pet.

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