Dog is a lovely furry friend to keep you company. Aside from its cuteness and unhinged loyalty, there are threats from the outside that may harm your dog’s physical health. One of the most common ones are dog ear mites.
What Are Dog Ear Mites?
Ear mites are parasites that usually live in furry animals like cats and dogs. Specifically for dogs, the mites usually like to reside in and around the dog’s ears.
The mites’ appearance usually look like transparents bugs living in the ear canals. What makes this disease one that you need to take serious care of is because it makes your dog quite uncomfortable.
The ears will also become easy to itch and can cause infection if the dog keeps scratching it.
Symptoms of Ear Mites in Dogs
There are several symptoms of ear mites in dogs you can detect before it gets worse. To ensure you are getting the right signs, here are the symptoms you can anticipate as you check your dog.
Itchy Ears
Once a dog get infected by ear mites, it usually keep scratching its ears. It is due to the fact that it can get really itchy when the mites are roaming around in your dog’s ear. Notice if your dog becomes restless and keep touching its ears.
There is a difference between cleaning itself and scratching the ears due to itchiness. If the scratching continues, bring your dog to the vet or use natural remedies for ear mites in dogs.
Shaking Head
A dog shaking its head may look like an ordinary behavior. However, if you notice the dog keep shaking its head as if it tries to get rid of something, it may be the sign that the mites are infecting your dog. Since mites usually reside on the dog’s ear canals, it will move its head trying to make the mites go somewhere else.
Physically check the dog if the shaking heads continues and see whether the mites are residing in your dog’s ears or not. Also, one of the best ear mite treatment for dogs is by having it cleaned by a vet regularly.
Thick & Discolored Ear Lining
Healthy ears have a pinkish color and are clean of any debris. However, if the mites start infecting your ears, the ears become discolored and thick with ear debris. Even worse, their ears may also look disfigured if the infection spreads and gets worse.
Ear mites in puppies happen a lot in stray dogs and unattended pets since they do not have a caretaker to check on them. That would be a different case if you are a dog’s owner. Regularly checking your dog’s ears will help to not make the infection gets worse.
Infected Ears
The most obvious symptom of ear mites is a mites dog ear infection spreading around in your dog’s ears. The infection usually occurs because the continuous scratching makes your dog’s skin vulnerable to strange particles and creates the infection.
If you see the dog’s ears have become disfigured or have one wound, try to consult with a veterinarian to treat the infected wounds and get it cleaned.
Those are the symptoms of dog’s ear mites that you need to be aware of. Once you detect that the dog starts showing signs of getting mites’ infection, especially in the ears area, you may start looking for ear mite medicine for dogs.
There are two kinds of medicine that you can try to cure your dog’s ear infection and get rid of the mites.
How Do Dogs Gets Ear Mites’?
Before taking ear mite treatment for dogs to try to treat the infection, get to know how dogs get ear mites and how to avoid it in the future.
There are some places and conditions that can cause mites to invest in your dog’s ears. Here are some examples of them so you can avoid them later.
Contact with Other Dogs
The first cause that spread mites into your dog’s ears is contact with another dog. Your dog can be vulnerable to get infected if it plays with another dog who has already got mites inside their ears.
As you can see, mites can easily jump and create a habitat inside the dog’s canal ear just by close distance. Therefore, ensure your dog does not have contact with another dog that has mites infection and always prepare ear mite medicine for dogs.
Playing on A Grassy Field
Mites can invest in your dog’s ears if it frequently plays on a grassy field. An outdoor place with a lot of trees and grass are prone to have mites living and seeking for new places to invest.
While your puppy is running around happily, the mites unknowingly may climb up to your dog’s ears and manifest themselves until they infect your dog.
Infrequent Check Up
As a dog owner, it is better to always do regular check-ups for your dog. Mites are contagious and easy to spread. If you do not ensure its health inspection, you may find your dog getting the mites infection worse.
So, how to get rid of those mites in our dogs?
Treatment for Dog’s Ear Mites
In general, there are two types of treatment mites dogs. The easier way is to bring your dog to the newest veterinarian to get your dog checked up. Normally, they will check on your dog’s ears and use the normal procedure to get rid of the debris and treat the infection.
There are also home remedies for ear mites in dogs that you can try as an alternative and cheaper way to treat the mites without having to come to the vet.
For further information about the treatment, read about the ways here.
Conclusion Dog’s Ear Mites
Ear mites in dogs can be a sad sight to see for any dog’s owner. However, if you treat the mites and the infection effectively, your dog will not be in any harm. Remind yourself of the symptoms that commonly occur and check them up regularly. Some natural remedies may also work but taking the dog to the vet may be the best option. Get your nexgard ear mites treatment soon to avoid any serious damage for your dogs.