Why is my dog’s ear always so smelly?

Is your pet plagued by ear infections? Do you spend time and money at the veterinarian's clinic trying to bring relief to your beloved pet, only to find that another infection appears after a while? If so, you may want to try some more natural approaches to preventing and treating your pet's ear infections.

Dogs and cats have an incredible sense of hearing. To protect their hearing and prevent damage to the ear drum, their ear canals are L-shaped. The problem with this is that it allows the ears to trap parasites, moisture, debris, and earwax, and any of these can lead to ear infections.

Out of 10 dogs that come to me for grooming and holistic consult, I often have to tell 9 of my customers that their dog’s ears are infected. Many of them don’t even clean their dog’s ears and some leave it to the maid to do it. Ear infections are very common amongst cats and dogs and can cause severe irritation and discomfort in your beloved pet. All dog owners have to be well-informed about this disease.

There are three types of ear infection in dogs – the outer ear infection, middle ear infection, and the inner ear infection. It is easy to know if your dog has an outer ear infection. You'll often see the symptoms of this disease, which is usually characterized by inflammation, red and smelly.

Usually, an ear infection in dogs starts out as something like smelly dog ears, or you notice that your dog is scratching his ears continuously. This may be a telltale sign of an outer ear infection. If left untreated, the problem may go deeper and may develop into middle ear infection or even inner ear infection; sometimes causing severe damage to the hearing of our dogs. It is, therefore, always recommended that we seek treatment instead of letting the infection run their course.

Like any other diseases, prevention is the key. Ear infection in dogs can be caused by a lot of factors.To prevent ear infection in dogs, we need to know the various possible causes and then we can do our utmost to eliminate such causes.

Here are some common causes of ear infection in dogs:

• Bacteria and yeast
• Allergies
• Dog Ear Mites
• Foreign bodies
• Hormonal Imbalance

Common signs of an ear infection include:

• Shaking of the head and ears
• Excessive scratching or rubbing the ears and face
• Thick discharge or even bleeding from the ears
• Foul smell coming from the ears
• Pain, sensitive, sometimes swollen ear
• Overall changes in behavior including depression, tiredness and irritability

Before trying any form of treatment for ear infection, it is important that a proper diagnosis by the vet is obtained. Make sure that there are no foreign bodies inside your dog's ear. Brown waxy debris and other signs of infection could be caused by bacteria, by a fungus, or by ear mites. Without knowing exactly what the primary cause is, at the end of the day the infection will be sure to worsen. Appropriate treatment can only begin after a vet makes an accurate diagnosis. Check with your veterinarian / holistic practitioner before using any home remedies, and always get a diagnosis before applying treatments. Since dogs can get different types of ear infections, always have your dog's ears checked before using any medications.

Here are some tips to prevent ear infection in dogs:

1. Feed your dog a natural diet with the correct supplements and vitamins.
2. Strengthen your dog's immune system using natural supplements.
3. Keep water out of your dog's ears as it tends to be a breeding ground for bacteria.
4. For long hair dogs, make sure that you pluck out any excessive hair. Short hair dogs usually don’t have any excessive hair growing out but when you bathe your dog make sure you dry the ear properly.
5. Make it a point to check your dog's ears at least once a week for signs of infection and be prepared to act quickly in case of infection.
6. Clean your dog's ears regularly and do not use water to clean.

There are a few solutions that we can use natural remedies to deal with the nasty ear infection. Just remember, don' wait till it becomes worst. By then, it might take a longer time to recover.