How do vets check dog ears?
Katrina West
2025-08-17 13:32:13
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Your vet will check for ear mites by looking inside your pet's ear with a special tool called an otoscope. If your pet has an ear infection they'll need treatment to reduce the swelling in their ear. Your vet or vet nurse will let you know how to give your pet their treatment and can walk you through how to do this the best way. It’s best to get this removed by your vet if your pet has accidentally got something stuck in their ear, like a grass seed or sticky burrs. Sometimes, our pets can develop serious ear problems that don’t go away easily with treatments like ear drops or tablets. If you pet’s ear problem doesn’t clear up after treatment, you vet might want to have a proper look at the inner ear and try to flush out the problem with a water solution.
Roxane Heaney
2025-08-14 07:03:44
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Vets check dog ears by first feeling all over the pinna, the sticky up bits or the flappy bits, depending on the breed, to note anything that seems unusual. A normal ear flap is cool, soft and free from lumps and bumps or areas of pain. Then, they look in and around the ear canal itself, looking for anything that wouldn’t be expected to see. A normal ear canal should appear a pale pink colour, it may have a little wax but should generally be quite clean and not smelly. If your vet is checking for ear problems, they may look for signs such as painful areas, an offensive smell, reddened and inflamed skin in the ear canal, a lot of wax, or anything moving in the ear canal. New lumps or bumps that hadn’t been noticed before are also a sign of potential dog ear problems. Explain to your vet that you are keen to start doing your own basic health checks for dog ear problems so you can keep an eye on him between visits to the vet. They may show you any unusual things with your pet so you know what is already there.
Katheryn Kunde
2025-08-01 01:29:53
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Vets can conduct simple tests to diagnose a bacterial ear infection and prescribe topical solutions and or antibiotics. To successfully diagnose and treat problems with the ear it is always recommended to bring your dog to see us. If your dog is found to be suffering from an ear problem, the best course of treatment for the individual case will be prescribed, which may often be a course of antibiotics. Getting rid of foreign bodies in your dog’s ear, such as grass seed, can include your vet attempting to flush the ears or removing the items surgically while the dog is either under general anaesthetic or sedated. This will be followed with pain relief and antibiotics. Because there are so many different types of ear problems dogs can get the treatment varies from topical solutions and wipes to antibiotics and surgery.
Eldon Conn
2025-08-01 01:29:36
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The ears are very sensitive, so make the experience more comfortable for your dog by being as gentle as possible and rewarding them with plenty of positive reinforcement, like their favorite treats.
If debris is packed deep into the ear canal, it can prevent the medication from reaching the deeper parts of the ear closer to the eardrum.
This can also make it difficult or impossible for your veterinarian to evaluate the integrity of your dog’s ear drum.
Several factors are involved in treating ear infections, and ear cleaning is one important aspect that needs to be performed before certain topical medications are applied.
Ear cleanings are also often recommended as a maintenance routine for dogs prone to ear infections.
Ear cleaning helps decrease debris, bacteria and yeast inside the ear.
When a dog has an ear infection, excessive, abnormal debris is often present, making it difficult for the topical medications to reach the infection.
Bacteria and yeast can easily hide inside layers of debris inside the ear canal and, if left behind after the treatment course has been completed, lead to reinfection of the ear.
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