Dogs are some of the best friends we could ever ask for. They will always look out for you, and in return, we should always be looking out for their best interests. Whether you are looking for the healthiest food to feed your dog, or you are wondering how long you should exercise them optimally, it is important always to have your dog's best at heart as they would invariably do the same for you.
Dog Ear Infections
If you are a trucker or you otherwise want to take a long journey away from home but you cringe at the thought of leaving your dog in a kennel, there are solutions.
Your first choice would be to leave your dog with friends or family who is properly suited to deal with your animal, and you trust them. Not all of us have the luxury of friends with enough space for a dog or family in the same city, unfortunately.
In these situations, it becomes a choice between leaving your dog in a kennel for a tremendously high price and questionable care conditions or bringing your pet along with you.
It is not as much of a hassle as it may seem at first when you decide to bring your pet along with your on a trip. All you will need is enough space in your truck, a pet crate just in case and some extra dog bowls for water and food.
An important consideration to make before you bring your dog with you on an extended journey is whether or not you have the training to care for your dog's health in certain situations adequately.
Previously, we have discussed how to deal with your dog choking, but there are other health considerations to make such as dealing with ear infections, rashes and other forms of health problems.
Today, we will be focusing on how to help your dog on the road with an ear infection. If you are on the road, you will, unfortunately, have limited access to veterinarians and other resources with which you may help your dog heal.
While most ear infections do in fact pass over time, there are certain steps you can take to improve the healing time of your pet.
Even if you are not on the road, you may prefer to take an alternative method in treating your pet's ear infection, as they may have allergies to antibiotics or other forms of ear infection treatment.
Perhaps your dog will not accept the medication your vet gave you, or your vet is quite simply too far out of the way to make a trip over an ear infection reasonable.
If you have ever experienced an ear infection, you know that it is one of the most painful experiences you can go through, so it is reasonable to want to mitigate the amount of suffering your dog must endure over the course of its infection.
Regardless of the method you choose to care for your dog’s health issue, it is important to undertake it safely and with a good idea of what you are doing.
Why You Should NOT Use Hydrogen Peroxide For Your Dog’s Ear Infections
While hydrogen peroxide has been proven to be effective at reducing bacteria through the chemical reaction which incurs when it is used, it is important not to use it if you plan on clearing the bacteria causing your pet’s ear infection. The reason for this is as follows.
Hydrogen peroxide reacts and kills most bacteria in the ear when you use it. This is not a good outcome as the ear contains quite a bit of bacteria both good and bad, and hydrogen peroxide does not discriminate in these terms.
So while you may be killing off a good amount of the bacteria which is responsible for your pet’s ear infection, you will also be killing a good portion of the good bacteria which must thrive in the ear for healthy functioning.
The next downside to using hydrogen peroxide is that it leaves behind a byproduct of water when the reaction has been completed, leading to a dark, warm and wet environment inside your pet’s ear canal.
Now, in the case of humans, you can just tilt your head over and get the water out of your ear. In the event of dogs, it becomes a little more complicated as their ears are closed, and it is far harder for liquids to leave their ears.
Other Products You Should Not Use
Rubbing alcohol is another bad choice if you are planning on helping your dog with their ear infection. While alcohol is indeed known to lead to the death of bacteria which can build up and cause an ear infection, you must consider what it feels like to put pure alcohol onto a wounded area.
In addition to causing your dog an immense deal of pain, which is the main reason why you should never do this, even if it will kill off most of the bacteria (once again both good and bad) in the ear, your dog will develop an aversion to having things in its ear.
This will make treating ear infections in the future far more difficult than it should be as your dog will be afraid or even hostile when you attempt to administer a remedy. It is for reasons such as these that you must take care when giving your dog a home remedy for its ear infection.
You must thoroughly research the effects of any of the remedies which you use and the potential side effects they may cause.
As we stated earlier, dogs' ears are different to people's ears in that they are harder to drain off fluid such as water or anything else.
If you have any questions about any of the products you will use to aid your pet with its ear infection, you shouldn't hesitate to phone your vet and ask away. If they tell you it is unsafe to use a certain solution, you should trust their experience in working with animals.
Natural And Home Remedies For Canine Ear Infections
There are many useful natural treatments which can be used to treat your dog’s ear infections. You do not always have to go to the vet to buy more antibacterial washes when your pet has an ear infection as many of these solutions will do just as good of a job to aid your pet in overcoming their ear infection.
The first choice you have for a natural ear infection remedy is similar to what you would use to aid a child in the case of ear infection with available home remedies.
Natural oils do a great job at helping your pet with its infection. The most efficient ones at clearing ear blockages tend to be olive oil and coconut oil.
Simply warm it up a little bit before administering a few drops to your dog's ear. Warm it up to levels that would be comfortable for the inside of your ear. The objective of heating up the oil is to make it more easily break up the wax and pus which builds up over the course of an ear infection and puts pressure up against the eardrum, causing pain.
The method of helping an ear infection with oils has been in use for a long time and will even help you if you need a way to reduce the pain of your ear infection without antibiotics or if you have yet to see the doctor and you need a bit of a reprieve.
The next method which can aid your dog over the course of an ear infection is an herbal wash. These natural washes help build up a resistance against ear infections for your dog’s outer ear, so it will become less likely for another infection to occur after the end of the current one. This is more of a preventative measure which is better used in a proactive fashion.
If your dog is currently suffering from an ear infection, the best method is to use the warm drops of oil to break up the wax and other fluids in the ear and then administer an herbal rinse to your dog’s ear once the ear infection has subsided and your dog is once again doing well.
If these methods do not work and the ear infection persists for a period longer than a week, you should seek veterinary aid for your pet.
Conclusion
We hope that we have been able to provide some advice for taking care of your dog's ear infection without the aid of a vet. Remember always carefully to research any of the solutions you choose to attempt, and if they do not work, do not hesitate to seek the help of a vet in the long run.