Treatment for Your Pet's Ear Infection
In acute cases of ear infections or otitis externa, the inside of the ear will appear red, swollen, moist, and sometimes ulcerated. A brownish or pus-like, odiferous discharge may also be noticeable. In chronic cases the inside of the ear may appear thickened.
Otitis externa is a painful and irritating disease. Animals with ear disease may frequently rub at the ear, shake its head and scratch the ear flap or base of the ear until it is raw and bleeding.
Ear infections can result from anything which irritates the ear canal. Allergies, excessive ear wax, excessive hair in the ear canal, excessive moisture in the ear canal and bacterial infections or yeast infections may all cause otitis externa. The disease may also result from injuries or foreign bodies such as foxtails which invade the ear canal, or from parasites such as ear mites or ticks. Tumors of the ear canal may also predispose the ear canal to infection.
Treating Chronic Ear Infections
Treating chronic ear infections can be a frustrating experience for the pet, the pet owner, and the attending veterinarian. The frustration comes from the fact that the infection can keep reoccurring and the pet owner not adequately understanding the disease process.
Most of the chronic ear infections that are referred into our hospital have a history of repeat visits to the veterinarian for ear cleanings and the owner instilling ointments or drops into the ears. The ears typically improve for a short period of time, but the infection reoccurs weeks or months later. This process may continue for years.
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| Dr. Zarrilli performs a deep ear cleaning procedure using a MedRx Earigator. This piece of equipment is a versatile Irrigation, Suction, and Insufflation system that used in conjunction with a MedRx Videoscope allows for state-of-the-art ear cleaning. | ||
To cure an infection several criteria have to occur. The infection must be able to drain properly, you need a dry environment, and medications need to be able to reach the source of the infection in adequate concentrations. The external ear canal does not easily allow any of these criteria to occur.
The ear canal is composed of two parts, the vertical ear canal and the horizontal ear canal. The vertical ear canal prevents easy drainage from the deeper horizontal canal, restricts air flow to maintain a dry environment, and when swollen, impedes delivery of medications.
In addition, dogs with droopy ear as compared to dogs with erect ears, have a much higher incidence of ear infections because the droopy ear prevents good air circulation into the ear. In our practice we estimated 90% of ear infections occur in breeds with droopy ears, the Cocker Spaniel leading the group. In those breeds that we crop their ears, or breeds that have naturally erect ears, the incidence of ear infections are less than 10%.
Reoccurring ear infections can also be a result of other ailments such as allergies which require life-long management.
Typically, if an ear infection lasts longer than 2-3 months, chances are high that the infection has spread to the middle ear causing a middle ear infection or otitis media. The middle ear is located past the ear drum and in the base of the skull. Once a middle ear infection occurs the chance of clearing up the infection with medicinal treatments is low. The reason is because of the inability to achieve proper drainage and the inability to delivery antibiotics to that area in adequate concentration to be effective.
Most long term, chronic ear infections will require surgery to effect a cure. Some surgeries such as lateral wall ear resections may only assist in managing chronic ear infections (unless performed very early in the course of an acute otitis). Other surgeries such as total ear canal ablations and lateral bulla osteotmies can completely resolve the chronic infection.