Spaniel ears: how to care? Possible diseases and their treatment

Spaniels - this is the most popular hunting dog for today. This friendly creature is ready to go many kilometers alongside the master in the forests and marshes, help drive the duck out of the shelter and pull the shot from the lake. In this spaniel has good health, which is very important if you are an avid hunter.

However, the ears of a spaniel need constant care and attention. If you decide to choose this breed, then prepare the cotton buds and tune in for a daily inspection. Charming ears is a kind of a visiting card of this breed, but creates additional difficulties in the care.

Prevention is the best treatment

Spaniel ears first need to be ventilated. The hanging position promotes the accumulation of sulfur and the development of a variety of infections. An additional factor is the overgrowth of the ear from the inside with wool. Thus, ideal conditions for the development of pathogenic infections are ensured.

Therefore, the spaniel's ears are recommended to be carefully shaved or plucked from the inside. If the pet is not accustomed to such procedures, then it is possible to short-cut the hair with a pair of scissors, as a last resort.

Natural airing

There is another available preventive measure. The ears of a spaniel can be lifted over your head by fixing a soft clamp or a rubber for your hair. This is especially true during meals. If you do not do this, after the meal you will have to wash out the outer and inner surface of the ear, and the likelihood that the water will get inside the auricle. Often this leads to inflammatory processes.

On a walk

Walk representatives of this breed love very much. Active games and exercises in the fresh air strengthen immunity, normalize the work of all organs and systems. The ears of a spaniel are very dirty on a walk. The dog runs around, clutching a curious nose to the ground, and long "canvases" hang around the ground, collecting dust and microbes.

Coming home, any owner will try to clean his pet. A wetted, but not completely washed ear becomes an ideal incubator for bacteria. Therefore, before going out to the street, take care to fix your ears high on your head. To do this, you can come up with a band-band of soft rubber bands. The simplest version will be a piece of kapron stocking. It's fast, cheap and perfectly helps keep your ears clean.

Regular inspection

We have already mentioned that it is necessary to regularly inspect the entire ear cavity. Before this, prepare the cotton buds and discs, warm water. Lay your pet on his side and caress so that he lies quietly during the procedure. Now completely turn the ear inside out and carefully examine it.

Since it is not difficult to brush the ears of a dog, there is no need to apply to the veterinarian every time. We offer you a general scheme, following which one can maintain their ideal state.

Basic Actions

If inside the cavity is heavily overgrown with hair, then take the nail clippers and cut all the long hairs, opening the ear canal. Now you can assess the presence of sulfur deposits. If they are few, the skin is pale pink, then this time you can do without special cleaning.

And how to clean the ears of a dog, if you see that a lot of sulfur has accumulated? In this case, take a cotton pad, lightly moisten it with warm water and squeeze it well. In the depths of the ear, you do not need to climb a stick, only remove what you see. If the last days you noticed that the dog scratches his ears, it makes sense to connect special drops. However, do not forget to consult a doctor.

Return from the hunt

If you often spend time outdoors, then the cocker spaniel ears need more care and care. The most important thing is to prevent moisture from entering the ear canal to minimize the likelihood of an inflammatory process. A working dog swims into lakes and rivers to ensure the delivery of game. If during bathing in the bathroom we can plug the ear passage with cotton balls, then on the hunt the dog should keep the perfect hearing.

In order to protect your ears, it is recommended to carefully shave the hair inside and lubricate the entire skin with sunflower oil. This will prevent water ingress, but does not guarantee 100% protection. Therefore, after the end of the hunt, a number of procedures must be performed without delay:

• Carefully inspect the coat and ears for parasites.
• Drain the cavity with cotton balls.
  

Practical tips

How does the host determine when to intervene, and when the condition of the auricle is fully consistent with the norm? A hunting dog with long ears is a very beautiful creature, but anatomy suggests that the owner should have certain nursing skills and know what to do in one way or another.

1. Open the auricle. If the skin inside is pink and slightly warm, then you can finish this on a preventive check. Do not forget to praise the pet for endurance.
2. The presence of a thick brown sulfur - this is an occasion to immediately arm yourself with special napkins or cotton buds and remove it from the sink.
3. If you find blood-sucking insects, it is extremely important to remove them quickly with tweezers. In the summer, especially if you regularly visit the forest, such examinations should be regular.
4. If the dog shakes his ears, this is an alarming symptom. For the first time you can pour in the ear a little special lotion and make a neat massage of the auricle. After that with the help of cotton balls you need to remove excess fluid. If every time after sleeping the dog shakes his ears or scratches them with the paw, then always consult a doctor. Probably, the reason is an ear mite.
5. It is much worse if the dog has an earache. This is easy to understand, since the pet loses its activity, begins to lie more, lowes the head, groans when trying to scratch the ear or touch it.
6. Inflammatory diseases, otitis media - this is very serious, since they can give a complication in the inner ear. As a result, prolonged and complicated treatment may be required. Therefore, if the dog has an earache, then do not self-medicate, but go straight to the doctor.
   

Cleaning technology

Speaking about how to clean the ears of a spaniel, it must be emphasized that it is the anatomical features of the breed that create some difficulties. For example, the owners of a Rottweiler or a German Shepherd can for life not know what this procedure means. It is the long ears of short-legged dogs that are the most problematic. However, everything is not so difficult, and, after a little practice, you will easily perform all the hygiene procedures.

• Caring for the ears of a spaniel involves regularity, so first of all you need to accustom your pet that it is necessary. Do not catch the animal specially, it is better to time this procedure to the minutes of affection. When the dog lies calmly, open the sink and inspect.
• During the cleaning process, you need to talk with the pet and praise him. This is extremely important in order to make it easier for you to start your examination in the future, and for this you need hygiene to be associated with positive emotions.
• First, moisten the wet disc and draw it several times over the inner surface. Now you can close your ear and massage. With light movements, you will mow your ear, and all dirt and sulfur will dissolve easily.
• Now you can start cleaning the sink. Sulfur is usually easily removed with a cotton pad. You can put the order inside the bends with a cotton swab. Usually dogs tolerate massage very well, moreover, it brings them much pleasure.
• If the dog is large, then there is no sense in wielding ear wand. Just wrap your finger in a strip of gauze, soak in a special lotion and clean the sink. Remains of dirt can be removed using a special disk.

Must remember

For each ear uses its own set of wadding disks, rods and tampons. In addition, it is desirable after the treatment of one ear to change the solution in which you wet the discs and wash your hands. This will prevent the transfer of infection from one ear to another, provided that it is there.

After the procedure is completed, wipe dry the inner surface of the ear and open the sink until it dries completely. For this, it is most convenient to use a mesh elastic band. Just put it on the dog's head and fill it with ears.

Ideal option is to use after cleaning a special powder, which well dries up the surface and removes moisture residues. Instead, you can use a small amount of starch. But watch that he does not fall asleep in the ear canal.

Watch the reaction of the dog

If your pet is calm or showing signs of pleasure, then everything is going well. You can massage it lightly and wipe the sink and let it go. But if a dog scratches his ears and begins to worry, this can indicate a number of diseases, ranging from a tick to an inflammatory process.

Usually, symptoms are activated by outside intervention. Therefore, if your pet simply shook his ears and calmly went to his place, it's normal, he shook out the remnants of the lotion or water. If he starts scratching his ears with claws, then contact the veterinarian.

Use of special tools

We purposely do not call special means for the care of the auricle, but also for the treatment of diseases of the organs of hearing. The fact is that if the dog is healthy, its ears dry and pink, odorless, they do not leak liquid, then the use of any means does not make sense. Wipe off the sulfur and dust can be a simple wadded disk moistened with water.

Folk remedies (hydrogen peroxide, manganese and others) can burn the mucous membrane and bring more problems. If they are seriously ill, they will not help, and for prevention they are useless, so their use is a big question.

Special veterinary drugs for fighting the ear mite, as well as for the treatment of otitis and inflammatory processes of the hearing system, should be prescribed by the attending physician. Their use at their own discretion is permissible only in an emergency situation, when a veterinarian is unavailable, and the animal is severely affected by pain. In all other cases, you must first identify the cause of the disease, and then get the appointment of a doctor.

Ear Scabies

Ear scabies in dogs, or otodicosis, is a common disease that is caused by extremely unpleasant and harmful parasites. They settle on the inner surface of the auricle and in the ear canal. They feed on blood and particles of the epidermis. A few ticks, caught in the ear to the dog, cause only a slight itch. But the colony is growing, the animal starts shaking its head, rubbing its head against the corners, scratching its ears with claws, tearing them to blood. In the area of the ears, non-passing wounds and abscesses are gradually forming.

The neglected form of this disease leads to injuries of the tympanic membrane, meningitis (inflammation of the spinal cord and brain) and arachnoiditis (inflammation of the arachnoid and soft shell of the brain). Before you treat your pet, you need to put the right diagnosis. If the problem is only in the ear mite, then it can be dealt with with the help of special drops "Otibiovin", "Masti-forte", "Tera-delta", "Aurikan" or "Ovtedin".

Otitis in dogs

As we have already said, ear mites can lead to the development of inflammatory processes in the ears, that is, to otitis. However, the inflammation of the auditory can lead to overgrowth of the auditory canal. In this case, surgical intervention is required, the drugs in this case will not help.

Allergic otitis is another common cause. There are breeds that are more prone to allergies, but this can happen with every dog. In this case, the veterinarian removes inflammation with antibiotics and prescribes antihistamines.

A tumor in the ear canal is another cause of inflammation. But on this list does not end. The cause of otitis can be the ingress of a foreign body into the ear or hormonal imbalance, the ingress of water into the ear.