Ears

Over my few years in veterinary practice I have noticed there are a lot of common misconceptions about ear infections pets. Here are some of those myths demystified-all through the use of real life examples!

1. Ear infections in dogs (especially dogs living inside with no cat contact) are almost never caused by ear mites. Therefore treating your dog with a 3 week course of OTC ear mite medicine prior to seeing the veterinarian is not an appropriate course of action. Also, as more recently suggested to me, ants do not cause ear infections.

2. If any of the following have occurred the problem probably did not start "yesterday"

a) Your pet's ear canal is thickened, narrowed, or deformed

b) There is pus draining from your dog's ear

c) There is blood coming from the ear

d) All of the above

3. The following substances are not likely to be appropriate home remedies for an infection

a) Tap water
b) Alcohol

c) Hydrogen Peroxide

d)Hand cream

e)Cigar smoke

f) The expired bottle of Amoxicillin drops you had leftover from a sick cat

I hope this has been as entertaining and educational for you as it was for me. I'm sure I could have endless stories and information like this if I kept track and have contemplated writing a veterinary themed blog but am not sure I have time. So let me know if anyone thinks that would be worthwhile or interesting to them or what they would like to read about if I did ever pursue writing another blog.