Dog ear infections

Ear infections are quite a common problem for dogs, and most infections are caused by allergies, yeast, ear mites, bacteria, hair growth deep within the ear canal, and more. Symptoms your dog may have that would indicate an ear infection include:

•     Head shaking or head tilting to one side
•     Ear odor
•     Vigorous scratching of one or both ears
•     Lack of balance
•     Unusual back-and-forth eye movements
•     Redness of the ear canal
•     Swelling of the outer portion of the ear
•     Brown, yellow, or bloody discharge

In most cases cleaning and medicating the ear canal will quickly clear up any infection. Surgery may be required however for chronic infections. For example if your dogs forceful head shaking results in the rupture of a vessel within the outer part of the ear.