animal care |

animal care : "Cleaning ears
Your dog’s ear is more L-shaped than yours, and debris loves to collect at the corner of the L. To remove this debris, fill your pet’s ear canal with a good ear cleaner. Ear cleaners should be slightly acidic but should NOT sting. Massage the base of the ear for 20-30 seconds to soften and release the debris. Wipe out the loose debris and excess fluid with a cotton ball. Repeat this procedure until you see no more debris. Depending on your pet’s ear condition, you may have to start out doing this twice a day.
Cotton applicator swabs can be used to clean the inside of the earflap and the part of the ear canal you can see. They should NOT be used farther down in the ear canal since that tends to pack debris in the ear canal, rather than removing it.
Some ear problems are so painful, the pet must be anesthetized to do a good job of cleaning the ears. You may find your pet does not like to have her ears cleaned because it is uncomfortable. Talking to her during the process, stopping momentarily to give her a treat if she's doing well (we don't want to reward fussiness!) and doing something fun afterwards may all help.
After the ear is clean, let the dog shake his head and allow some time for the ears to dry. Then you can apply any ear medication that was prescribed."

animal care |

animal care : "Allergies: Allergies are commonly treated with regular ear cleaning with an ear cleaning solution, antihistamines, and fatty acid supplements. Sometimes corticosteroids are needed. These may be given in an oral or injectable form, or they can be applied topically. Allergy testing and immunotherapy (hyposensitzation) may be the best way to cure the ear problem.
Ear mites: Ear mites can cause a dry, dark, crumbly debris in the ear that resembles coffee grounds. For this condition, ear cleaning followed by an ear medication to kill mites will eliminate the problem, although the treatment may need to be continued over several weeks depending upon the product used.
Yeast: Yeast can cause severe ear problems. We usually observe a brown waxy exudate and a bad odor. Daily cleaning of the ears will help, but often these infections are difficult to treat, and special medications need to be given since antibiotics do not kill yeast. If you suspect a yeast infection in your pet’s ears, consult your veterinarian.
Bacterial Infections: Bacterial infections can also have a bad odor and often have a more yellowish exudate. If it's a severe or chronic condition, ear cleaning alone will not take care of the problem and antibiotics will almost always be necessary. Again, consult your veterinarian. Ear infections of the canal, if severe, can spread to the middle and inner ear, so prompt attention to the problem is always best."

animal care |

animal care : "Because there are many potential causes of ear problems, we cannot just say it’s a bacterial infection, dispense antibiotics, and it will go away. Often more work is needed. Your veterinarian can use an otoscope to look down into the ear canal and determine the amount of inflammation present, if the tympanic membrane (ear drum) is involved, and if there are any foreign bodies, tumors or other potential causes of the problem. Swabs of the ear can be taken, smeared on a microscope slide, stained and examined for bacteria, yeast and mites. A thorough history and physical exam may help determine if this could be a hormonal, allergic or hereditary problem. If these are suspected, further diagnostic testing would be needed. If a bacterial infection does not respond to the first antibiotic therapy, a culture and sensitivity may need to be performed to select a different antibiotic.
Treatment
The treatment is going to depend on what caused the ear problem and what secondary conditions are there as a result. Antibiotics are used for bacterial infections and antifungals for yeast infections. Glucocorticoids such as dexamethasone are often included in these preparations to reduce the amount of inflammation in the ear. Ear problems caused by a systemic disease such as a hormone abnormality or allergy must include a therapy that treats the whole dog, such as hormonal replacement or allergy testing and hyposensitization (immunotherapy)."

animal care |

animal care : "Allergies: Dogs with allergies, either to food or something they inhale, often have ear problems. As a matter of fact, the ear problem may be the first sign of the allergy. Since the allergy changes the environment within the ear, we sometimes see secondary infections with bacteria or yeast. If we just treat the infection, we are not getting to the root of the problem. We need to treat the allergies too.
Parasites: The ear mite, Otodectes cynotis, is a common cause of ear problems in cats, but less common in dogs. Some dogs are hypersensitive to the mites, however, and the resultant itching can be intense. These dogs may scratch so much they severely traumatize the ear.
Bacteria and Yeast: Numerous types of bacteria and the yeast, Malassezia pachydermatis, cause ear infections. The normal, healthy ear has a good defense against these organisms, but if the ear environment changes due to allergies, hormone abnormalities, or moisture, the bacteria and yeast can greatly multiply and break down these defenses.
Foreign Bodies: Plant awns, those little 'stick-tights' that cling to our clothes and our pets' fur, can sometimes enter the ear canal. Their presence causes irritation, the dog scratches, and before you know it we have a traumatized, infected ear. So when you groom your dog after a walk in the woods, be sure to check the ears, too."

animal care |

animal care : "Signs of ear disease
Every day we see dogs who have problems with their ears. Signs of these ear problems include:
Odor
Scratching or rubbing of ears and head
Discharge in the ears
Redness or swelling of the ear flap or canal
Shaking of the head or tilting it to one side
Pain around the ears
Changes in behavior such as depression or irritability
Ear disease is one of the most common conditions we see in pets. The medical name for inflammation of the outer ear canal is 'otitis externa'. It is estimated that up to 20% of the dog population is affected by this disease.
Causes of ear disease
Dogs can have ear problems for many different reasons. When we see a dog with ear disease we need to think about the possibility of:
Allergies such as atopy or food allergies
Parasites - ear mites
Microorganisms - bacteria and yeast
Foreign bodies, e.g., plant awns
Trauma
Hormonal abnormalities, e.g., hypothyroidism
The ear environment, e.g., excess moisture and ear anatomy
Hereditary or immune conditions, and tumors "

animal care |

animal care : "Important Note About Cedar Bedding: cedar emits volatile compounds which are irritating to the respiratory tract (and may also cause changes in the liver). Pine shavings also release volatile compounds to a lesser but still significant extent. These beddings (particularly cedar) may also cause a skin sensitivity or allergy, and should be avoided. Aspen shavings or some other hardwood shavings are a better, safer option. Antibiotics: several antibiotics cause a fatal toxicity in hamsters. Penicillin, amoxicillin, ampicillin, streptomycin, dihydrostreptomycin, tetracyclines, lincomycin, erythromycin, vancomycin, cephalosporins, and gentamycin should be avoided."

animal care |

animal care : "Skin Diseases: hamsters can be infested with a number of mites, which can be identified by a skin scraping by a vet and treated accordingly. Ringworm (actually a fungal infection) can also occur, and requires treatment by a vet. Allergies and skin infections can also occur. Hair loss is not all that unusual and can be seasonal or happen in older hamsters. If there is flakiness or redness of the skin or any lesions on the skin, or the hamster appears to be itchy and scratching more than usual, a vet should be seen. Hamsters do have scent glands on their flanks which can be dark and sometimes alarm owners. These occur on both sides of the body and do not appear irritated or bother the hamster. Cedar bedding can also cause skin irritation or allergies in addition to lung problems so should be avoided.
Hibernation: if the room temperature is allowed to drop below normal room temperature, hamsters will go into a sort of hibernating state, where they are very still and breathe very slowly. Many owners panic and think their hamster is dying or dead, when might be a matter of the hamster getting too cold (for exapmle if the owners go away for the day and turn the thermostat down in the house). Rewarming the hamster should be sufficient"