Dog Hearing and Dog Ears

Dog Hearing and Dog's ears are very important as they help the dog communicate and the dog also needs them for his sense of balance. Dogs that have long and flexible ears are more likely to suffer from ear infections than others. These dogs tend to shake their ears vigorously, scratch them, lose hair on them, get scabs on them, and they sometimes becomes swollen and red causing them to have pus and a nasty smell. It's also possible for dogs to sway to the side and lose his sense of equilibrium. If an auricular problem is left unsolved with, the treatment will be much more difficult and it can even cause the animal to lose his hearing, lose his sense of equilibrium, or suffer from chronic irritations. The hearing apparatus in a dog consists of the external ear, middle ear, and internal ear. When a dog has an ear problem the veterinarian will try to find out which is the infected part and if the problem is a hearing one, or if it is a more generalized disease. On occasions it will be necessary to anesthetize or sedate the dog so that the veterinarian can examine the dogs ear a little deeper. Other times an x-ray is necessary to check the dogs middle and inner ear. There are also other types of tests and diagnosis that can be done such as through biopsies, superficial scrapings, allergy tests, etc. The skin that covers the external ear is the most prone to getting allergies. When this happens it causes the ear to swell and itch a lot, and because humidity accumulates in those areas, it can cause bacteria and funguses to grow. These kinds of problems usually cause secondary infections and they are usually associated with some type of food allergy. Whatever the case of the dog, the veterinarian will usually do some tests to find what the cause of the allergy is in order to prescribe the correct medication.