Hope Animal Hospital Spring/Summer 2007 Newsletter

Hope Animal Hospital Spring/Summer 2007 Newsletter

Ears

Inside the Ear

The two major functions of the ear are the reception of auditory signals and the maintenance of balance. These functions can be impaired by lesions or infections anywhere within the ear. Therefore, it is important to maintain the ears of your pet.

Canine and feline ears are similar to humans in that they are divided into three sections: the external ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. The pinna funnels sound waves into the vertical and horizontal canals of the external ear. These canals lead to the ear drum which separates the external ear from the middle ear.

The middle ear transforms these sound waves into fluids vibrations, triggering nervous impulses in the cochlea of the inner ear. Any disruption of this process can affect your pet’s hearing and/or balance.

The lining of the external ear canal is made up of multi-layered, scaly skin containing sebaceous (oil) glands, apocrine (sweat) glands and hair follicles. Normal earwax is a mixture of secretions from these glands. When inflammation occurs, these glands are impacted and their secretions increase greatly, possibly blocking the auditory passageway.

A frequent concern for many pet owners is ear disease. Approximately 20% of all animals brought to veterinary hospitals have otitis externa.

Ear Disease: The Importance of Good Hygiene

What Is Otitis Externa?

Otitis externa is one of the most common ear diseases found in household pets today. Otitis externa is the inflammation of the external auditory canal and can cause great discomfort to the animal. The condition may present itself with a variety of different symptoms, including shaking of the head (the most common), scratching of the ears and malodor of the ear canal. As the condition worsens, symptoms may elevate to red, swollen and exudative ears.

What Causes Otitis Externa?

A host of primary diseases are complicated with secondary otitis externa. The most common are:

Atopy- an allergy to something in the environment characterized by scratching, paw licking and face rubbing.

Food Allergy- an allergy due to hypersensitivity reactions to certain foods or food additives.

Seborrhea- excessive or abnormal production of oil in the skin and ear canal, and the formation of greasy or dry, scaly skin.

Ear Mites- parasites which commonly cause the onset of otitis externa. Once the disease is initiated, ear mites will leave the ear canal or be destroyed by inflammation or secondary infection.

Foreign bodies- such as dirt, grass awns, loose hairs, etc. are frequently responsible for otitis externa especially in certain areas of the country.

Why is Otitis Externa so common?

Dogs are more likely than cats to suffer from otitis externa. The canine ear has some distinct characteristics that lead to the increased probability of acquired otitis externa.

The canine ear canal is deep and curved. This allows debris, wax and excess moisture to collect.

Certain canine breeds have ears that flap down, covering the opening of the vertical canal. Proper ventilation of the ear canal is restricted, thus inviting bacteria and fungus to grown. This characteristic coupled with concurrent allergies accounts for 80% of otitis externa cases in dogs.

Prevention and Treatment

If your pet develops any evidence of otitis externa, an otoscopic examination by your veterinarian is recommended. To aid in the prevention of this ear disease, good general hygiene practices should be followed. These include cleaning your pet’s ears on a routine basis. Regular cleanings with result in:

Removing foreign bodies.
Removing wax or purulent exudate.
Removing bacterial toxins and cellular debris.
The promotion of a healthy ear.

Ear Mites

Ear mites are very small insects that infest the ear canal of dogs, cats, rabbits and ferrets. They are HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS from pet to pet, and are frequently found in entire litters of puppies and kittens. Ear mites spread by direct contact with an infested animal. They are not contagious to humans.

Common signs of ear mites include scratching at the ears and/or shaking the head. A black, dry, crusty material is observed in the ear canals of dogs, cats, and ferrets. Rabbits usually have a white crusty material in the ear canals. When examined under the microscope, ear mites look similar to a small crab.

Ear mites irritate the ears leading to raw lesions that may then become infected with bacteria or other germs. Secondary bacterial infection is very common. If left untreated, severe ear infections, as well as deafness may occur.

Since ear mites are infectious to other pets in the household, it is recommended all pets be treated at the same time to prevent infestation spreading back and forth.

Inside Hope Animal Hospital

We are having a BBQ for H.O.P.E. (Helping Orphaned Pets Everyday) on May 12th. Please come and enjoy our BBQ and register to win different raffles. Jan Gray a licensed Aesthetician and Massage therapist will be supporting us by providing chair massages for $1.00 per minute from 130pm-400pm. All proceeds will go to the HOPE fund.
On May 18th a portion of proceeds made at Hope Animal Hospital will be donated to Open door, please come and support this great cause.

Read the Winter 2007 Newsletter