One of the main ingredients in dog grooming is ear cleaning. This procedure has several goals - from disease prevention to ear cleansing. But not everyone uses special solutions - someone prefers hydrogen peroxide. Can I use it?
The main thing is to be careful
Since ear cleaning is a procedure that can be performed on your own, it is recommended that you master this technique correctly and without causing pain or discomfort to the animal. For example, do not push the wand deeply, as this may interfere with the functioning of the middle ear.
It is also important to remember that each breed has its own characteristics. If you take the Basset Hound, for example, it has heavy, drooping ears. It is recommended to rinse or wipe them on both sides before cleaning. The auricle in such dogs is large enough, so the owner will not have any problems with cleaning it.
If you take a Shar-Pei, then in the case of it, you cannot use a cotton swab. Due to the small auricle, the stick may not collect sulfur, but seal it, forming a sulfur plug.
Should you use hydrogen peroxide?
In a variety of Internet sources, you can find a large number of tips and tricks for cleaning your dog's ears with hydrogen peroxide. However, experienced veterinarians and other specialists do not quite understand that for this you generally need to clean your ears with hydrogen peroxide.
For example, if your dog has a smooth, pink, and non-painful ear, then no medications or medications should be used for cleaning. In such cases, it is enough to treat the ears with plain green tea, which can be helped by cotton pads and sticks.
If local redness is found in the dog's ears, then you can cauterize it with hydrogen peroxide. And this is the only time that peroxide can be used. In all other cases, it is best to use other means.
Veterinarians are asked about the benefits of hydrogen peroxide in cleaning a dog's ears. At the same time, many refer to the large number of bacteria contained in the pet's ears, and also to the fact that if the multiplication of dangerous bacteria is not stopped in time, this can lead to inflammation and tissue infection.
In reality, this is not the case. If the pet is completely healthy, veterinarians recommend completely abandoning any medical procedures, including procedures for the ears. If we draw an analogy with children, then when caring for them, parents only need to clean the auricle of natural sulfur deposits.
Beginner's mistakes
Very often, beginners make the same mistake. They, looking into the dog's ears and seeing a little dark brown discharge there, immediately proceed to remove them. And it's good if they do it with an ordinary wet swab, because sometimes specialized otitis media are connected to this process.
It is important to remember that any, even a healthy dog, will always develop earwax in its ears. Its secretions protect the pet's auricle, so you shouldn't clean your dog's ears every time there is a slight wax build-up.
