The Ultimate Dog Ear Wax Color Chart: How to Keep Your Pup’s Ears Healthy

If you groom your dog yourself, then there are a few things that you should know about. The most important place to clean is the inside of the ears, which most people forget. 

But that shouldn’t be the case, as a proper clean, and healthy eardrum is important for your dog to have a clear hearing. 

This is why it is very important to clean the dog ear wax from their ears. However, there might be a lot of different reasons why ear wax collects inside your dog’s ears. 

These reasons and the ear wax colors are all collectively given in a table called the dog ear wax color chart. To look at this color chart, you need to scroll down the article and read through it. 

What Is Ear Wax?  

Cerumen, or what we call ear wax, is an organic substance that forms on the external area of your dog’s ear canal. It is an oily material that is secreted by the ear glands of your dog. 

The substance gets produced to protect the ear from external things like dead cells, debris, bacteria, dust, and other substance.

But since the ear wax is an oily substance, it is water repellent, but it doesn’t even allow any kind of moisture to reach the eardrum.

Do Dogs Have Ear Wax?

Yes, all dogs have ear wax which is also called cerumen. This oily substance is made with discarded gland secretions and skin cells. Cerumen is visible on the exterior part of a dog’s ear canal.

Dog cerumen might look unappealing, but in reality, it serves a vital purpose. The ear wax traps dead skin cells, pollen, and debris, which get carried out of the dog’s ear along with the wax. 

If this function didn’t exist, then excessive wax could accumulate inside a dog’s ear and end up causing some kind of a blockage which in turn could lead to infections. 

Since ear wax is exceptionally oily, it can repel water – this actually prevents excessive moisture from entering a dog’s ear canal. Plus, ear wax also has certain properties that can even control fungi and bacteria growth. 

Related Post: Understanding Your Dog’s Mood: A Guide to Interpreting the Dog Ear Positions Chart

Dog Earwax Color Chart:

Earwax in a dog can easily be distinguished into different colors in the form of a dog ear wax color chart. Here is the dog ear wax chart that is quite important to identify the type of ear wax.

Ear Cleaning Steps:

Cleaning the insides of a dog’s ear is not as simple as you might think; there is a particular process to it that you need to follow. 

If you clean and groom your dog by yourself and not by any professional, then you might forget to clean your dog’s ears. But it is very important to clean your dog’s ears from any injury or infection. 

Here given below are the steps on how you should properly check the insides of your dog’s ears by yourself. 

• It is a good thing that you don’t need any expensive tools to clean your dog’s ears. Rather, you will only need clean cotton balls, a roll of gauze, and your vet-approved ear cleaner. 

Make sure a vet-approved cleaner; other solutions might infect your dog’s ears, like chemical burns. You should only use cotton balls and not cotton swabs, as they can damage the eardrums and ear canals if pushed further in. 

• Place and hold your dog in front of you and squeeze the ear cleaner inside its ear for about 30 seconds. Then start massaging the base of their ear to let the solution spread. 

To avoid any contamination, you should not let the tip of the bottle touch the inside of your dog’s ears. 

• Let your dog shake their head vigorously in an attempt to remove all the solution from its ear. Once the ear wax becomes loose, wipe it out with the cotton balls. 

• Clean the wax debris from the outer ear. 

• Now repeat steps 2,3 and 4 multiple times till you find no wax debris on the cotton balls.

• Lastly, give your dog a treat for their cooperation. 

What Causes Excessive Earwax In Dogs? 

If you are wondering why your dog has ear wax, well, in that case, there are many reasons why ear wax is collecting in your dog’s ears. Following are a few reasons why dog ear wax happens; match the colors with the dog ear wax color chart.

1. Allergies & Hay Fever  

Allergies are the most common reason why dog ear wax collects inside your dog’s ears. Bacterial infection build up along the ear canal causes irritation and inflammation.
But it is also possible that your dog is suffering from hay fever; you can notice this if your dog scratches their ear excessively. In such a case, you should immediately consult your vet.

2. Infection  

The reason for the dog ear wax can be simply because of infection since some dogs get affected with an ear infection more than other dogs. If your dog is prone to such ear infections, then it is better to have them all checked out by the vet properly. 

3. Ear Mites  

Ear mites are infectious parasites that spread easily from one dog to another. These bugs or mites cause inflammation and pain when they bite. They leave brown and black colored dog ear wax along with red marks. 

Wrapping Up!  

Now that you know why it is important to memorize the dog ear wax color chart and know which color does what and the reason. If you think this article was informative for you, then don’t forget to give this article a like and also comment down below. 

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