Updated: August 11, 2022 by Kristen Chapple
If you’re a long-time cat owner, you most probably know that sometimes, cats don’t manage to properly clean their ears and that means it’s time for you to do it. But how? Well, your little furry friend won’t tell you for sure, so we’ll have to. Read on to find out how to clean your cat’s ears.
Some cats are great at grooming themselves, including ears, but others aren’t that proficient, and that’s when wax, debris or dust can accumulate in a cat’s ear, which can further lead up to all sorts of infections, and those aren’t a good thing for your cat’s health. That’s why you need to know how to clean your cat’s ears when needed.
How To Clean Your Cat’s Ears
For this task you should need about 10 to 15 minutes, olive oil or ear cleaner that you can find in pet stores, a bowl of warm water, cotton balls and a plastic eye-dropper.
The first thing you need to do is to start with a general grooming, removing all the excess hair around your furry friend’s ears. In some cases, you might need to remove excess hair from inside the ear canal, so take great caution when doing that not to damage the ear canal and injure your cat.
Following that, bring the ear cleaner or olive oil to body temperature by placing it into the water. Put a drop or two of the cleaner or olive oil into each ear canal and gently massage for about one minute.
The next step is to leave your cat alone for a few minutes. She’ll probably shake her head a lot, which will only help getting all the other debris out of her ears and into the external canals. After that time has passed, use the cotton balls to clean the liquid and all the dirt, debris or wax from her ears.
Don’t forget to reward your little furry friend for being patient and good while you cleaned her ears.
Other Things to Consider
Sometimes, cats can get ear infections or parasites like ear mites. You should always pay attention for any clues that can tell you about an ear infection.
These signs can be redness in the ear canal, bad smell of the ear, ear discharge, pain, swelling or lumps in the ear or excess scratching or rubbing of the cat’s ears.
If you notice some of these signs, you should contact the vet to establish exactly what type of infection it is and how to deal with it. You shouldn’t leave it like that, as it will probably only get worse and we don’t want that. Not to mention your furry friend.
