Clean Your Cat’s Ears: When, Why And How To Do It Properly!

Clean Your Cat’s Ears

Although the most cats are proficient when it comes to grooming, sometimes they do need a little help from you to stay clean and healthy – mostly when it is about ear. A regular at-home habit of your kitty’s ears checking will help you to determine the sign of some common ear issues like ear mites, fungal infections, bacterial infections, ear wax buildup, allergies, etc. You can prevent such serious issues by cleaning ear properly.

Cleaning their pointy, triangular shaped distinctive ears is not as easy job as you think. So, always be careful when cleaning inside of your cat ears. Your improper attempt can rupture eardrum or cause an ear infection.

Steps To Cleaning Your Cat’s Ears Effectively

Let’s begin with – when you need to check your cat’s ears?

Some cats will happily be ready and sit when you clean or medicate their ears. Unfortunately, many cats do not like it and they may show some form of protest like scratching, biting, or running away as fast as they can. You need to try some form of gentle restraint to clean your cat’s ears properly.

Then start checking in and around the ear. It is advised that you begin this from an early age of your kitty so she becomes used to it. You have to look for anything abnormal about your cat’s behavior or physical health. So when you are checking, you should keep an eye out for signs of infection, like:

  • Redness or irritation in the ear canal or outer ear
  • Swelling in the ear
  • Loss of balance and disorientation
  • Dark brown colored wax buildup
  • Scabs or sores on or around the ears
  • Unpleasant odor comes out from the ear canals
  • Sensitivity or pain when you touch around the ears

If you find any of these symptoms, your cat needs a veterinary attention immediately. And it is normal and healthy if her ears are clean, dry and pain-free.

Why you need a periodic cleaning of cat’s ears?

vet cleaning cats ears

It is always a good thing to be aware of things. Therefore, as a cat’s owner, when you are protecting your cat from ear infections, you need to know some ear disorder in order that you can know what it could probably be. If you do not clean your cat’s ear regularly, the waxy debris will build up and subsequently it creates the perfect climate for ear mite infestations.

These small creatures live out their life cycle inside the ear of cats. Extremely itchy ears, rubbing the ears, coffee-grounds like appearance in the ear, twitching of the ears are the clues, those define your cat has ear mites. If the mite infection has been there for a long time then it may damage to the ear.

Hence, at the detection of the ear mite, you need to try some effective ear mite treatments, like Revolution, Advantage Multi, Ilium Ear Drops, etc. Your vet will help you determine the most appropriate for your cat.

A cat also has chances to suffer from other ear issues like bacterial infections, foreign objects, tumors, polyps, and allergies.

How to clean cat’s ears properly?

After grooming, restrain your cat gently for ear cleaning. Remember, their ear canals and flaps are very sensitive. Always use proper techniques and ear cleaning solutions to avoid any injuries. There is a range of ear cleaning solutions available in the market.

Instill several drops of the appropriate ear cleaning solution in the ear. Next, softly massage for 5-10 seconds at the base of the ears and use a cotton ball to swab and clean the dirt and wax from the ear lobe. Then, repeat the process for opposite ear. It is advised to clean only the ear parts that you can see. Don’t use Q-Tip type cotton swab for cleaning. It might hurt your kitty’s ear canal.

In a nutshell :

Checking your cat’s ears regularly and cleaning it weekly with a good cat ear cleaner like Ilium Ear Drops is one of the best preventative steps you can prevent ear problems from developing. This process will just take about 5 to 10 minutes. Now, what are you waiting for? Be ready to make a schedule to clean your furry friend’s ears and keep them perky and alert for your every move!