Cleaning Your Pets Ears

Remember when you were younger there would always be some relative who told you to wash behind your ears? That’s actually some very sound advice, and it works for pets as well as for us. 

There’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t be cleaning your pet’s ears regularly. Now, I know that not all dogs like having their ears cleaned, but if you start cleaning their ears when they’re young, most dogs learn to almost enjoy it-or at least get used to it. 

The best product to use for cleaning your pet’s ears is an ear cleaning solution, preferably one that was recommended to you by your veterinarian. If ear-cleaning solution is not available, then hydrogen peroxide will work in a pinch, but avoid using rubbing alcohol.

To start, insert the solution down into your dog’s ear canal and then gently rub it in really well. You may massage the ear as well-your dog will probably like that-and then back away and let Bowser shake the solution out by himself. If there’s still some excess solution left, you can use some cotton to wipe it away.

Additionally, you can use a cotton swab to get through all the nooks and crannies of your dogs ear, which isn’t dangerous if you follow this rule: hold the swab about three quarters of an inch away from the tip, using your fingers as a guard to prevent the swab from going any deeper into the ear canal.

Cleaning your cat’s ears is a similar process. As every pet-parent who has tried to give his or her cat a bath knows, cats tend to get fidgety when you attempt to groom them yourself, so here’s a great trick for cleaning your cat’s ears quickly and effectively: hold the swab just at the tip of the cotton and use it to clean the ear canal’s nooks and crannies. The key to working with cats is restraint, but less is more.  If you show your cat respect, you’ll get a lot farther-and cleaner!

Article by Dr. Jeff Werber, DVM