Speaking of Ears...

[ScantyNebula]

Does anybody clean they're cats ears to prevent infection? How should you properly do it?

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

When I took Eduardo to the vet yesterday, they cleaned his ears. He had crud in them that the vet called "alley cat crud." She said there was no infection, just dirt, but unfortunately they took him in back to do the cleaning so I didn't see how it was done. I do know that for the rest of the day yesterday he kept doing airplane ears and shaking his head, and was still doing it a little bit today, and scratching them too, so he must not be used to having his ears cleaned.

Your vet might be able to give you suggestions on how to do it. I've never cleaned T & P's ears because they've never seemed to need it.

[ScantyNebula]

ROFL!!! airplane ears! that just made my day .. it reminds me of when Toby first moved into our new place .. his ears were flat on his head for the first 3 days, for every sound he heard! We used to make fun of him and tell him is ears should be getting sore!

[taopjlcpg]

hey girl....i say your post on ear cleaning and guess what i spent everyday for the last 3 & 1/2 years doing? ......yup ear cleaning (and LOTS of fecals )......basically u need some sort of vet recommended ear cleaner......cotton balls( q-tips are often used by techs but i advise u not to fool w/ them......since a cat's ear canal can be tricky......the simplest way that i found for clients to do at home properly and confidently was to take a cotton ball...put some ear cleanser on it......place it in the cats ear(doesn't need to be far down-just at the top of the canal).....now this is the good & EASY part.....take your hand and massage the cat's ear canal by placing your thumb behind the base of the ear and your forefingers at the top of the ear base......take your fingers and gently massage......this is the key...u know is working when u here a squishy liquid sound in the ear...AND MOST CATS will make a low moan or sound...often it can feel like a good scatch way down in their ear that they could reach on their own....when u take cotton out often there will be dark "crud" on it....but make sure u take a clean dry cotton ball and gently wipe the ear as to remove the excess liquid, so as not to cause more build up or infection.....the trickest part could be holding your baby still though.....to start with rub on the ears more often as to make the cat more familar to touching the ears....and try slowly...while petting often in between....some cats sit well for their owners...some don't...most techs or vets have someone help hold but my theory is to try to do as much at home on comfortable territory....most of the time just the smell of the vet office pputs them on the offense......try this site for directions and inportant ear information http://cats.about.com//sitesearch.ht...erms=Cats+Ears

[ScantyNebula]

wow .. thanks for the info, i guess you can buy cat ear cleaner in a pet store? I have never seen it before

[RedHedd]

I just went through this with Mishi - serious wax build-up in just one ear. The vet prescribed Pan/Cer - an oily liquid, that I put in his ear, massaged it down into the canal just like described above, wait for the squishy sound to know you've got it down where it's supposed to be and then mop up the excess with a clean cotton ball. Be careful! Their little ear canals are DEEP! A couple of times I was surprised how deep that cotton ball would go. The stuff is oily so his fur got a bit messed up for the prescribed 7 days of treatments. A good wipedown with cat wipes got rid of it and now he seems to be fine - no more airplane ears!

The first time I heard of "airplane ears" was when my vet first cleaned his ears. Cracked me up too!

You can probably find over-the-counter cat ear treatment stuff at Petco. Good luck!

[kimlovescats]

My vet uses an ear cleaner and cotton too.... but he also recommends a regular "wipe-out" at home with baby wipes! He uses those things for everything!!! hehehe

[Cataholic]

This was very informative. I always call Allie my little kitty candle cause she is so waxy. Now I know the right way to clean her up!

[slick]

Actually, I just use a cotton ball and warm water.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks for the great info. My cats Sunny and Sky have waxy build up in their ears so I've been trying to clean them but just learned the proper way now. Thanks again.

[BastetsMum]

Cats ears are great aren't they!

Bastet recently had a serious bacterial infection in her ears but after 2 weeks of oily antibiotic medicaiton in the ear canal and multiple lacerations she seems ok.

The vet showed me the q-tip method and the cotton wool method. Since Bastet's ears are *wooly* the cotton wool method could promote bacterial growth but her outer ears does need cleaning too.

The q-tip method is definately much trickier and I would not suggest it unlessyou get a qualified person to show you how to do it.

Bastet is fine now and she can hear a lot better without all that horrible smelling black crud in her ears. In future I will definately be cleaning them once a week when she gets her weekly grooming.