How to clean your cat's ears?

If the cat is a pro of the toilet, he is however unable to clean his ears. His master must therefore give him a helping hand. It’s a obligatory hygiene gesture to protect his little companion against the risk of sometimes severe conditions due to an excess of earwax, but not only. Cleaning your cat’s ears requires skill. Focus on the best method there is.

Ear Hygiene In Cats: An Essential Gesture For Its Health

It is recommended that the master clean his cat’s ears regularly without making it a daily obsession. Ideally, we stick to it as soon as we see some impurities in our ear canal. As a general rule, the correct frequency is fortnightly cleaning.

If you neglect the maintenance of your cat’s ears, it can suffer:

wax plugs,
From a bacterial infection,
recurrent ear infections,
From a mycosis,
A disease due to the presence of a parasite (otacariasis or ear scabies for example),
of a tumor,
moderate hearing loss,
Total deafness.

Certain signs must put the chip in the ear of the master. This is the case when:

Cat :

- frequently and frantically scratches one or both ears
- insistently rubs the left or right part of his face,
- frequently tilts the head to one side,
- shakes his head vigorously.

There is a significant secretion of dark brown or greenish and particularly thick earwax,
The animal does not seem to hear its master calling it,
An unpleasant odor emanates from one ear,
loss of balance,
A lump in one ear.

It is very important to clean your cat’s ears because serious problems due to insufficient hygiene can affect the middle ear as well as the inner ear.

Care Of The Cat’S Ears: Cotton Swabs Prohibited!

Despite everything that you can read here or there, it is strictly not recommended to use a cotton swab! It is torture tool for the ears because it only pushes earwax and dirt ever deeper into the duct. In addition, there is a risk of damaging the eardrum, or even perforating it, by inserting a cotton swab too deeply.

Best Method To Clean A Cat’S Ears

The best solution to regularly take care of your little friend’s ears is to use a single cotton and an specific lotion found in pharmacies, drugstores or veterinarians.

- Start by relaxing your animal by playing with it and then cuddling it,

- Place it on a table so that it is at the height of its master.

- Instill in each ear two drops of solution specially designed for the ear canal of the cat,

- Massage gently to evenly distribute the solution,

- Soak cotton with special lotion,

- Pass it carefully over the entire visible part of each ear without forgetting the corners,

- Finish cleaning by drying the ears with a clean, dry cotton ball.

The task is not as simple as it seems when the cat has never benefited from this type of attention. This is why veterinarians urge all cat owners to start ear cleaning as soon as possible. The animal’s health is at stake. This does not dispense with consulting once or twice a year to check that everything is going well. And if the cat presents a cerumen cap, we are not trying to remove it ourselves. It is better to entrust this delicate task to the veterinarian.