A dog and cat's ear canal is shaped differently than our own. A human ear drum is directly across from the opening. Our pets ears are shaped more like an -L- inside of the ear.
For this reason we can place our fingers down the canal and clean the ear and the canal without causing trauma to the ear drum itself.
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The main reason we, as animal owners, want to clean our pets ears are because they are dirty or they smell bad. Before you begin to clean the ear, you may want to call your vet first. Odor in the ear can be a sign of an infection, in which case your pet will need medications and not just cleaning. A dirty ear can be a sign of ear mites, or infection; again needing medications.
For infected ears, your vet may recommend an ear flushing with an auriflush system. This system gets to the deep part of the canal and flushes water into it and sucks it out at the same time. This get to the areas of the ears that our fingers cannot access. This flushing is then followed with a 7-10 day course of medication (without at home cleaning). Your pet is then requested to return after the 7-10 days for another flushing. Based on the appearance of the ears at this time, you may only need to clean the ears as needed, with no further treatment necessary.
If your veterinarian has prescribed you an ear cleaner and has recommended you to clean the ears then the following information should help you. If you are ever concerned about cleaning the ears, please bring your pet in for the technicians to clean.
FIRST: Squirt some cleaner on a cotton ball (Q-tip) and wipe out the ear canal. Wipe out the ear tip. Continue this process until the cotton balls are clean and the ear appears clean.
If you squirt the cleaner in the ear it is VERY important that you wipe out ALL excess liquid. For this reason we recommend to use the cleaner on a cotton ball and not directly into the ear canal.
SECOND: Holding the ear tip up, apply the prescribed medication directly into the opening of the ear canal.
THIRD: Rub the base of the ear so the medication gets into the bend of the canal.
If you have any questions or hesitations about cleaning the ear, please do not hesitate to call your veterinarian.