ear cleaning

[YorkieZoo]

Originally Posted by kjc

I use the 2x2 gauze squares (mail order is so much cheaper) especially with a dirty ear they grab the dirt better... cotton seems to stick to it more than remove it.

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I think the theory behind plucking is if the ear has never been plucked, dirt and bacteria can get trapped by the hair in the ear canal.

If all the hair is plucked in one sitting, many open pores are left for the germs to invade and cause an infection.

I always pluck an unplucked ear a little at a time... I may take 2-4 weeks to get it totally plucked, and, hopefully not enough pores are left open each time for an infection to set in.

The body can usually handle a small amount of contamination on it's own. Once the ear is totally plucked, it's just minor maintenance to keep up with it.

Warming the cleaning solution in a cup of hot water (check temp before using) can make it more comfortable for resistant dogs.

Very good tip on the warming...I didn't think of that since it is generally room temp. Where do you order your squares from?

[Ellie May]

We switched from Chlorhexiderm to Nolva-Cleanse. Got my furniece Vet Solutions recently and thinking we might switch to it.

I can't even figure out how all of you can get in their ears to clean them with cotton balls or even gauze. The space is just too small! We use q-tips (making sure to have the ears in the right position so they don't damage anything).

[BonBon]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

We switched from Chlorhexiderm to Nolva-Cleanse. Got my furniece Vet Solutions recently and thinking we might switch to it.

I can't even figure out how all of you can get in their ears to clean them with cotton balls or even gauze. The space is just too small! We use q-tips (making sure to have the ears in the right position so they don't damage anything).

I use q-tips also, but I wipe off the outer ear flaps with those square make-up pads. I never thought of using gauze. I wonder if that would pick up better than the make-up pads?

[bellasmomok]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

We switched from Chlorhexiderm to Nolva-Cleanse. Got my furniece Vet Solutions recently and thinking we might switch to it.

I can't even figure out how all of you can get in their ears to clean them with cotton balls or even gauze. The space is just too small! We use q-tips (making sure to have the ears in the right position so they don't damage anything).

I hadn't ever used the cotton balls until recently when I got Maya because I haven't needed to. I just used them because when I took her to the vet, he mentioned her right ear was really waxy, and I remembered I'd heard on YT that people use them (and I had them handy ). What I did was roll the ball a bit between my fingers to get it more cone shaped and then I used the smaller tip to get in there as much as I could. Stuff came out on the ball, so I thought I was doing a good job....BUT when we went to the vet again, I asked him to check her ears and see if I was getting the wax. He said her ear canals were completely clean now (because of the solution, obviously, because there's no way I was getting in there with the cotton balls! ), but that the wax was built up along the ear flap. He told me to use q-tips with a little of the solution on it around the ear flap. I'm comfortable with doing that because I can see where I'm putting the q-tip, but I wouldn't feel very comfortable with using the q-tip down in her ear!! I'm sure if you're very gentle and easy you can probably do that if you need to, but I'm glad I'll only need to use the solution and then swab the ear flap! Honestly, the Vet Solutions Ear Cleansing Solution is SOOO great, I can't imagine anyone needing to swab down in ears that have been cleaned with it, but I can definitely see where the solution wouldn't clean the ear flaps. I LOVE it! I use it after every bath because it not only cleans but it re-acidifies, deoderizes, AND dries, which is actually why I started using it....Bella was getting a little swimmer's ear after baths, so that took care of our problem completely! A lot of ear solutions DON'T dry (or at least don't say they do), and for me that's such an easy thing to do to clean their ears and get them dry after a bath! Plus, it smells pretty good too.