Best Way To Clean Waxy Ears?

[permanentruby]

My cat is prone to ear infections. She's been scratching at them a little bit lately, but not holding her ears weird as she usually does when they're infected. I looked inside her ears last night and she's got quite a bit of wax in there, but obviously, she hates having anything put in her ears. We have an ear solution that the vet gave us for when we took in another cat who had bad ear mites, but we haven't had much luck using it on her. Any ideas?

 

[lavishsqualor]

This is disgusting, but I tell Thirteen, my two-year-old female tuxedo that we should start a candle factory so she could supply the wax. According to my vet, some cats, just like some humans, produce more cerumen than others.

For Thirteen, I use a cotton swab daily to clean the outer portion of her ear but I don't go into the canal. Three times a week we use an ear cleaner (Vibrac Epi-Optic) and I fill up the ear canal generously and then fairly aggressively squelch that in her around in her ears to break up any debris. Of course she hates it and shakes the heck out of her head afterward but that's good; you want your cat to do that. The shaking action will help dispel any funk from the ears.

At one point, upon my vet's suggestion, I was using half Debrox and half Vibrac Epi-Otic but the carbamide peroxide in the Debrox was discoloring Thirteen's black fur. I figured if it was getting on her fur then it was getting in her mouth so I quit the Debrox.

 

[permanentruby]

This is disgusting, but I tell Thirteen, my two-year-old female tuxedo that we should start a candle factory so she could supply the wax. According to my vet, some cats, just like some humans, produce more cerumen than others.

For Thirteen, I use a cotton swab daily to clean the outer portion of her ear but I don't go into the canal. Three times a week we use an ear cleaner (Vibrac Epi-Optic) and I fill up the ear canal generously and then fairly aggressively squelch that in her around in her ears to break up any debris. Of course she hates it and shakes the heck out of her head afterward but that's good; you want your cat to do that. The shaking action will help dispel any funk from the ears.

At one point, upon my vet's suggestion, I was using half Debrox and half Vibrac Epi-Otic but the carbamide peroxide in the Debrox was discoloring Thirteen's black fur. I figured if it was getting on her fur then it was getting in her mouth so I quit the Debrox.

Thanks! We've had to put drops in and massage the outside of her ears before, but I'm so nervous about sticking something in there! Do you just stick in the large cotton swabs to clean out the inside?

 

[lavishsqualor]

Yep. Or you can use a bit of gauze or cotton pad. Just be super careful. The skin on that little nub is very thin and it can easily bleed.

 

[lavishsqualor]

This will help.

 

[Neo_23]

Olive oil works really well too. Just put some on a cotton ball and wipe inside of ears being careful not to go too deep. Also make sure to warm the olive oil a bit before you use it.