How to clean your cat’s ears

Although cat are known to be pretty self sufficient when it comes to cleaning, they sometimes need help in cleaning their ears.   

Here are a few tips and suggestions to help you in case you find yourself having to clean your cat’s ears:

Before you start, make sure that you have everything you might need handy. This includes cat-specific ear cleaner, a small dish of lukewarm water, a plastic eye dropper, and a few cotton balls.

Try to clean your cats ears when they are in half-sleeping state as they will co-operate with much better this way.

First put the ear cleaner in a small container and place it into the dish of lukewarm water in order to warm it up. This makes cleaning your cat’s ears a lot more comfortable for your cat.  Then, with your cat properly restrained, use the eye dropper to drip one or two drops of the ear cleaner into the opening of your cat’s ear canal. Rub it in by using the tips of your fingers and starting at the base of his ear, so it can drip down into the ear canal. Keep doing this for a few minutes and then stop repeat for the other ear.

Once this is done your cat might shake his head around a bit. Do not let this worry you as this is normal behavior. Now you can wipe away any seepage from your cat’s ears using the cotton balls.

Always remember to give your cat a nice treat after each ear cleaning as this will reassure him that he will be rewarded, in case you have to administer any other type of medication again.  Treats are a very good way to keep your cat unafraid of the process: while it isn’t painful, some cats may find it a little weird or uncomfortable. Pretty soon your cat will be quite comfortable with the ear cleaning process and will most probably also become comfortable whenever you administer any other type of medication to him.