Jump to content

Ear Cleaning


 Share

Recommended Posts

I wouldn't use olive oil. At PPS, we were taught to get a bit of cotton wool, a drop or two and water, and just to go into the ear as far as a couple of fingers will fit. I don't think i'd bother with olive oil, because water does the trick for Axle, our GSD.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

May be for the most outer part. For cleaning inside there are special drops at vet's, you drop then into the ear canal and massage properly. Vet or nurse should show how to massage. Then wipe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is my experience from dealing with a floppy eared spaniel prone to regular ear infections.

I use Leo ear cleaner (less than $20 from the vet). I squirt a bit into Jedda's ear and squish it around (kind of massage). Then I soak a cotton ball in Leo and remove any visible dirt. I repeat this until the cotton ball is clean.

"Proper" ear cleaners contain drying agents to help prevent yeasty type infections that love moist conditions! For this reason I don't think olive oil would work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another vote for Leo Ear Cleaner...

Squirt down the ear and massage. The get dry tissue to wipe off residue from inside the ear.

Works a treat for Maverick who seems to have the worst ears. Mai is bliss tho, never a problem with her.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've used olive oil very sparingly on cats's ears for years, and more recently on my dog to clean smelly ear dirt/wax which was not obviously infected.

I put 2-4 drops on a cotton wool ball, and use it to remove visible wax/residue. Then I use a fresh cotton wool ball and moisten it sparingly again, and twist it into a long 'tube' which I put lightly (holding onto the end!) into the ear canal and twist.

The oil removes wax by dissolving it. It's only very mildly antibacterial (if at all), and the excess is wiped off without problem. Think of it as a moisturiser/soothing agent.

This approach worked on a cat with chronic fungal ear infections, when her ears had become terribly irritated by alcohol based solutions. She used to hiss and carry on with ear drops, but used to 'lean' into the cotton wool /oil treatment when it was offered.

It won't hurt to try, IHMO

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Never use water to clean out ears.

We use leo or the malasab,the leo is great for maintence of good ears as its drying.

If puppy pre school is telling people to use water it sounds like theyll be getting some good business for ear infections :rofl:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If the dog has hairy ears which many shih tzus do then it is bette the ears are plucked so the air can get in.

We pluck dogs ears in our salon & the best tool is locking forceps,not tweezers or your fingers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use Epi-Otic on my three; it works very well. The trick is to wet a couple of cotton wool balls fairly thoroughly and use them to clean the outer ear, and then press them gently into the ear canal. I then hold them in place by folding the dogs ear over them, and leave them to soak for a minute :rofl: . You then let go of the dog's head and ear, and stand back :rofl: . The head shaking that follows ejects the cotton wool balls and Epi-Otic combined with dissolved wax :laugh: . Works like a charm :rofl: . Oh yeah, repeat procedure for other ear, if your dog will let you near them.

You can get a 500ml bottle of Epi-Otic from vet Products Direct for $16.85, or a 120ml bottle for $6.86.

:rofl: , Peter D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Inmy salon dogs ears are plucked by puting in some ear powder which gives you a good grip on the waxy hairs and dries out the ear canal and then I use my fingers to pull out a few hairs at a time with a twisting motion. This is a safer option the forceps if your dog should jerk her head at the wrong moment as fingers don't slip into the ear canal and perforate the ear drum.

I use Biogroom ear cleaner (bet you can't get that is aus) but it's very good at dissolving wax.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Plucking the ear hair with fingers means your not plucking the problem hair,using this method on schnauzers for example would create big issues as you can not pluck the hair out other than using forceps & used correctly is no problem at all,

We have used forceps for 24 yrs nowon our own dogs & in the salon for 14 yrs never doing any damage,infact we get many vets asking us how we do it so well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We now use Bayer Clean Ear Solution.

We used to use Epi-Otic but I found the dogs seem to be getting frequent ear infections and we thought it might be the ear cleaner.

Asher is allergic to the proplyene glycol in Epi Otic (burns his skin!!).... we use the bayer to.....

Dan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...