How To Clean Ear, Or Instill Ear Medication In Your Dog Or Cat

How To Instill Ear Medications

How to clean ear or medicate an ear: Don’t squirt in solution! Most pets hate this. Instead,

• soak a cotton ball with cleaner or medication
• put the cotton ball into the ear
• close the ear flap, and very gently massage

Take your time, work when the pet has exercised and welcomes the opportunity to sit quietly. Give a big reward—we recommend Beef Liver Treats—after medicating.

Warm ear medications that have been kept in the refrigerator. Use a hot water bath rather than a microwave, or leave the medication out until it reaches room temperature. Your pet appreciates receiving ear medications at body temperature.

What not to do

You’re a great pet guardian and doing a good job to fix your pet’s ears, but

• Do not massage firmly and do not rub the ear firmly
• Do not let the pet scratch or rub its ear firmly either

Why not?

The 7th (Facial) and 8th (Vestibulocochlear) cranial nerves travel together and are easily damaged. When these nerves are stretched, or irritated by rubbing, your pet can lose hearing and equilibrium. Some pets, especially cats, develop Horner’s syndrome: the pupil of the eye constricts, the 3rd eyelid elevates, the upper lid drops. Other pets lose their balance, become ataxic (uncoordinated), circle, and fall over. Fortunately, these symptoms are preventable if you DON’T rub or massage too firmly.

Please see our list of ear medications.

The articles here were answered by a variety of pharmacists and veterinarians   Date Category Topic 04/10/06  Ear Care  EAR INFECTION 04/08/06  Bone & Joint Care  NEED INFO. ABOUT RX. 04/08/06  Flea & Tick  FLEAS AND EGGS 04/08/06  Other  BARKING 04/08/06  Seizure Disorder  RADIATION THERAPY 04/07/06  Cough  DURATION OF KENNEL COUGH IN AN OLDER DOG. 04/07/06  Other  BEHAVIOR OR INFECTION? 04/06/06  Eye Care  DISCHARGE 04/06/06  Allergy  DRY FLAKY SKIN 04/06/06  Ear Care  EXTENSIVE DRAINING OF THE EAR/HEAD SHAKING 04/06/06  Eye Care  RUNNY EYES 04/06/06  Ear Care  ITCHY AND DRY EARS 04/05/06  Digestive Care  CHURNING STOMACH 04/04/06  Allergy  EAR ALLERGY 04/04/06  Ear Care  LOTS OF SCRATCHING 1 2 3 4 5 »»

 

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