Cleaning your dog’s ears may seem daunting if you don’t know where to start, but with a dog ear cleaner, a handy helper, and a tasty treat nearby, we know you can do it! If your dog loves rolling around in the mud during Flagstaff’s rainy season, dives right into in Lake Mary, or just loves that fresh and clean feeling that comes with an ear cleaning, we’re here to help! With a few simple steps, you can keep your canine’s ears healthy and clean. If you’re a cat lover instead, follow these steps along with your feline friend!
And today we’re going to show you how to clean your dog’s ears.
This is Tilly and she spends a lot of time outside in the dirt, and so she’s here for a maintenance cleaning.
What type of pet ear cleaner should I use?
We recommend using this MalAcetic Otic Cleanser when you clean your dog’s ears because it has evaporative properties. Unlike water, if any excess liquid is stuck in the ear, it will evaporate and prevent ear infections. This ear cleaning solution is also all natural and hypoallergenic, so it’s a great choice for most pets.
Cleaning Your Dog’s Ears
Okay, so now we’re just going to pour some liquid into her ear there, and it’s important to massage the ear cartilage so that all of the ear cleaner can get in the ear. We’ll do that for about 30 seconds.
Quick Tip: Have a second hand to help you in this process!
Now we recommend cleaning her ear with either cotton balls or gauze pads. We don’t recommend Q-tips because her eardrum is right around the corner of her ear and it’s very sensitive, so we don’t want to get it. Now we’ll just go in here and clean it out there and get all that dirt out, as well as the excess ear cleaner. It’s important that you never want to go further into the ear then your hand can go, and we just wipe it out; and one ear’s done.
All right, now we will repeat on Tilly’s next ear.
Now Tilly is feeling nice and refreshed. Some important things to know before cleaning your pet’s ears are, if you have any suspicion of a foxtail or infection in the ear, it’s important to bring them in to see us first. Also, if they have a head tilt or develop a head tilt after an ear cleaning, it’s also important to bring them in to see us. Maintenance cleaning should be no more than once a week.
Continental Animal Wellness Center in Flagstaff is here to help and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call or contact us to learn more about cleaning your dog’s ears! Click here to learn about our dental services.