Ear cleaning tips?

[xnovalentine]

 Since Lulla’s got an ear infection which is being treated with tresederm (sp?) drops, I’m supposed to be cleaning her ears out every 2 days with a aloe based cat/dog ear cleaning solution. Shes got quite a bit of wax build up in her ears and I think I just spent nearly an hour battling her to allow me to clean it. Theres a lot of build up in one particiular ear in which I think I could reach with a qtip if she would sit still long enough for me to scrape it out. I imagine it would give her a lot of relief if she’d allow me to get in there. I tried going slowly with a qtip and then when that failed i tried a little gauze with my finger. I tried every which direction to pin her down. At the vet’s office we had to have 3 of us hold her down to clean it out.  That being said, I was wondering if anyone has any tips for a good ear cleaning? 

[Eva_M]

Eva is usually a quite calm bunny so I don’t know if that would work for you but whenever I had rather delicate actions to do (like removing a tick from her eyelid) I would hold a dried cranberry in my other hand. She is so focused on trying to prick it out of my hand that she does not notice anything else going on.

[KatnipCrzy]

Put the solution in her ear- massage the base of the ear with your fingers (outside of ear)- put her on a floor with secure footing and let her shake her ear and hopefully eject some of the crud up and out of her ear. Many people don’t know to allow the pet to shake and let that process help get the junk out of the ear- just always cleaning with solution and swabbing does not always do the trick for the deep down stuff- so let her “help” you- and after she shakes- then wipe out the ear. Be very, very careful with Qtips- one slip and it can rupture her ear drum which causes a lot more pain and greatly delayed healing time. I usually recommend a tissue over the fingertip and qtips only for the outer ear ridges where there is no possibility of slipping into the ear canal and damaging the ear drum.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Is Lulla a lop?

I have a lop with chronic ear infections/wax build-up. I use Katnip’s method but before I let him shake his head I stick a cotton ball in his ear to let it soak for a bit, then take it out and let him shake. If there is a lot of wax between cleanings I use a kleenex on my pinky finger. I know how terribly frustrating it is to see all that gunk in there and not be able to get it out.

Bindi used to be difficult with ear cleanings but since it’s been a regular part of our grooming routine for a couple of years, he’s accepted it. He knows that as soon as I’m done cleaning his ears, he gets a papaya candy.

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