ear-cleaning

Proper home care and cleaning is essential to successful treatment of inflamed ears.  Initially, we will smear and stain ear sediment and then examine it under the microscope to determine the cause of your pet’s infection.  Since each cause of ear disease requires different treatment, the ear cytology is very important.  If your pet is diagnosed as having ear mites, all dogs and cats in the household should be treated.

Depending upon the severity of exudate (debris), inflammation and/or pain, anesthesia and thorough flushing of the ear canals may be necessary.  This greatly reduces healing time and allows a more complete exam of the painful ear.

At home, we recommend that you instill a generous “squirt” of the prescribed ear cleaner into the ear canal and massage well for about a minute.  Encourage your pet to shake his or her head for about 10 minutes.  Then gently clean the ears with Kleenex or soft gauze as far as your finger will reach.  Be sure the ear is very clean & then instill the prescribed ear medications.  Do not use Q-tips.

A follow-up exam in 7-14 days is very important to ensure proper treatment and improvement, and to allow for advice on future preventive measures.  Animals with ruptured eardrums should be monitored weekly until the membrane has healed.

Common Causes of Ear Disease:

  1. Bacteria
  2. Yeast
  3. Seborrhea
  4. Allergies
  5. Mites
  6. Water in the ears
  7. Improper medications/home treatments
  8. Any combination of the above.

Please don’t hesitate to call us with any questions or problems.  We are here to help!

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Care & Cleaning of Ears.pdf