Cats ears need cleaning, ( what can i use )

[josaphine32]

Can anyone tell me what i could use to clean my old cats ears, She has not got an ear infection or off colour they are just mucky and she seems to be a bit deaf, She is 18 years old and was just thinking of what to use to clean them with.

Thanks

[Schutzengel]

Please don't try to clean the cat's ears yourself. Take her to the vet to have the ears cleaned. This is a simple procedure for a vet, but not one you should try yourself. Vet can also check her hearing, as she is quite an old lady, The cost should be minimal, but it is well worth it. Hope all goes well. Schutz.
P.S. It is important to know if she is losing her hearing, as if she goes outside, it's more of a risk if she can't hear properly. Good luck.

[josaphine32]

She does not go out anymore she mooches around the house, I cant get her in the car to go to the vets as she goes mental and i think it would be far to stressful for her, Ive googled it and they say warm olive oil in a pippette, I wouldnt shove anything down her ear cannel or anything like that

[Schutzengel]

Hi Josephine. In view of your cats dislike of going to the vet, the warm olive oil applied with a pipette, sounds like a very good idea. You should be able to get a small dropper, like an eye dropper from your local chemist. Then just drop about 3 drops of the just warm oil down her ears. Then just with thumb and finger, wiggle the ear near the base a couple of times, and this will work the oil down the ear. If there is any compacted wax down there, the oil will soften it and it will work it's way to the surface. Suggest leaving it then for a day, and the next day, you can gently wipe the inner side of the ear flaps with damp cotton wool, this will clean off any dirty from the surface. I hope she'll sit still while you attend to her ears, as this is probably much better than upsetting her by trying to take her to the vets. Good luck.

[tamborine]

Wouldn't recommend anything into the ear - wipe clean with vaseline or baby lotion.

[Schutzengel]

Olive Oil used as recommended by vets, is quite safe for both animals and humans.

[BRIGHT SPARK]

have you tried the pet shop, we have a really good one by us and the man is so helpful, obviously the vet is the best option, but i understand what you are saying, my cat used to get into a frenzy and it made him worse to go to the vet.

[josaphine32]

Well i did the warm olive oil and it worked all the muck floated to the top of her ear and we cotton wooled it out, she can here so much better all ready, I will ring the vets to see if they have a good ear cleaning solution that they can give me over the counter for the future.

thank you all

[LottieAnne]

Many years ago when we had a cat with this problem a vet told me to wipe out her ears about once a week with cotton wool dipped in liquid paraffin. It certianly seemed to do the trick.