Thread: Cleaning a dog's ears?

OK so we just adopted a new dog and we took her to the vet. All was good except we have to clean her ears out twice daily and put this cream in them (ear flush stuff) for 5 days, and then continue cleaning once a day for a while and use cream when needed. Her ears are NOT infected, she just has a lot of gunk in it that could get infected really easily if we don't do this.

My question is this: How deep do you clean them with the cotton ball. We had an early afternoon appointment and she did it and there was lots of black gunk. I just tried it and nothing really came out. Am I not going deep enough or did she get all of it out that was there for today?? I have a feeling I'm not going deep enough, but I thought that I'd ask in case I can damage her ears!! Thanks

it's a hound mix

Okay I work at a Vet clinic, Im not an expert but I have cleaned ears lol.. what I do is I put the ear solution in the dogs ear (Usually Vet solution ear cleaner) and fill it up until it starts to spill out of the canal and then I massage the ear until I hear this squishing sound and massage it for like 15 seconds after hearing that sound and then I let the dog shake its ear. After that I use a gauze and wipe the ear and use a cotton ball and clean it out and a q tip to clean the creases and stuff. To answer your question, only go as far as you can see, dont go into the ear where you cant see. Since your dogs ear isnt infected, as long as you keep it clean then you will be fine anyway. So you may not have to do all the steps I did but thats how I was taught. hope this helps

if you don't mind me asking, what breed of dog is it

If she had them cleaned this afternoon then she got it all - it takes a little bit of time for debri to build up. The good thing about a dogs ear is that they have an L-shape to them so you have the canal a bend and them the part with her eardrum so you can't hurt anything. The best thing to do is wrap the cotton ball( something that is easier to use is 3X3 gauze sponges - you can get them at any pharmacy - they are thinner so easier to use) around your index finger and just let your finger go as far as it can reach. If your not sure go back to the vet their staff will be more than happy to show you again so you feel comfortable..

you can go pretty deep. it is almost better to use a Q~tip also. you can go down deeper and get into the creases of the ears.

Not too deep. Put the liquid in, then from the outside, under the ear and grabbing the back of the ear, squish the ear so you can try and break up some of the gunk. Then press the cotton ball inside the ear (not too hard) and wipe out. If the vet just cleaned them, nothing will build up within a few hours. I clean my dog's ears once a week and that works out fine for me...