How are we supposed to clean dogs ears without hurting them?

[Guest]

I don’t just mean the outside… one time, the vet did it for free while they had her in the back for labs, I don’t know what they did but my dog felt a lot better and there wasn’t anymore wax, but I think they charge extra for that because this was more of an emergency visit and she said that after all that “the ears are on the house”.

I get it if this is still a let the vet do it thing, but I thought I would ask incase I could do this one myself.

We see the vet every 3 months, it wouldn’t be a problem to just do it then, I’m just trying to save a little money

[Karmae]

I soak a cotton ball in the ear solution. I then put it gently in the ear... Do not cram it in the back. And then I massage the ear on the outside. Then I pull the cotton ball out and gently rub when I take it out to get any debris. If I need to spot clean some gunk still in there I very carefully use a qtip and don't go in deep to the ear. This can only be done though if you have a dog that will not try to shake or run away or could hurt themselves with the qtip.

Also, Read: She is shaking her head, scratching ears

[Dennis]

Vet: Old saying, "Never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear." Holds true for the pets. Use a cleaning solution for dogs that will break down the ear was and the dog will shake it out. Fill the ear canal, massage the ear and then let her shake her head. Simple and effective without any damage to the ear.

[Christal]

The canine ear anatomy is different than a humans. You absolutely CAN clean the inside of their ears without hitting the eardrum. Our vet says to squirt ear cleaner in the canal. Rub on the outside of the ear below the flap to get the gunk loose. Let the dog shake it's head to get most the fluid out, then wipe the inside of the ear with a cotton ball or cotton round (like the plain ones used for makeup).

Your not sticking a Q-tip in there just your finger and cotton. You're not going to hit the eardrum.

[Tracy]

i always clean my dogs ears. you squirt the ear cleaner in the canal and rub on the outside to get it all in then let the dog shake it out you can wipe around the outside with a cotton ball. ear maintenance is a must with floppy eared dogs to avoid infection.

[Simon]

I honestly don’t recommend it. I was a groomer, and they didn’t even allow us to clean inside, we were only able to use cotton rounds and clean as best as we could. All it takes is one sudden jerk of the head, and you could accidentally puncture the eardrum.