CockersOnline Forum
Cocker Specific Discussion => Grooming => Topic started by: bizzylizzy on July 28, 2016, 10:14:18 AM
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Can I ask how, if at all, you clean the inside of the dogs' ears? When I first took Humphrey to the vet, as a puppy, he showed me how to clean out the ear with a Q tips and suggested I do it regularly to avoid infections. I've never done it, as I was too scared to poke around and have until,now just wiped out with some little ear cleaning pads on the end of my finger. I keep getting adverts for ear cleaning solutions (that you squirt in) and suggestions for cotton wool soaked in baby oil or even cidre vinegar. His ears don't actually seem to get that dirty, at least the bits I can see, the hair's still not too bad and so far I haven't had to pluck any out, (presumably the groomer would do that for me?) but I just wondered if I'm neglecting my duties :lol2: or if all these things are really necessary?
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I think generally, the ears are better left alone unless they are actually dirty.
I make sure that the hair is short. If the opening to the ear is dirty I wipe it gently with damp cotton wool making sure I get in the creases. The best thing is to sniff them!! They do have a distinctive smell you can recognise! Both mine have had dirty ears recently and slightly more smelly, which could have been due to the heat, so I cleaned them with water then put a drop of Thornit powder in. I've only done that three times in Maddie's five years!
Your nose is your friend lol! :005:
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I give the inside of Henry's ears a very occasional swipe around with a baby wipe wrapped around my finger, mainly just to check if there's any discharge or dark wax, which was the first indication he had ear mites a while ago. Otherwise it's a weekly dab of Thornit and I leave them alone.
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I keep the hair short and sniff them every day. Once a week I use an ear cleaner, a couple of drops, give em a good massage, and clean the creases with the solution on a make up pad, separate one for each ear. Dylan's ears are beautifully clean, very little wax, but Milo had quite waxy ears, got ear mites, had a terrible discharge and went deaf, poor lad, had to have drops the rest of his life as his narrow ear canals became rough. So I am quite paranoid about ears now!
Lesley and Dylan
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Vets have such a different idea about frequency of ear cleaning.
I go by if it ain't broke don't fix it :D
I find when I use ear cleaner Bea then gets an infection >:D so I think I will try the ACV on a cotton wool pad as her ears are mucky, Thornit's can be good if used correctly but some dogs can have a reaction to it, silver water by Lintbells hasn't caused a issue for Bea yet.
Hope you find what works for Humphrey soon.
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Thanks everyone, you've more or less confirmed what I thought, just wanted reassurance!! :D
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I don't think Q tips are necc the best thing to use to poke around in a dogs ears. If I just wanted to clean them I would use some sort of ear cleaner. Squidge it in, rub it in a bit by closing the ear and rubbing and then getting a bit of cotton wool to gently wipe out, but only the service not too deep down. However I agree with others. I think they are best left and only cleaned if really necc or you could actually make matters worse by regularly doing it when it's not necc.
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Thanks!
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I'm another "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" believer. I check & sniff my dogs' ears regularly and when grooming them, I cut off most of the hair on the inside of the ear leather so that it allows air to circulate. They are far less likely to get ear infections if air can freely circulate in them.
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I don't do anything much with Coco's ears unless there is problem. I definitely wouldn't stick something like a Q tip in :o
This is what I do to keep happy ears :D
Keep hair on underside of earflap short and trim around the entrance to ear canal to allow air to circulate.
From time to time (every few weeks, or when I remember) wipe the inside of the ear with a tea tree or antiseptic wipe. I put it over my index finger and wipe around the bits I can get to with that, including the first bit of the ear canal (ie not very far in)
Let it dry thoroughly and put in some Thornit powder
Never had any problems with her ears :D
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Great! Thanks again everyone!