Can cleaning ears reduce the risk of grass seeds?

[Cob-Web]

Molo has just spent an entertaining hour at the out-of-hours vets service, having three seeds removed from his ear under general anaesthetic; although I was less than entertained by the £180 bill 

He's fine now, and we have managed to avoid seeds for a few years, so I'm not too bothered; but the nurse advised that I should get into the routine of using an ear cleaner every two to four weeks, as it will dislodge foreign bodies and reduce the risk of needing to be sedated to remove seeds that are firmly lodged.  She even suggested that next time I think he has a seed stuck, I should try washing them out before bringing him into the vet 

Now, I tend to treat a lot of veterinary advice with scepticism    especially as this same nurse also gave me a lecture when I refused the Hills i/d food she offered me and let slip that I feed a partially raw diet  , so feel the need to ask the COL experts!   

Will washing my dogs ears out regularly help dislodge foreign bodies? Even the nurse admitted that both my dogs have clean ears; so I have been reluctant to interfere, tbh........

[cazza]

I'm no expert - but the only cleaning of the ears I tend to do is............... The ears are combed after being out for a walk and the outside of the inside is wiped very gently if they need it (which to be honest isn't very often) Never poke inside the ear

[Karma]

I'm no expert, but I don't see how cleaning ears would stop a grass seed or 3 getting in there...

Fair enough, if ears are gunky, they need to be cleaned... but if they are clean anway... 

And if I thought there was a seed stuck the last thing I would do would be to clean, as surely this could wash a seed further into the ear... 

Glad to hear Molo is ok! 

[Helen]

nope, disagree...and a small amount of ear wax is actually healthy

[mum2milly]

Poor Molo. Hope he's ok now.
I don't really know, but was always led to believe that you shouldn't go poking around in ears, & just clean very carefully around the edge if necessary.
Bit like the old shoving the cotton bud in humans ears if you ask me! Noooo!!

Jo & Milly xx

[Michele]

nope, disagree...and a small amount of ear wax is actually healthy

I agree with Helen, I honestly think that's one of the daftest things I've heard for a good while. As you well know Rachel, a lot of the grass seeds are barbed, how is flushing the ear going to send them back out again?? 

Hope Molo is now comfortable, time to put a snood on maybe. 

[Nicola]

I would also think that if there's a seed in there then flushing the ear is going to wash it further in. I think this is more advice that I'd be filing under i for ignore! I wipe out Tilly's ears once a week with Cleanaural because of her tendency to go bog snorkelling and then get yucky infections but I can't see it doing any good for stopping a seed getting stuck in there

[Joules]

Nope, I can't see how that would work either

[Cob-Web]

I'm glad my scepticism is shared!! 

The nurse explained that the seeds might have been in Molos ears for a few days, working their way down the canal before they caused discomfort, and that by washing his ears out regularly, the seeds might have been washed out while they were still near the opening of the ear. She suggested that any seeds would be dislodged when the dog shakes its head after the ears have been washed - and that to help the process, I could pin his ears up so that the excess cleaning fluid flies out of the ears!!

I'm still not convinced.......

[Joules]

I could pin his ears up so that the excess cleaning fluid flies out of the ears!!

What   How is the fluid going to "fly out of his ears"?  If things flew out of a dog's ears of their own accord we wouldn't have the bloomin' grass seed problem anyway      I'd like to see her try to pin Coco's ears up so things could fly out of them 

[Helen]

I'm glad my scepticism is shared!! 

The nurse explained that the seeds might have been in Molos ears for a few days, working their way down the canal before they caused discomfort, and that by washing his ears out regularly, the seeds might have been washed out while they were still near the opening of the ear. She suggested that any seeds would be dislodged when the dog shakes its head after the ears have been washed - and that to help the process, I could pin his ears up so that the excess cleaning fluid flies out of the ears!!

I'm still not convinced.......

she needs to check out the physiology of seeds....they're BARBED that's why they can go so efficiently in one direction and not fall out so easily.

[Cob-Web]

I could pin his ears up so that the excess cleaning fluid flies out of the ears!!

What   How is the fluid going to "fly out of his ears"?  If things flew out of a dog's ears of their own accord we wouldn't have the bloomin' grass seed problem anyway      I'd like to see her try to pin Coco's ears up so things could fly out of them 

I think she meant when he shakes after I've cleaned them - I can see how it would work (slobber flies everywhere when they shake after a drink), but like Helen, I don't think a seed is going to co-operate, tbh 

She also tried to convince me that dogs, particularly "breed" dogs (as opposed to cross-breeds, I assume) have been so highly bred that they are no longer able to digest raw meat 

[Helen]

I could pin his ears up so that the excess cleaning fluid flies out of the ears!!

What   How is the fluid going to "fly out of his ears"?  If things flew out of a dog's ears of their own accord we wouldn't have the bloomin' grass seed problem anyway      I'd like to see her try to pin Coco's ears up so things could fly out of them 

I think she meant when he shakes after I've cleaned them - I can see how it would work (slobber flies everywhere when they shake after a drink), but like Helen, I don't think a seed is going to co-operate, tbh 

She also tried to convince me that dogs, particularly "breed" dogs (as opposed to cross-breeds, I assume) have been so highly bred that they are no longer able to digest raw meat 

  I can just imagine the look on your face as she dispensed her wealth of personal knowledge

[Karma]

She also tried to convince me that dogs, particularly "breed" dogs (as opposed to cross-breeds, I assume) have been so highly bred that they are no longer able to digest raw meat 

I'd love to know what it is Honey manages to survive on, if she's not actually able to digest the food we give her... 

[Colin]

nope, disagree...and a small amount of ear wax is actually healthy

A couple of years ago Misty had to have a grass seed removed from her ear and the vet found a couple more tiny ones, which he thought had probably been there for some time - he reckoned the wax had stopped them from working their way into her ear drum.