This was written by a friend - Linda Hornberger , any rights belong solely to her. This information is shared because I thought it was well written and informative.
Grooming a Cat -- the Ears (Step 2)
Now that we finished cutting the nails, we move on to the the ears because, in most cases, they don't need much if anything!
First, the anatomy (see diagram). Notice that the part we refer to as "the ear" is not the working part -- it's called a pinna. This flap collects sound and funnels it down the ear canal to the eardrum and the nerves involved with hearing. It's at the bottom of this canal where infections (bacterial and yeast) like to start and which is very hard to see, especially if there is any type of waxy build-up. The flap itself has a limited blood supply as it is basically skin covering cartilage, which is why a cat can have its ears tipped for TNR without too much concern.
So, you carefully hold the cat's head in one hand (usually against my chest), gently pull back the ear, and look in at the bumps and grooves. It should look like the photo -- only a mild trace of wax, if that. (This is a sphynx ear, btw, which is why there is so little hair.) It should not look like the second photo with all the black gunk --- that is from ear mites and needs to be taken care of sooner than later. If the cat has CRF or food allergies, there may be more wax, but not black grainy stuff, because the body will eliminate toxins in any matter possible and that includes via ear wax.
To clean the ears, normally, I just use a make-up pad with no cleaner nor water. Most of my cats don't get a lot of ear gunk, so one or two swipes, and the ear is clean. With my show cats, I will use a q-tip to get every trace of wax out of the visible ear. Notice, I said visible ear. If you look at the diagram, my q-tip NEVER goes into the actual canal. Again, like with trimming claws, if I can't see it, I won't try to clean it.
If the ears are very dirty (not with mites), then I may use a tiny bit of Dr. Roy's Ear Cleaning Solution. It's got rubbing alcohol in it, to help break up the wax, and it's very mild. The directions say to fill the ear canal, squish it around, and then let the cat shake. The cats hate this and I only do this with extreme cases like Spencer who has ear cysts so the wax can't flow out naturally. Normally, I just put a few drops on a make-up pad (yes, I go through a tube of these quite quickly in my house), and then wipe the ear. And clean the wax off of any hair around the ear.
Now for a few DON'Ts:
-- Don't try using water as it will not work to remove wax. You can use baby oil or mineral oil to soften wax, but it will make a mess of the fur around the ear.
-- Don't pluck the hair in the ears! If there is too much hair (or you show certain breeds), trim or shave it.
-- Don't blow into a cat's ear.
-- Don't push a q-tip so deep that you can't see the end of it! Packing wax upto the eardrum is a good way either to perforate the eardrum or get an ear infection going.
On a side note: when I have to take a cat to a local vet for any proceedure involving anesthesia, I make it a point of telling the vet and the vet techs and having it in my folder to never, EVER flush my cats' ears without prior permission. I have a friend whose cat evidentually died because the vet tech used so much pressure when flushing the ear that the eardrum ruptured, the cat got a severe inner ear infection, and died. It might be a "courtesy" they do for free, but they will not do it on my cats.
So, there, done with the ears in under 10 seconds for most cats. Before moving on to the next step (actually combing the fur), the next installment will be on ear mites, since the topic comes up frequently.
Grooming a Cat -- the Ears (Step 2)
Now that we finished cutting the nails, we move on to the the ears because, in most cases, they don't need much if anything!
First, the anatomy (see diagram). Notice that the part we refer to as "the ear" is not the working part -- it's called a pinna. This flap collects sound and funnels it down the ear canal to the eardrum and the nerves involved with hearing. It's at the bottom of this canal where infections (bacterial and yeast) like to start and which is very hard to see, especially if there is any type of waxy build-up. The flap itself has a limited blood supply as it is basically skin covering cartilage, which is why a cat can have its ears tipped for TNR without too much concern.
So, you carefully hold the cat's head in one hand (usually against my chest), gently pull back the ear, and look in at the bumps and grooves. It should look like the photo -- only a mild trace of wax, if that. (This is a sphynx ear, btw, which is why there is so little hair.) It should not look like the second photo with all the black gunk --- that is from ear mites and needs to be taken care of sooner than later. If the cat has CRF or food allergies, there may be more wax, but not black grainy stuff, because the body will eliminate toxins in any matter possible and that includes via ear wax.
To clean the ears, normally, I just use a make-up pad with no cleaner nor water. Most of my cats don't get a lot of ear gunk, so one or two swipes, and the ear is clean. With my show cats, I will use a q-tip to get every trace of wax out of the visible ear. Notice, I said visible ear. If you look at the diagram, my q-tip NEVER goes into the actual canal. Again, like with trimming claws, if I can't see it, I won't try to clean it.
If the ears are very dirty (not with mites), then I may use a tiny bit of Dr. Roy's Ear Cleaning Solution. It's got rubbing alcohol in it, to help break up the wax, and it's very mild. The directions say to fill the ear canal, squish it around, and then let the cat shake. The cats hate this and I only do this with extreme cases like Spencer who has ear cysts so the wax can't flow out naturally. Normally, I just put a few drops on a make-up pad (yes, I go through a tube of these quite quickly in my house), and then wipe the ear. And clean the wax off of any hair around the ear.
Now for a few DON'Ts:
-- Don't try using water as it will not work to remove wax. You can use baby oil or mineral oil to soften wax, but it will make a mess of the fur around the ear.
-- Don't pluck the hair in the ears! If there is too much hair (or you show certain breeds), trim or shave it.
-- Don't blow into a cat's ear.
-- Don't push a q-tip so deep that you can't see the end of it! Packing wax upto the eardrum is a good way either to perforate the eardrum or get an ear infection going.
On a side note: when I have to take a cat to a local vet for any proceedure involving anesthesia, I make it a point of telling the vet and the vet techs and having it in my folder to never, EVER flush my cats' ears without prior permission. I have a friend whose cat evidentually died because the vet tech used so much pressure when flushing the ear that the eardrum ruptured, the cat got a severe inner ear infection, and died. It might be a "courtesy" they do for free, but they will not do it on my cats.
So, there, done with the ears in under 10 seconds for most cats. Before moving on to the next step (actually combing the fur), the next installment will be on ear mites, since the topic comes up frequently.
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