my cat has alot of dirt in her ear should i take her to a vet or do it myself? i afraid if i do it i might damage something in her ear please respond.
2006-06-26 08:55:56 · 30 answers · asked by Echo♠ 3 in Pets ➔ Cats
You can clean only what you can see with a q-tip or cotton ball. Your safest bet is to take it to the vet so he can show you what to use and how to use it. Plus he can check for ear mites and other diseases.
2006-06-26 09:02:31 · answer #1 · answered by thematrixhazu36 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It could be ear mites, dirt or ear wax. Yes, cats have ear wax too. Get about 10 Q-tips and some toilet paper to put the used Q-tips on and lay your down on its side with its stomach facing you. You may want to look in the ear with a flash light to see how deep and how dirty the ear is before you begin. If the dirt (or mites) are as far as the eye can see, you should take your cat to the vet. However, in the meantime, you can still clean the ears to ease some suffering. No need to wet the Q-Tip with water or alcohol, just scrap out as much as you can. My cat purrs when I do this and he gives me the look of love after I'm done. You shouldn't go too deep into the ear canal, but just get what you can and go as deep as your cat can stand. Be careful not to push the ear wax and/or dirt or mites further into the canal. After you clean BOTH ears, give your cat a week or two then check his/her ears again. Also observe whether or not your cat scratches his ear a lot. If the ears are full of dirt again, your cat may have the ear mites, so you should take him/her to the vet for a check up. My cat has waxy ears and did not have ear mites. Therefore, I have to clean his ears routinely or he scratches his ears and gets that black ear wax on his back foot and on my floors. Yuk!
2006-06-26 16:12:35 · answer #2 · answered by whatzerface 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you can't afford to take him / her to the vet, some pet stores sell wipes that you can gently wipe out the dirt. They have a cleaning agent that is gentle on ears.
Just be careful not to push the dirt further or damage any of the tissue. I clean my cats ears once a month and he loves it - just sits there and purrs. If get dirty within a week of cleaning, then you should probably take him to the vet because it is probably an infection or earmites.
2006-06-26 19:28:07 · answer #3 · answered by Susie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your cat probably has ear mites; the trouble is, you can't be sure. If there is a lot of dirt in there, I doubt you could clean it out without risking damage to her ear.
Take her to the vet, to be sure what it is, and follow the vet's instructions. Also, ask the vet to show you how to clean her ears, so you can do this yourself BEFORE it gets bad. Then, you won't need to pay for more vet visits.
2006-06-26 16:03:50 · answer #4 · answered by Riothamus Of Research ;<) 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have two cats with cronic ear crud. First take it to the vet to make sure that nothing is wrong. The vet said mine cats' wasn't ear mites. So now I just clean them myself. The cats hate it but they get used to it and don't make a fuss. The vet told me that the cat's ear drum is so far down you can't hurt it.
2006-06-26 18:58:36 · answer #5 · answered by Mountaineer99 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well Candy!
The best is to take a doctor's opinion.
Although U can try by cleaning the ear , by cotton dipped in hydrogen peroxode ( a disinfectant ) , this will prevent the action of microbes that may have entered with the dirt.
But still I say , its best to take an expert's opinion.
Bbye!!
2006-06-26 16:07:14 · answer #6 · answered by Hemant Sahni 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have the vet do it, if she has ear mites she will be treated and if not she will not be injured. I volunteer at a local animal shelter and have seen ear mites turn to festering infections. Ear mites can make the cat scratch so much also that they can rip there ears to shreds.
Don't wait.
2006-06-26 16:01:50 · answer #7 · answered by Cat woman 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Man all these ppl are bullshitting you. your cat might have earmites and if it does. you dont need to spend the money taking it to a vet. get some ear mite medicine from a pet store and some q-tips and clean out his ears with the q-tip. ive had to do it on my cat before. you gotta do it twice
2006-06-26 15:59:56 · answer #8 · answered by ? 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if u got the money take her to a vet. also u might end up pushing the dirt even further in her ear
2006-06-26 15:57:37 · answer #9 · answered by LadyJ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I think it would be best if you take her to the vet, because maybe it will keep coming back and it will get worse. They probably will give her some medicine for that. It probably needes more then water to get rid of that. You don't know for sure, so I would take her to the vet.
2006-06-26 16:00:41 · answer #10 · answered by chocolatelover21 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋