Ear cleaning??

Question

I'm an American living in Singapore on business and adopted a kitten since I've moved here and I'm not that confident in the vets here (everyone in this country hates cats, one of the highest rates of cats abuse - poor things) but the vet used a solution to clean the cats ears and gave me some hydrogen peroxide with hibitane to use to clean her ears at home. Does anyone know if this is safe - according to some searches I did on the net - some sites say it's good and some say it's not. Any experience with this??

The cat did not have mites or any condition - vet just insisted I clean the ears once a week by pouring the solution into her ear and rubbing the base of her ear and letting her shake it out. This is my first cat but it just doesn't sound safe to me and I really don't trust the vets all that much around cats.

Answer 1

If the cat doesn't have an infection or ear mites, I really don't understand why you'd need to clean her ears once a week. Really, that just sounds ridiculous. Cleaning them every once in a while isn't usually harmful, but once a week is a bit excessive for a cat with clean, healthy ears.

I wouldn't use hydrogen peroxide, either. There are products on the market made for cleaning a cat's ears. I don't think I'd ever feel comfortable using q-tips, but there are wipes. Try looking at any of these sites:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com
http://www.petsmart.com
http://www.petsolutions.com

HP may be perfectly fine to clean the ears, I just don't know if I personally would ever chance it.....unless my vet told me to....and I know my vet doesn't hate cats. So really, it's up to you. If her ears are clean and healthy, I don't see any reason for weekly washings with HP.

Answer 2

cleaning ears in cats isn't as necessary as in dogs. I would only clean your cats ears once every two weeks or even less than that, unless she has an ear infection or something. But you can use hydrogen peroxide mixed with water...or jsut plain warm water on a cotton ball. I wouldn't advise using Q-tips. Although the ear drumn is way in down in the ear, it is still possible to reach it. Gauze and cotton balls work the best. The ear cleaner is fine too, but is more expensive of course. Goodluck with your kitten!

Answer 3

Did the kitten have ear mites? That's the most common reason for "dirty" ears and vets here can give a shot to clear that up. H2O2 is not going to eliminate the mites and cleaning cat ears a lot is not a good idea as you can damage eardrums with Q-tips and such which also may just push the mites farther down the ear canal.

Answer 4

i just use peroxide in my cats ears. any time you see black stuff in their ears that means they have ear mites. after cleaning out their ears i use a little baby oil to keep the mites from coming back this seems to work great. but i wouldnt do it more then once a month because doing it to much will dry out their ears and could cause worse problems

Answer 5

I wouldn't advise pouring the peroxide in her ear. To take Q-tips with peroxide on them and swab her ears is fine......but I woudn't even do that unless she has some sort of ear infection and/or mites. If she seems like a healthy kitten, you shouldn't really have to do anything. It's too bad about how they treat cats there...that's sad.

Answer 6

Ears will clean by them selves if you leave to nature and you can consult an ENT surgeon if needed !

Answer 7

There is special solution you can buy at pet stores, but I don't know about Singapore. We use a little vinegar mixed with warm water.

Answer 8

Try searching the Internet again, I can't remember the site, but there was a vet who had an email address that you could submit questions to.