by T.H. Pankey
Probably the one and only place your cat
doesn't cleanse itself, is inside its ears. Though I'm sure if they could
wash their own ears, they would. Notice I said your cat's ears. Reason? For
many cats, the last thing they want is some stranger trying to clean the
inside of their ears for them. But there's exceptions to most any rule.
Nevertheless if it's your cat's ears you're trying to clean, you'll have an
easier way to go, being they're more trusting of you, their owner.
So-cleaning your cat's ears-why would you want to do that in the first
place? Maybe you just want to give your cat that much attention, or you
notice some dirt that's been in there for awhile, and you've decided it
needs to be tidied up. Perhaps you're about to give him some medicine the
veterinarian has prescribed for some sort of inner ear ailment, and there's
some sort of pre-cleaning you see needing to be done so that the medicine
isn't wasted or obstructed by ear debris of some sort. I know that's how
this journey of an article started out for me. Mr. Scruffy seemed to be
shaking his head to and fro a bit and getting more and more aggravated with
his right ear. Enter my search and subsequent article on how to clean your
cat's ears.
You will need a few things to get started.
Some Extra Virgin Olive Oil-or any olive oil will do. Olive oil is generally
accepted as an ear wax softener. Additionally, using olive oil is good
because it has properties within it which help to alleviate minor pain and
inflammation your cat may be experiencing due to scratching at his or her
ear.
You will also need a cotton swab of some sort or something that
is going to be effective in wiping the ear after the few minutes of ear
shaking your cat is going to do because of this foreign olive oil he/she now
has in its ear.
Ok-if you want-you may want to do a 'little' warming
of the olive oil so that it feels a little better to your cat once you put a
couple of drops into its ear. Also, 'slightly' warming the olive oil helps
to activate its medicinal properties found therein, and cleaning most always
seems to go better with warmer temperatures, anyway.
You've put a
couple of warm drops of olive oil in to your cat's ears. They've walked
around shaking their head for the better part of five minutes. You've
scooped him or her back into your loving arms armed with a cotton ball or
swab, etc, in your other hand. You've wiped out your cat's ears. There
you're done. Wait! Pat yourself on the back and let your cat do his
snuggling of you-since you've just done the one thing, both, he and you know
he can't do for himself-cleaned your cat's ears.
