Ear Check For Feline Itching

1. How to check the ears

During petting, casually check your cats ears for discharge, redness, unpleasant smell, swelling, and even lumps. Also observe your cat’s behaviour, if he often scratches or paws at his ears (and sometimes even shakes his head often), then he might be feeling discomfort in the ear area.

If you notice your cats ears are becoming painful or maybe inflamed, visit a veterinarian as soon as possible. The veterinarian has the equipment to look deep into your cat’s ear canal and give an accurate diagnosis. The veterinarian will determine if allergies, skin conditions, ear mites, bacteria, yeasts, and fungi are causing ear diseases. Seek early treatment, or your cat’s ear condition may become too late to heal.

2. How to clean the ears

Ask your veterinarian for gentle ear cleaning solutions you can use to keep your cats ears clean. These special solutions are effective in removing excess wax, moisture, and debris from your cat’s outer ear canal. Be sure to use only solutions that are specifically formulated for cats. Avoid medicated solutions, unless your veterinarian advises you to use it.

Different solutions are administered differently, but most of them require you to follow these steps.

* You typically only need a few drops of the ear solution. Squeeze the bottle and let a few drops fall on into your cat’s ear canal.

* Start massaging the base of your cats ear gently. You should hear a ‘squelch’ while you do this. Repeat the same procedure with the other ear. After both ears have been cleaned, let your cat shake its head, this loosens the waxes.

NOTE: Stop massaging immediately if your cat feels pain and then take your cat to the veterinarian if you haven’t already done so.

* Wipe the solution by wrapping your forefinger with cotton wool, this should clean off wax and debris. Do this gently though and do not poke in too deep, or you might hurt your cats eardrum.

It is recommended not to use cotton buds, which can injure the ear canals’ sensitive lining.

by Drew Pilton

Here are a few more tips and advice on general ear care and pain relief for cats and kittens

Cat behavior
Ears: A Cat’s ears can say a lot about what they are feeling or trying to express to others, different Ear positions mean different things.  Ears Forward: When the Ears are forward and relaxed, then your Cat is happy.

How to clean your cat’s ears
First put the ear cleaner in a small container and place it into the dish of lukewarm water in order to warm it up. This makes cleaning your cat’s ears a lot more comfortable for your cat.

Pussy Cat Behavior Resolved
An effective alternative to dialysis that can extend a pussy cat’s life. A pussy cat has more ear muscles that afford cats’ directional hearing, which also allows them to move each ear independently of the other.

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