Flushing Your Pet's Ears

Dog Breeds Predisposed to Ear Problems

How to Flush Your Dog's or Cat's Ears

Ear flushing is not a whirlpool activity; flushing is gentle filling and emptying of the ear with a cleaning solution, and you should undertake it only with your veterinarian's approval. Use solutions that are at room temperature.

Using a Regular or Bulb Syringe

The syringe tip should not touch the skin.

Practice with the bulb syringe so that you squeeze so gently it does not whistle. That is the right amount of suction to use.

Which Medications to Use

Choosing a flushing or ear cleansing medication depends upon:

• What you want to accomplish—inhibiting yeast, inhibiting bacteria or removing moisture
• Whether the eardrum is intact

If the eardrum is not intact, your veterinarian will recommend products that contain: colloidal silver benzoic acid, malic acid, salicylic acid or povidone iodine because they do not damage the inner ear.

If your pet has Malassezia, a yeast infection, your veterinarian will recommend an antifungal. If the problem is with bacteria, the veterinarian will recommend an antibiotic that controls either gram-positive staphylococcal or streptococcal bacteria, or an antibiotic that controls gram-negative bacteria, such as pseudomonas and E. coli.

For moist ear infections, an ear solution or suspension is preferable to an ointment, cream or powder. For a dry ear infection, use an ointment or cream.

Recommended Products for Flushing Pet's Ears

1-800-PetMeds Ear Cleansing Solution

Epi Otic Advanced Ear Cleanser

Oti-Clens Cleansing Solution

Nolvasan Otic

How Often Should You Flush Your Pet's Ears?

Your veterinarian will tell you how often your pet's ears should be flushed. The usual veterinary recommendation is once daily for 7-10 days, then weekly. One clue that flush has been effective and the frequency can be reduced is that the material wiped from the canal decreases to nothing or a small amount that is fairly white.

Do Not Flush Your Pet's Ears Too Often

If your pet's ears are filling up so that they need to be flushed frequently, check with your veterinarian. Your pet may have allergies, and removing the offending allergen may be the best way to ease your pet's ear problems.

Flushing removes the helpful immunoglobulins, IgA, IgG, and IgM designed by nature to control bacteria and yeast. Use ear medications only as directed by your veterinarian.

Can Ear Flushing Lead to Deafness?

If flushing introduces fluids to the middle ear, your pet may be deaf for 7-10 days until the fluid is absorbed.

Gentle Approach to Ear Flushing

Rubbing or massaging the ear to distribute medication can damage the 7th and 8th cranial nerves; and your pet can become deaf, ataxic, and lose its balance. Handle gently.