ear cleaning

I followed the advice from and earlier post (and spoke to the vet) and have been using an ear cleaner, massaging it in well and blotting out the excess with cotton balls twice a week (and the vet said not more). The problem is that, even when I wipe out the ear with cotton until it comes out clean, when I go back in with Q tips there is a fair amount of "stuff" left in there, which really bothers me. The vet looked at her ears when we first talked about it and again last week when we discussed it again and told me her ears were fine. I do, however, want her ears to be sparkling, I know how important that is for cavaliers - and all spaniels. I am not sure what to do. Does anybody know if I should follow up with the Q tips or if it's better to leave that last little bit?

Jen and Ilsa

I use the same philosophy with q-tips on my dogs as I did on my kids (not in the ears). I would clean my Retreiver's ears with a kleenex only - at the vet's insistence. He did have a lot of ear problems. I do the same with the Cavs.

The problem with q-tips is that you can push whatever is in the ear canal further inside and could end up causing an impaction. My husband has done that and had to have the doctor go in and remove it, with strict instructions to not use q-tips in the ear canal again. Like Mindysmom, I believe the same is true for dogs.

I believe it is also Jen. I only use the epi-otic once a week for mine which I was told to do. On Abbey I have to do drops I believe its 3 times a week. I have a sheet of paper that tells me what to do with her daily as there is so much although it is going down--meaning not as many meds as it used to be.

You can try getting more air to the ears - trim the hair from around the outside of the ear canal, also when she's asleep, flop the ear leather back so that it is open to the air.

If she will keep one on, you could also try putting her ears up behind her head in a {human} scrunchie - I lift the ears behind the head and then wrap a scrunchie around 3 times. They look a bit silly but if you keep it on for a few hours every day it does help keep the ear canal a bit cleaner.

Definitely don't use q-tips other than on the very outside of the ear. Some dogs do just have dirtier ears than others- do you have a very warm home? That can make it worse too.