Ear Care
Every pet owner knows how important proper ear care and maintenance can be for our fur-babies! Some pets just need their ears cleaned on a regular basis, but some are susceptible to chronic ear issues. Of course, follow your veterinarian’s advice every step of the way! However, there are some products for ears that can absolutely help maintain your pet’s ear-health. Let’s take a look at what has been proven to work in the field for each level of ear care.
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An effective, wonderfully-scented, and gentle ear cleaner for normal ear care
Most ear cleaners have a very harsh smell, usually attributed to alcohol or some other powerful additive to make it effective. But VetWELL conquered this problem. This is a veterinarian formulated product which smells down-right heavenly! And it’s gentle enough for daily use. Thumbs up all around!
(Look for the Cucumber Melon scent as well, if that’s more your style!)
More Chronic Ear Problems?
Zymox has been a big player in the pet industry for a while, and there’s a good reason for it: their products really work! The first product on our list from them is their Ear Solution with Hydrocortisone. Now if your dog has a raging ear-infection, you need to run to your vet. But once it is cleared up, you can use this product to maintain your pet’s ear health. Start with a few drops down the canal 3 times a week (squish around and wipe out with a cotton ball), then go to 2 times a week, and if your pet’s chronic ear issue has not come back, keep reducing your usage until you can maintain their ear-health with an application of one time a week. This has been a miracle product for many clients, so hopefully it will help your pet too!
If your pet with chronic ear issues is allergic to Hydrocortisone…
…Zymox makes an Otic Enzymatic Solution wthout Hydrocortisone. So you have some options when choosing the perfect product to help your pet!
Zymox Ear Solution and Cleaner set
For those out there that want the Zymox set for ear care, these two products will help you for regular cleaning and also have you prepared in case your pet’s ears get “out of balance” again. This set includes the Ear Solution with 0.5% Hydrocortisone (to help with itchiness.)
For pets with ear-hair
As scary as it may sound to “pull” ear-hair out of certain breeds, it is actually necessary for proper ear care. If you have a breed such as a Poodle, Maltese, Schnauzer, Bichon, Shih Tzu (the list goes on and on), their ear canals need to be kept free of excess hair. This allows the ear to breathe, and also doesn’t allow for debris, discharge. or, even worse, moisture (!) to sit on the hair inside their ear and potentially cause bigger problems.
Need help pulling ear-hair?
Most groomers use hemostats to pull ear-hair if their fingers won’t do the trick. We have found that a scissor-handle tweezer works wonderfully to only pull a few hairs at a time. The pets seem to really appreciate this way of plucking over some of the old-fashioned grab, twist and pull methods with a locking hemostat (no kidding, that’s how it’s been done in the past professionally). The tweezer method is much more humane, and your pet will appreciate you for it! Just remember to file down any sharp edges of the tweezer so that nothing sharp penetrates your pet’s ears!
Ear Powder
An important note about ear-hair plucking is that it should be done gently! It’s recommended to use a little bit of ear-powder to give you some grip, and only pull what is in the canal, NOT the hair around the canal. This hair should come out very easily with a gentle pull, either with your fingers, or with a tweezer or hemostat. If your pet really hates ear-hair pulling, you may need to just tweeze out a little every day to make sure you don’t cause undue stress. And remember to clean out the powder with an ear cleaner once you are done!
