Cats are known for being mostly self sufficient when it comes to cleaning, evidenced by their common (and sometimes allergic-reaction-inducing) habit of licking themselves all over whenever not sleeping or playing. They can miss two spots in particular, though: the gunk that can accrue under the eyes, and the gunk which does the same in their ears. Ew.

If you need to de-eargunk (or worse, de-earmite) your kitty to return him or her to a cuddlable state, don't worry too much about the difficulty or grossness of the job: cleaning a cat's ears is easy, and only takes between ten and fifteen minutes. Here are some quick, to-the-point directions to help you efficiently get it over with.

Materials:

Ear cleaner or olive oil, a dish of warm water, an eye-dropper (preferably plastic for safety's sake), and a handful of cotton balls. If you don't have cotton balls, a clean, soft cotton rag should work too. Oh, and don't forget the cat: try to catch the kitty in a sleepy, unboisterous state, in the hopes of keeping his or her co-operation. Treats will help this, too.

What to Do:

1) Place the oil or cleaner in a small container (or keep it in the original containter), and put that container in the dish of warm water to warm it up. This will be more comfortable for the cat. Let the oil/cleaner warm to body temperature.

2) Approach the cat if it's lazing about, or place him or her on a table to make any potential dripped mess easy to clean up.

3) Use the eyedropper to drip some of the oil/cleaner (two or three drops) into the opening of the cat's ear canal. Massage it in, with your fingertips at the base of the ear, so it drips down into the ear canal. Do this for a minute or two, and then repeat this for the other ear.

4) Leave the cat alone for five to ten minutes. It will shake its head around a lot, because hey, having an earful of foreign stuff must feel pretty weird. This is good - as the cat tries to dislodge the oil/cleaner, it will also work the cleaner around, thus dislodging other things, like earwax, mites, dust, old skin, or dirt.

5) After this time, you'll be able to wipe away the stuff from the ear using the cotton balls or cloth. Now it's time to give a treat - your cat just went through a bit of an ordeal.

If you're doing this in preparation to apply an earmite ointment, now is the time to add that, also using the eyedropper. The excess can then be wiped away. Giving a treat each time reassures the cat that it will be rewarded, so if you'll have to administer the medication often, treats are a good way to keep your cat unafraid of the process: while it isn't painful, some cats may find it a little weird or uncomfortable. And we know how sensitive cats can be about their grooming.

Learn more about this author, Currie Jean.
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