Despite their well-deserved reputation as cleaning machines, cats occasionally require a helping paw with cat ears cleaning. The most of the time, your little munchkin won’t need his ears cleaned by his human, but every cat eventually develops ear infections, ear mites, or—more commonly—wax accumulation. Trust your instinct if you see dirt building up in your cat’s ears; they probably need cleaning! Compared to adult cats, kittens are more likely to exhibit this. Read on to learn how to clean your cat’s ears!
Cat Ears Cleaning: The Reasons
It’s crucial to keep a check on your kitten’s or cat’s general cleanliness. And your kitten’s or cat’s dirty ear may indicate a number of other things.
Fortunately, there are numerous ways to clean your cat’s ears. Sometimes the remedy is as simple as using a cotton ball and a treatment at home, but if the buildup that resembles dirt keeps coming back every few days, a trip to the veterinarian is probably now required.
Ear wax

Cats can get ear wax buildup much like people do. The quantity of accumulation will differ from kitten to kitten and cat to cat, but this is very natural. Cat ear wax shouldn’t cause your cat to overly scratch his ears, shake his head frequently as if attempting to get water out of them, flatten his ears, or try to rub them against items. Follow this straightforward how-to advice if you believe your cat simply has normal wax accumulation.
Ear Mites

The tiny parasites known as ear mites reside inside the ear canals of your cat and feed on the blood, cell fluids, and dead skin cells. As a result of their high contagiousness, if you live with several cats or kittens, you probably need to treat them all. The best course of action is to go see your neighborhood veterinarian if you’re unclear whether your cat has ear mites.
They’ll be able to identify whether your cat has ear mites and provide you with the proper therapy. Otherwise, sometimes treatment at home is just as beneficial if you are positive it is ear mites without having to go to the veterinarian. While there are over-the-counter drops available, I prefer to pair it with a different treatment, like Advantage Multi for cats, which eliminates fleas, ticks, intestinal parasites, and ear mites. We think it is the ideal integrated solution.
If all of this brown buildup keeps coming back, your cat might be suffering from…
Ear Infection

The waxy, dark deposit in your cat’s ears that you see could potentially be a sign of an ear infection. This will unquestionably require medical attention from the veterinarian, who will probably administer your cat antibiotics in the form of pills in addition to daily ear cleanings using the recommended cat ear droplets. Check it out if you’re unsure! (by seeing a veterinarian). See more information on cat ear infections.
Cat Ears Cleaning: How To Do It At Home
- Grab a cotton ball or two.
- Instead of soaking them, dip or dampen them in the cat ear cleaner.
- Hold your cat’s head gently while flipping one of its ears back.
- Turn the cotton ball many times to remove the wax buildup.
Once the ear is clean and the brownish wax buildup has been removed, the ear should be healthy and slightly pink in color.
It should take some time for the issue to return if ear wax buildup was truly the cause.
Cleaning your cat’s ears is an easy method to keep track on their general health.
Cat Ears Cleaning: Conclusion
Check in there every week or so to make sure nothing unpleasant is accumulating. And now that you know what to do, if there is, great!
The most crucial piece of advice is to always use caution when giving your cat’s ears any drops. A solution drop directly into the ear should be avoided as this could hurt and lead to imbalance problems for several days.
Read more: Why Do Cats Stick Their Tongues Out?