"Ear Flushing" Anyone?

Weeble's got an appointment for some ongoing ear issues--they said they may need to flush out the ear to see if there's something in there (first trip to the vet revealed nothing). Anyone have any objections or recommendations?

 

I had Yoda's ears flushed out while they had him under for his dental last month, and boy did he need it! They didn't look too bad to me, but they pulled out half of Indiana from way down in his ear canal. It depends on how good Weeble is with people touching his ears though.

 

She's usually fine--but her ear is soooo irritated right now, I can't even touch it. I, of course, seemed to make it worse by putting Zymox drops (no steroids) in. I think that's why I'm paranoid about the suggestion, too--the ear drops were given to me by the vet when they didn't see any problems (not really waxy, no mites, etc.) a few weeks ago. The vet tech I talked to mentioned how her cat had a pebble in his ear they didn't see the first time, but that it came out with a flush. I hope that's it because I feel terrible--she's really uncomfortable.

But I guess if it's good enough for Oscar, it's good enough for Weeble.

 

A cat's ear canal makes an abrubt almost 90* turn, so you really can't see down into it. Yoda's ears looked like a normal cat ear to me, but there was all sorts of gunk hidden down there. Weeble is telling you that her ears don't feel good, which means she probably has wax build up deep down in there. The ear flush is done with a solution that helps clean out everything and they might use a small instrument to get the wax out if it doesn't float out.

quick edit - we also had to give ear drops after the cleaning as a "just in case" measure.

 

With an otoscope you can easily look and see the ear drum. It takes a little manipulation though.

 

These things all make sense. I don't know why, after all these years of things being called allergies that were never allergies (with a bunch of different pets), that I don't push the issue. One of my dogs had spider mites in her nose for two years because they kept calling it allergies. Ick and sigh.

I should really get a phone with internet access so I can post questions to you guys when the vet walks out of the room...

Thanks all. Again.

 

Thanks Larry! I should have clarified and said without a special tool, you cannot see down into the ear canal like you can with a human

 

If you could ask what they use to do the flushing, that would be interesting to know -- will Weebles be awake or asleep?

Danny's had ear problems for years, with no definitive cause despite many exams, cultures, various drops etc. Finally tri-otic drops really helped, with some steroid to help take down internal swelling. It was that or start looking at ear canal surgery. Lately his ears have been really good so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

good luck,
laur