My dog has Q-tip cotton stuck in her ear. What should I do now?

The only way to know if there is a piece of cotton still in the ear canal is to have your vet look inside with an otoscope. If there is a piece in there it can cause constant infections and a decrease in hearing. I know you flushed out the ear afterwards but cotton gets heavy when soaked and may not come out. The ear canal in a dog is very long so it could still be down there.

I am so sorry to hear about Scarlett! If you cannot see the cotton swab then it sounds like you will need to visit the veterinarian to retrieve the swab. We sometimes need to use an otoscope and hemostats to carefully retrieve objects such as this, and occasionally if the dog is not cooperative or the object is lodged deep within the canal we may need to give the dog a sedative to be able to remove the swab without causing futher damage to the ear canal and ear drum. If Scarlett is in pain or unable to relax tonight with the swab then a visit to the emergency vet may be needed to prevent her from causing damage to herself. Best of luck to you and to Scarlett!

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry to hear that Cookie yelped and vomited following her ear cleaning. The inside of dogs' ears is very sensitive, and we NEVER recommend cleaning their ears with Q-tips, for risk of causing damage to the ear drum (tympanic membrane). As long as she is acting normally at home (no head tilt, not ear scratching or head shaking, eating/drinking/urinating and defecating normally), she will likely be OK! From now on, please only ever clean her ears gently with a dry cotton ball, and only clean the visible, external portion of the ear canal. I hope this is helpful!

I would bring Rufuss to the veterinarian to remove it. You can damage his ear drum if you push it down into the ear by accident. It is a risk now either way but your veterinarian will be able to sedate Rufuss so he doesn't move and have tools that can help guide them. Understand that they also can puncture the ear drum. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Do not try to get anything out of her ear at home. You can push it farther in and possibly puncture her eardrum. Your veterinarian can look into her ear with an otoscope, see exactly what it is, and determine the best way to get it out.

I am sorry to hear about your concern for your cat! You can try using some cotton balls or cotton rounds and placing them into the ears to absorb any excess water. Do not place anything down into the inside of the ear, such as a qtip, as this can cause more problems. In most cases, a little water in the ears will not cause an issue but occasionally may result in an ear infection from the increased moisture. You can pick up an ear cleaner at your vet or the pet store which have chemical properties that dry out the ear if she still seems to be shaking her ears tomorrow.

Yes, I would take Dax into the vet for this problem. It’s not normal to have a big build up of gunk in the ear or to have an odor. These are signs of an ear infection. Ear infections in dogs can be caused by ear mites, yeast, or bacteria so the vet needs to diagnose what’s causing this build up so he can be treated properly. I would take him into the vet in the next day or two. Just be careful using q tips in his ears. You could accidentally hurt him or even perforate his ear drum if you stick one in too far. The vet can give you an ear cleaning solution like Epi-Otis which is much safer to use. Best of luck!