Ear cleaning done by sucking out debris

Does anyone know of vets that do an ear cleaning with your pet sedated and use the small tool to vacuum out debris in the ear, like people get at the ENT? My cat gets dirty ears often, and vets either use a q tip to get wax out or pour liquid in the ear, rub it, then use a q tip. Having ear issues myself I know leftover fluid in the ear can be painful or annoying and q tips don't get all built up debris. I asked my vets if they do sedation and use the cleaning tool like people get in there ears and they literally laughed at me saying nothing exists like it but I frequently find articles about dogs that are prone to ear infections getting it done!

I had a cat who had chronic ear issues and the vet would often do a thorough ear cleaning while he was under anesthesia for something else (e.g. a dental). I don't know what tool(s) she used, but I know she would squirt water in there because once she thought she saw a tumor in his ear and it turned out to just be a giant ball of hardened wax that dissolved with the water.

I meant anesthesia, but even that nobody said they do?

I'm not sure a vet would put an animal under anesthesia for the sole purpose of thoroughly cleaning its ears, but I know my vet will do a thorough ear cleaning as part of another procedure because she has done that for me in the past.

Just how bad are your cat's ears? I would wonder at the underlying cause (like mites for eg) if this is a chronic condition. I doubt a responsible vet would want to anesthetize just for ear cleaning. My vet considers it more of a cosmetic thing and just uses a big q tip if they look bad.

pushylady said:

Just how bad are your cat's ears? I would wonder at the underlying cause (like mites for eg) if this is a chronic condition. I doubt a responsible vet would want to anesthetize just for ear cleaning. My vet considers it more of a cosmetic thing and just uses a big q tip if they look bad.

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I've had my cat for 10 years, she used to be a stray was born outside. She had bad ear mites since the day we got her, the vets cleaned her ears with medicated solution and antibiotics for the ear infection. Within 2 months she was back to shaking her head and liquid comes out and I see lots of wax buildup. We cannot clean her ears, its something she won't tolerate and if we try we risk getting bit, otherwise she is a calm cat. So we cannot keep her ears clean at home. Her ears are left uncleaned for months on end due to money or the vets doing a poor job of cleaning. They mentioned her canal is small and makes her prone to bad wax drainage. This had been going on for 10 years! Last year they tested for ear mites she had none, but the wax they got with a q tip was tremendous and smelly. Her ear was clean after but the fluid annoyed her and she was shaking her head worse after scratching her ears, fluid still came out, she never is comfortable all these years and I think something different needs to be done now !

She also has a few pea sized growths inside her ear near the canal, the vets looked at them and said they developed from her constantly shaking and scratching her ear, they are fluid filled growths. I asked if they had to be drained and they said no not unless they grow bigger, but in her ear they probably make it feel worse!

Please have someone do some lab work on those growths. Chronic infection anywhere can lead to cancer. The cat I had with ear problems had chronic ear infections and repeated ear mite infestations before we adopted him and he wound up developing a ceruminous gland adenoma, which is basically an ear wax tumor. We had surgery done to remove the tumor but it came back eventually and when it did our kitty was no longer well enough to tolerate another surgery. Hopefully whatever growths your kitty has are benign, but it's still best to get them checked.

They wouldn't do a biopsy, I did ask and they said no need to. I would hope I could trust what the vet said.