Safe Products to Use for Cleaning a Cat's Ears

Whether you are treating ear mites or yeast infections or just want to keep your cat's ears clean, there are a number of safe cleaning agents to choose from. Alternatively, you can make your own cleaning product at home, which is inexpensive and allows you to control the ingredients used. Generally speaking, you should apply a treatment solution weekly for about a month to be sure you're rid of any bacteria.

  1. Green Tea

    • Green tea is a natural antiseptic that will not only clean your cat's ears, but also disinfect. Disinfection will help remove bacteria and parasites or mites that might be living in your cat's ear. It also removes excess ear wax and debris.

      To prepare a green tea treatment, brew a cup of tea as you normally would, and allow it cool. Then drop a few drops of the cooled tea in your cat's ear and massage it in.

    Mineral Oils

    • Mineral oils work much like green tea does. They will clean and disinfect your cat's ears, loosening ear wax and debris. It is also an effective treatment against ear mites because it removes the ear wax, which is their food source, and suffocates the ear mites themselves. In addition, mineral oils are an effective cleaner when dealing with yeast infections in your cat's ears.

      A few drops of mineral oil dropped into your cat's ear can be massaged in, then wiped away with a clean cotton ball. Other oils, like olive oil, are safe; however, you should not use tea tree oil, which is not safe.

    Garlic Oil

    • You can strengthen an oil solution by adding crushed garlic, which is known to create a more powerful natural cleaner that kills bacteria and is effective against extreme infestations of ear mites. Soak a few cloves of crushed garlic in the oil overnight; use the liquid itself for treatment.

      Massage the oil into the ear canal as you would with a plain oil. Although garlic oil is effective at treating ear problems, garlic should never be administered orally to any cat.

    Cleaning Solutions

    • If you prefer not to prepare your own cleaning solution for your cat's ears, you can purchase commercial cleaners. These are available at both your veterinarian's office and your local pet supply store. Most commercial cleaning products act as both a cleaning and drying agents. Typically, you apply them to the ear canal and then massage them in, wiping away excess fluid with a clean cotton ball or tissue; however, you should follow the package directions, since some cleaners are used differently.