Details about cleaning wax from a ratty's delicate ears?

[Godmother]

I have never done this before, but it's getting to be time for my senior girls. Their ears still look very pink and clean, so perhaps they are grooming each other, but I think I saw some wax in Penny's ear tonight. They are really having trouble using their back legs, although they make heroic efforts to maintain grooming. They somehow keep their fur in pristine condition, and their tails are cleaner than ever.

I have read that it's OK to clean the ears with a Q-tip, but I am terrified of hurting her or doing damage after all the stuff that doctors say about people cleaning their ears with Q-tips.

Should I put warm water on the Q-tip first? Warm olive oil? How deep should I insert the Q-tip?

 

[jorats]

The best thing to use is that long thin tool with a tiny scoop at the end... used by vets. Where to get them? I have no idea and really do wish I had one. But since I don't, I don't clean their ears.
My vet has told me that you don't want anything liquid in their ear, so I won't recommend putting anything wet in their ear. A couple of times Nic and I have attempted to clean out a rat's ear, which seemed to turn out to cause or be a symptom of or just a coincidence to the ear bleeding or finding a growth in the ear.
I'm not much help am I? If rats could sit still and cooperate it would make the task much easier. If you do find a method that works and makes the rat feel better, please pass it on!

 

[twitch]

i have found that if the rat will stay still and you are gentle with it, i a q-tip with about half of the cotton ripped off works perfectly. remember, they have red secretions, so the wax CAN look a little brownish. blood is a bright red, a bad wax build up is a muddy looking brown. don't go too deep. don't clean the ears of a rat that is struggling. once you have cleared up the wax build-up i use a solution called... i can't think of the proper name of it right now... frig... but you get it from the vet to clean ears it has a special medication in it to help clean ears. its a clear solution and you only need a small drop. you rub it into the ear. when chancey was cacooned in his paper towel brace he couldn't get his back feet up to clean his ears and this is what i did to keep them clean. he got to appreciate ear cleaning time and would sit still patiently waiting for me to be done. once done i would get some kisses and then he would bounce off as best he could to go play. even still he was very happy to be out of the tube when his stitches came out.

 

[Fidget]

oh geez, is this something I should be doing? I've never done it. But maybe I ought to be?

 

[lilspaz68]

Fidge, your rat will tell you when its time. When they cannot get those hind legs up to that spot anymore, and their ears will be very itchy. As gross as it sounds, I rub their ears with a little finger...the warm of my finger kinda melts the wax onto my finger. Then I wash my hands. :sick2:

I have done q-tips gently....for me I insert dry Q-tip and keep it still, they grind their itchy ear on it themselves so I know I am not hurting them...I try to clean the outside ear on my own.

 

[joolzratbag]

I used q-tips with rats with hind leg degeneration too to remove visible wax from the outer ear - I would also get a tiny bit of warmed olive oil onto the q-tip, not enough to drip off, just enough to soak into the cotton a bit.

 

[Godmother]

Thanks! Sounds like I was right to be cautious. I don't want to do more harm than good.