Your cat’s ears are self-cleaning for the most part but you should examine your cat’s ears regularly for infection, mites or other cuts or abnormality. Sometimes the buildup of dark wax is the beginning of an infection. Cleaning your cat’s ears during normal grooming can help keep them healthy. Consider asking another person to hold your cat so you can concentrate on cleaning the ears. Use an ear rinse made for cats. Squirt a little in each ear and use the earflap to rub the rinse around and loosen dirt and debris. Use cotton balls to clean out any excess wax and dirt. You can use a cotton swab but don’t insert it any deeper than you can see to avoid damaging the ear canal and eardrum. Change the cotton as needed and don’t cross-contaminate from one ear to another. Contact your North Phoenix, AZ vet to learn more.