Cleaning ears/ ear damage?

[ZiggyFurley5]

I have 2 male pigs Ziggy and Furley that are almost 1 year old. I was trimming their nails (they don't seem to mind that much) when I decided to clean their ears for the first time because I never have. I should have looked it up but instead I did what I thought would be common sense and now I'm having a panic attack because I didn't realize I was making such huge mistake.

I decided to use some hydrogen peroxide on a Q-tip. Ziggy is definitely more squirmy than Furley and throughout the fighting process the Q-tip did go into the hole of his ear :( actually both ears, but I didn't realize how bad that could be. Not far in but it's still something I no now should completely avoided. And I know now hydrogen peroxide is a bad choice as well. Furley sat completely still and let me clean his ears no problem because he's really calm.

So now I'm really afraid that I did permanent damage to Ziggy's ears. The second I put them back in the cage I gave them some cucumber and he's been running around like normal, eating hay and food. I was afraid maybe I did damage to his hearing so I put on a video of a guinea pig's squeaking to see if he would react and he did, but I'm really worried. Should I have a vet look over his ears to make sure I didn't do anything catastrophic? What type of damage can be done from something like this?

Sorry for the long-winded post but I'm horrified that I potentially did permanent damage too poor Ziggy and I feel awful :/

[bpatters]

No, you don't need to have a vet look at his ears. One exposure to hydrogen peroxide isn't likely to do anything.

But you really should investigate recommended treatments before just deciding to do something to your pig. Hydrogen peroxide went out of favor with the medical community more than twenty years ago, and should never be used.

There are two recommended booklets on the main page of this site that will help you keep your pig happy and healthy: https://www.guinealynx.info/healthycavy.html and https://www.guinealynx.info/emergency.html.

[ZiggyFurley5]

Okay but it's not the exposure of hydrogen peroxide that is worrying me, I'm worried about the possible damage I did from the Q-tip going into his ear hole. And I already said I feel bad about doing it so obviously I'm going to research before doing something like that again. My grandpa was a Medical doctor that lived to be 95 and he used hydrogen peroxide on Q-tip in his ears his whole life. So that's why I went with hydrogen peroxide. And before he died I know he was having trouble with his ears and his doctors told him it was okay to use hydrogen peroxide. But again that's not even what I'm asking about, I'm asking what type of damage can be done by a Q-tip being inserted into a guinea pig's ear. Thank you for the reply though.

[bpatters]

Well, the hole in a guinea pig's ear is pretty deep, and you'd have to push pretty hard with a q-tip to poke a hole in his ear drum. I doubt you've got anything to worry about.

[ZiggyFurley5]

Thank you for replying again & the additional info. I've been trying to find a diagram of a guinea pig ear so I have a better idea. I'm worried that there's something wrong with his hearing. I just had him on my bed and he fell asleep. It is hard to wake him up sometimes even when I nudge him. But I was saying his name as loud as I could, clapping, snapping and he didn't wake up at all :/ I kept testing him and eventually he did perk up when I rustled a treat bag behind him. I don't think he could smell it because they're Oxbow vit C treats and they don't have much of a scent, I was somewhat far from him.

Then I put him back in the cage and he did run when I went to get their food out and it made a loud noise. Then he seemed to perk up when he heard the food bag rustle. Maybe he was just really relaxed on my bed? I'll never forgive myself if he's deaf because of me :'(

[Lynx]

I would not worry about this either.

But do not use q-tips in the future. Use a product like Otoclens drops and only wipe out what you can reach using one finger and a clean cloth. If there is lots of wax or debris in an ear, a q-tip can push it further in, perhaps damaging the ear drum.

[Catie Cavy]

As someone who accidentally poked her eardrum with a q-tip recently, I’d say the chances he is deaf are slim to none. For one thing, it is highly unlikely you damaged both ears. Secondly, as bpatters said, you would have had to poke it pretty hard to do that much damage to his ear drums. My hand slipped when I poked myself and I hit my eardrum hard. Worst case scenario, his eardrums are a little sore but will heal. I don’t even think his eardrums are sore or you would likely be seeing signs such as shaking his head or rubbing his ears. I’d say he is fine. I lost no hearing. And I no longer use q-tips to clean my own ears.

[ZiggyFurley5]

I realize now how unlikely that would be, I got a little too anxious yesterday and I hadn't slept much. I definitely won't be using q tips or hydrogen peroxide on even my ears ever again now that I realize there are better/safer options! This morning I walked up behind him and clapped and he looked at me over his shoulder so his hearing is indeed fine :) I think why he doesn't always respond is because he's a very relaxed pig in general. (Except when I try to look at his ears/try to get crusties by his eye) I think his ears should be adequately protected because they're really floppy. And my other pig Furley is extremely fluffy so he's probably fine too. But thank you all for the replies, and feedback!