My Lab, Hershey, went under the knife this week to the tune of about $800.

It all started last Fri. when I noticed his right ear flap was the size of a tennis ball. So I did a search on the Web and discovered he had an "aura hematoma." It was the result of either shaking his head or scratching his ear, causing blood vessels to pop. They then fill up the inside of the ear flap.

So I called his vet and managed to get him in there within an hour. They drained the ear but said it would likely fill back up within hours and would require surgery, which we set up for last Tues. And they were right: the ear was filled with blood again by the time we got home.

The surgery entails making slits in the under ear flap to drain and clean it. Then they do a series of cross stitches, kinda like quilting it to close the space between the upper and lower parts of the ear flap.

His head is completely wrapped now with a big bandage from just behind his eyes to his collar. He hates it, but I'm supposed to remove it later today.

I'll be picking up our DD today after he had a knee sorted out by the surgeon. $3704.45. That is more than the hartebeeste and eland I got in Moz a couple of weeks ago!

Dean

Maki, look at it this way. Your dog will still love you. The Hartebeeste and Eland hate your guts!

I seldom go to the vet it doesn't cost a bunch!

Good point. However, I'm not sure a hunting dog who isn't even allowed to walk yet, in the middle of hunting season, really loves us at the moment. But he'll get over it.

Dean

Our 11 year old female who was prone to ear infections she developed one of those from shaking violently, surgery was done to correct however the scar tissue that developed as a result restricted the ear hole causing more ear infections due to the lack of air that is needed to prevent moisture which causes the infection

Tony,

It looks like your dog stands pretty close to his food dish.

My wife's Tibetan Terrier developed a nasty and painful kidney infection at about age twelve. $4,000. Put the dog down a few months later.

FYI, that breed was developed by Tibetan monks as a companion critter. Dumber than a box of rocks. Two blocks from home he'd be lost. The wife and kids loved him, and he was a sweet natured old boy. I feel your pain.

quote:

Originally posted by miles58:
Tony,

It looks like your dog stands pretty close to his food dish.

Not really. We've had him on a lo-cal diet since we adopted him two months ago. He gets a cup of food in the a.m. and again in the p.m. He gets absolutely no human food.

Plus, I try to exercise him at least 1/2 hr. per day, usually in the morning when it's cool. So far, though, he's not losing much weight.

raamw,

I'm not quite sure if we're talking about the same surgery. Hershey's involved the ear flap itself, so any scar tissue that might develop shouldn't have any effect on the ear canal area where the infection happens.

Same thing, hers was so extensive the surgery went not only on the flap but actually to the tissue where the flap starts, scar tissue occurred and caused the opening to be smaller causing the ears ability to dry to take longer, there is a medicine we use that can be picked up at the drug store called swimmers ear which expedites the drying. The major scarring occurred at the second hemo of the ear. We watch her closely now and no problems for the last several years. She is 11 years old now

My wife and I thought it might be nice to book a trip on the Queen Mary II recently traveling from the UK to NYC. It was going to cost $1000 for the dog's one way passage (more than either of our tickets!) and another $1400 to hire a special "pet transit broker" to move the animal from Heathrow to Southampton to catch the boat. We also received mixed messages from various gov't officials about whether or not it was even possible to transit the dog out of the UK via Southampton as it is not an "approved port of exit" for animals. Whatever. As far as I am concerned, the UK can shove its overly paranoid pet rules and I will spend my money elsewhere.