We got our pup’s ears cropped this past weekend (see attached pic). It was kind of traumatizing for us, and left the vet’s office without getting a detailed explanation of what was to follow… or maybe they said, but all we could think about was our poor little baby looking all sad from the anesthesia & wondering if we had made the right decision.
We did our research and found a reputable veterinarian from this forum. His name is Dr. Ken Main from the Allegan Animal Clinic in Michigan (http://allegananimalclinic.com/services/ear_clipping/index.htm). They perform hundreds of crops a year and obviously know what they are doing. I had my last Dane’s ears cropped, but the ends flipped and we associate that somewhat with a sub-par crop. This is the first time that we have had experience with the ears being taped to cups (i.e. cone-head). I’m not 100% clear on what we should be watching out for, and what the proper next steps are. When we left, the vet simply said, “stitches come out in seven days.” I admit, we were probably only ½-listening because our intention was to take the pup to our local vet to have the stitches removed, as the ear-cropping vet is a three-hour drive away.
Now that we got him home, we started thinking… maybe we should have the vet that knows about ear cropping remove the stitches because he can evaluate things properly and let us know if everything is going okay. Plus, he mentioned that he would do it at no charge.
Well, I just called my local vet and the receptionist said that they do not charge to remove stitches. I told her that it was for ear cropping, and assumed that she knew that they weren’t put in at that location (because they don't do ear cropping), but maybe not. Wouldn’t they normally charge for that?
I called the ear cropping vet, and their receptionist told me that only the top stitches come out in seven days. The ears stay taped to the cup, and then the bottom stitches (metal in the bell) come out in 14 days. That’s something that both of us missed. So, now if we go back we will have made three trips, totaling 18 hours of driving. Is it worth it, or are we over-reacting and our local vet should be able to do a fine job? How the heck are they going to remove the stitches (especially the bottom metal ones) without stabbing / hurting my poor little baby; won’t he be squirming around like crazy?
I asked the ear cropping vet if after the removal of the bottom stitches if they would perform the first tapping for us, as I figured that would at least make the drive more worthwhile. They said typically they do not because they need to wash the ears out really well and then they are too wet to tape for a while.
Does anyone else have experience with regular + metal sutures, tapping to a cup, or Dr. Ken Main that can chime in and give me a detailed explanation of what the proper next steps are?
Also, we’re worried about how the ears are doing. Granted they were cropped on Friday, and this is Monday – 72 hours later, but he is really shaking his head a lot, trying to scratch his ears, etc. Is this normal? I don’t remember it being that bad with the first pup, but that was 10 years ago & there wasn’t a cup. There is a little bit of wetness/puss, but I have taken the advice from this forum and applied Gold Bond powder to the edges and that seemed to dry them up nicely. The vet gave us some pain killer, but they sure do seem to be irritating him. The ears do kind of smell funny, which I have read is a sign of infection. However, since they are really tapped up, including something inside of the ear, we’re kind of assuming that the smell is normal… especially since he’s on antibiotics.
Are we over-reacting? What should we watch out for? Should we worry about him shaking & scratching so much?
Is it worth another couple of six-hour round-trip drives to have the ear-cropping vet remove the stitches, or should we just go to our local vet if the edges look to be healing fine?
Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance for your help.
We did our research and found a reputable veterinarian from this forum. His name is Dr. Ken Main from the Allegan Animal Clinic in Michigan (http://allegananimalclinic.com/services/ear_clipping/index.htm). They perform hundreds of crops a year and obviously know what they are doing. I had my last Dane’s ears cropped, but the ends flipped and we associate that somewhat with a sub-par crop. This is the first time that we have had experience with the ears being taped to cups (i.e. cone-head). I’m not 100% clear on what we should be watching out for, and what the proper next steps are. When we left, the vet simply said, “stitches come out in seven days.” I admit, we were probably only ½-listening because our intention was to take the pup to our local vet to have the stitches removed, as the ear-cropping vet is a three-hour drive away.
Now that we got him home, we started thinking… maybe we should have the vet that knows about ear cropping remove the stitches because he can evaluate things properly and let us know if everything is going okay. Plus, he mentioned that he would do it at no charge.
Well, I just called my local vet and the receptionist said that they do not charge to remove stitches. I told her that it was for ear cropping, and assumed that she knew that they weren’t put in at that location (because they don't do ear cropping), but maybe not. Wouldn’t they normally charge for that?
I called the ear cropping vet, and their receptionist told me that only the top stitches come out in seven days. The ears stay taped to the cup, and then the bottom stitches (metal in the bell) come out in 14 days. That’s something that both of us missed. So, now if we go back we will have made three trips, totaling 18 hours of driving. Is it worth it, or are we over-reacting and our local vet should be able to do a fine job? How the heck are they going to remove the stitches (especially the bottom metal ones) without stabbing / hurting my poor little baby; won’t he be squirming around like crazy?
I asked the ear cropping vet if after the removal of the bottom stitches if they would perform the first tapping for us, as I figured that would at least make the drive more worthwhile. They said typically they do not because they need to wash the ears out really well and then they are too wet to tape for a while.
Does anyone else have experience with regular + metal sutures, tapping to a cup, or Dr. Ken Main that can chime in and give me a detailed explanation of what the proper next steps are?
Also, we’re worried about how the ears are doing. Granted they were cropped on Friday, and this is Monday – 72 hours later, but he is really shaking his head a lot, trying to scratch his ears, etc. Is this normal? I don’t remember it being that bad with the first pup, but that was 10 years ago & there wasn’t a cup. There is a little bit of wetness/puss, but I have taken the advice from this forum and applied Gold Bond powder to the edges and that seemed to dry them up nicely. The vet gave us some pain killer, but they sure do seem to be irritating him. The ears do kind of smell funny, which I have read is a sign of infection. However, since they are really tapped up, including something inside of the ear, we’re kind of assuming that the smell is normal… especially since he’s on antibiotics.
Are we over-reacting? What should we watch out for? Should we worry about him shaking & scratching so much?
Is it worth another couple of six-hour round-trip drives to have the ear-cropping vet remove the stitches, or should we just go to our local vet if the edges look to be healing fine?
Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance for your help.
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