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Toa Payoh Vets
toapayohvets.com
26 Jan 2009
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Toa
Payoh Vets Clinical Research
Making veterinary surgery alive
to a veterinary student studying in Australia
using real case studies and pictures |
Case study.
Hairy ear canals in Miniature Schnauzers. Painful ulceration.
Bites people. Lateral ear canal resection of the dog. Ear
problems. Otitis externa. Educational tips for pet lovers first
recorded in August 2002.
"We could not go back to
the first vet as our Schnauzer had bitten his nail off his
finger!" Mr Ho said as he wriggled his left forefinger. "The vet's
hand was trembling subsequently. But we had warned him that the
dog would bite. He still touched his ears and was bitten. This dog
dares not bite me as I will whack him." Mr Ho laughed.
I could feel the pain of the nail bitten off the finger in my
bones. Just a simple bite would be painful and if the nail was
bitten off, it must be excruciating.
This Schnauzer did not growl or give warning before biting. He
was the strong silent type. He put his head down close to
the floor, his tail turned sharply downwards and headed towards
the door to get out of the veterinary surgery. Some dogs do
associate the vets with pain and some would not enter the surgery
room. Their legs became wobbly as they reached the surgery.
Legs became so heavy that they glued the dog to the ground.
"Why not use the ear ointment regularly instead of putting him
under anaesthesia to open up his vertical ear canals?" I asked Mr
Ho as the Schnauzer was really pitiful at that moment. His greyish
white face with long hair made him looked very depressed.
Mr Ho had tried the ear ointment for the past 3 months but the pus
kept coming back inside the ear canals. He had to spend over three
hundred dollars for two ear irrigations and medication.
If the lateral ear canal resection surgery could solve his problem
once and for all, this dog would be euthanased.
This Schnauzer had ear canals choked full of ear hairs trapping
water during bathing. Furthermore, the ear pinnae or flap closed
over the ear canal opening. The closed ear canal was not
ventilated well. The dampness from bathing encouraged the
bacteria to grow and infect the ear walls. Pus formed as the
dog's white blood cells tried to contain the infection. The ears
became painful and inflamed. Therefore the dog bit anybody when
his ears were touched.
The dog was kept in the cage pending surgery. He was passive
and quiet in the
cage, a good patient. Just as I was going to take him out for
surgery, he bit my left thumb without warning. Fortunately my nail
was not ripped off. I washed off the red blood oozing from a small
puncture wound. I had to use the hand to operate. A
piece of plaster covering the wound stopped the pain. The dog had both ear canals opened up. I hope he would be
happy to see the veterinarian in later years and not associate
vets with pain all the time.
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Left ear canal fully
covered by ear hairs over 1 cm long. Some Schnauzers
have very hairy ears and groomers keep plucking the ears
frequently. A permanent solution may be lateral ear canal
resection. |

Side of left ear's
vertical canal removed showing opening of horizontal canal
as a hole at the lower part of the picture. Lots of ear
hairs obstruct the ear and prevent proper ventilation. |

Right ear canal also
obstructed by a profuse growth of ear hairs. Very
uncomfortable for the dog as it traps water and become
ulcerated and infected. |
Pulling out the long
ear hairs from the horizontal ear canal and cleaning up the
canal after removal of the side wall by surgery.
Should have no more ear problem now. |
"I can give you a 90%
guarantee of success in this surgery," I said to Mr Ho who wanted
the dog back immediately after surgery. The family just loved this
Schnauzer and did not want him to be away from the best care at
home.
"Your dog will no longer suffer from pain and pus infections
inside his ear forever."
"This dog bit two vets," Mr Ho pronounced proudly to Nurse Ann.
It was an achievement to bite the dog doctor who is supposed to be
invincible and a controller of all dogs big and small, ferocious
and submissive. I was the 3rd vet to be bitten. A brown
waterproofed plaster wound round my left thumb as I washed out the
dog's canal.
Mr Ho turned to me and furrowed his forehead, "Your guarantee
better works. Otherwise it would be a lethal injection to kill it
as I can't afford to spend more money on veterinary fees."
As for me, I hope this dog would never bite the 4th veterinarian.
I have to be super alert whenever I encounter dogs with ear
problems.
From this Miniature Schnauzer and a sore thumb, I now appreciated
the meaning of the English idiom "Once bitten, twice shy."
One of those idioms I memorised for the English test during the
Primary School Leaving Examination. That was 3 decades ago,
but the Miniature Schnauzer refreshed my English idiom swotting by
biting me and making me avoiding him. |
|
Toa Payoh Vets Clinical Research
Making veterinary surgery alive
to a veterinary student studying in Australia
using real case studies and pictures |
|
toapayohvets.com
| | |