Well, Max's ear infection has gone from minor to MAJOR in a week. We had him into the vet's for the flu booster on Sat. & a follow-up on the ear. OMG...it's even worse than I feared. SO, they sent us home with an oral antibiotic, an anti-inflammatory, the ear flush, the otic antibiotic AND the sedative, because Max goes positively CRAZY - (I mean full-blown panic attack) whenever I try to clean/medicate his ears. Has from the very beginning, even though I've always cleaned the outer ear parts with very little problem. Even the vet couldn't manage it in the office, Max bucked & semi-growled, which is completely unlike him. He's obviously scared, and must be in pain, because that dog will let me do ANYTHING to him. Has since puppyhood - I worked very hard to make sure that if he needed grooming or treatment, people would be able to touch his mouth, feet, tail, ears, etc. (He's let me do things I would never believe an animal would allow his human to do!), but this infection is SO bad that he fights like a wild animal each evening when I need to clean or medicate his ears. The sedatives are having a 'next-to-nothing' effect. The fear & adrenaline rush are apparently so severe that their overcoming the medication, as he still fights badly enough that I've got huge BLACK bruises all over my legs & arms....and this is even with DH trying to help me hold him down. Not only that, but we had to buy a muzzle, not because he's trying to bite (he's not), but (because the vet advised) having the muzzle across their nose normally makes them more docile. NOPE. I have no idea what to do next. I put in another call for the vet, in hopes of upping the sedative dose to where it does some good. If we can't get the infection under control soon, we'll have to take him back to the vet, have him put under general anesthesia and the ear flushed. That will help, but the infection may reoccur & we'll be right back here again, and I hate to put him through that if it won't actually solve the problem.
Not to mention that financially, after already spending $200 this weekend, I can't afford to have it done right now.
The absolute worst part for me is knowing that I'm traumatizing him while trying to treat the infection. Seeing the fear in his eyes is breaking my heart and having him avoid me for hours afterward is truly awful.
Any advice on how to perform this procedure without further trauma will be greatly appreciated. Note - I need to put the cleaner/flush in his ears, squish it around as long as possible before he shakes it out and then wait 30 minutes before putting the antibiotic ointment into the ear canal, so it's actually TWO times a night we're going through this.
Help! Thank you,
Worried Mom.....
Not to mention that financially, after already spending $200 this weekend, I can't afford to have it done right now.
The absolute worst part for me is knowing that I'm traumatizing him while trying to treat the infection. Seeing the fear in his eyes is breaking my heart and having him avoid me for hours afterward is truly awful.
Any advice on how to perform this procedure without further trauma will be greatly appreciated. Note - I need to put the cleaner/flush in his ears, squish it around as long as possible before he shakes it out and then wait 30 minutes before putting the antibiotic ointment into the ear canal, so it's actually TWO times a night we're going through this.
Help! Thank you,
Worried Mom.....