Author Topic: Ear Cropping  (Read 21002 times)

Offline schelmischekitty

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Re: Ear Cropping
« Reply #15 on: March 01, 2007, 01:54:42 pm »
not to mention p.b.'s in general are pretty pain tolerant, where as a lot of danes are a lot more sensitive to pain.
« Last Edit: March 01, 2007, 02:00:18 pm by schelmischekitty »
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Offline NoDogNow

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Re: Ear Cropping
« Reply #16 on: March 01, 2007, 04:09:50 pm »
Gag, it's been months since was here!

And I only have a minute.

I'm not big fan of the cropping thing, but if your husband's going to insist, I suggest asking the vet for something with a mild topical painkiller for a few days. My friend Kevin used Bactine on his dobie's ears years ago, but I'm sure there's more effective stuff available now.
Sheryl, Dogless and sad

Offline horsepoor21

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Re: Ear Cropping
« Reply #17 on: March 01, 2007, 04:24:08 pm »
Wow Sheryl , welcome back ! don't be such a stranger !
-Amy
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       "Every boy should have two things:
 A dog, and a mother willing to let him have one"

Offline ZooCrew

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Re: Ear Cropping
« Reply #18 on: March 03, 2007, 04:13:34 pm »
I agree that the earlier you get it done, the better chance they will have to stand.  Does your husband know that even with proper cropping and taping, they may never stand properly?

I love the look of a cropped ear, but it is an expensive procedure with tons of aftercare so I opted not to do it on my dane Gunther.

I also recommend to go with the standard crop.  The vet I used to work for did ear crops regularly, and fixed many a botched job by other vets.  Some he could fix, others he could just even out to look halfway decent.  Make sure you have a vet that knows what they are doing.  Dane crops are long and tall, if they mess it up its possible it could be fixed, but why go thru that?

Also, just so you know.......... .this is a very bloody and messy procedure.  One of the bloodiest ones I have ever witnessed and I've seen alot of crops.  There are alot of veins in the ears and you are going thru alot of them to get the "look".  Be prepared afterwards that if your dog's bandages come loose and he shakes his head (which he will do)..........bloo d can and will fly and spatter everywhere.  Your vet should show you the proper way to wrap the ears for the first day or two and may show you how to tape them.

To be extra prepared, bring some photos of the kind of crop you want for him, it will give the vet a better idea of what you are looking for (some people are clueless...... ....there are actually 3 different kinds of pit crops and get very upset when asking for the standard one, and then are upset when it wasn't what they thought it would be).  So look up the type of dane crop you want, again the standard would be better if you don't plan to show and know what to expect.

It is a painful procedure, but as with any other the pain should only last a couple of days unless it was done poorly.

Offline Stacey

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Re: Ear Cropping
« Reply #19 on: March 03, 2007, 04:23:10 pm »
HEEEY!  Is this my JM friend? ;D
I love the look of the crop, but we opted against it after looking into how much was involved in the procedure.  Just make sure you find a vet who is very experienced with crops.  Duke sure is a cutie! ;)
I am kind of a big deal!

Offline swells

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Re: Ear Cropping
« Reply #20 on: March 03, 2007, 04:33:38 pm »
I don't mean to be rude, but anybody who gets ears cropped just because they "like" the look or any other reason other that medical should have to present for the operation. I am a Certified Vet Tech and used to work for a couple of vets that cropped ears (now it is hard to find one that will and luckily the vet I work for now will absolutely NOT crop ears). No matter how much pain meds you have on board before hand the pup always wakes up screaming in pain. It is really hard (actually impossible for me) to justify putting a pup through that just for a cosmetic reasons.

Other issues (as I am sure others have stated) are that the procedure may not work and you may have to do it again; risk of infection (as are other surgeries such as spay/neuters, but that is not a cosmetic thing); they may turn out to be head shy due to the excruciating pain that they have endured to their ears which it makes it almost impossible to apply ear meds if they ever get an infection.

Please have your husband think otherwise about the procedure (or maybe just have him sit out in the lobby while it is being done). I would also question the type of vet nowadays that will actually perform ear cropping.

Just my 2 cents.

Stacie

Offline sc.trojans

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Re: Ear Cropping
« Reply #21 on: March 03, 2007, 06:47:30 pm »

Since the question was about pain management and not wanting your puppy in a lot of pain - just be clear on the procedure you are doing.  Perhaps "ear cropping" has become such a common and benign term that we forget what it is - it is amputation.  This is extremely painful - nerves galore are being cut and ear is being removed.  All dogs are individuals and express pain differently - some are more stoic than others but that doesn't mean they don't feel the pain - they just aren't expressing it in the same way and may not be vocal about it.  Make no mistake that your puppy will be in extreme pain.  There are a lot of drugs they can give you to manage this - but there will still be a lot of pain. 

Just a reality.  I would listen to those who have witnessed this procedure and can attest to what the dog actually goes through to be sure you are doing this for good reason.

SC Trojans
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Offline MyDaneDuke

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Re: Ear Cropping
« Reply #22 on: March 05, 2007, 07:09:46 pm »
HEEEY!  Is this my JM friend? ;D
I love the look of the crop, but we opted against it after looking into how much was involved in the procedure.  Just make sure you find a vet who is very experienced with crops.  Duke sure is a cutie! ;)

Yes it's me!  Thanks for introducing me to this sight, it's great!  I'm going to post some pics on JM soon, but Duke is never still enough for me to take any...lol.