My daschund has an ear infection - vet is recommending draining his ears under anesthia to speed up the healing process - is this worthwhile? He is not in pain and procedure will cost $400 and he will still be on the antibiotics the same length of time

Ear infections are a huge problem with Labs. My vet never did that. However, your dog could have a much worse problem than any of mine have had. Is the infection in the middle or inner ear? If so, it may be more important to do it.

Labman has a very good point. You might want to ask your vet if the infection is in the inner ear and what the outcome will be for the dog over the course of his aging if you do not opt for the surgery. If you are concerned that you may be spending money unnecessarily (which I can relate to and don't blame you one bit for questioning this), I would suggest that you seek out a second opinion from another vet in your area and have him/her examine your dog. Without being able to see how bad the infection is online, it is hard to advise you on whether you should go ahead with the surgery.

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Originally Posted by Allison Good

My daschund has an ear infection - vet is recommending draining his ears under anesthia to speed up the healing process - is this worthwhile? He is not in pain and procedure will cost $400 and he will still be on the antibiotics the same lenght of time

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I don't think that is nessacary. My dog had similar probleme and we got some ear drops for her if you ask your vet they shouldn't turn you down and you said yourself your dog is not in any pain its usually only in circumstances that make your pet feel uncomfrotable that they will do these type of procedures if your vet does not recommend the ear drops if you feel yourself that you don't want your do to have the op then you can go to a good local pet shop and they usually sell the ear drops I brought mine for about £30 but its still cheaper. If you want to no the name of the drops then write back and I will find out for you I think we may still have them so I will have a look.

Lilm's we can't assume anything here. Without knowing exactly what his going on with Allison's dog, you could be suggesting something that may cause her dog to go deaf in that ear. Just as there are different types, and degrees, of infections in humans it is the same with dogs.