Post Surgical Instructions for Your Puppy's Ear Crop
Your pet has received general anesthesia today. You should expect your pet to be less active than normal for the next 12-24 hours. You may feed your pet after 7:00 p.m. tonight but only offer 1/2 of his or her normal meal since anesthesia can sometimes cause nausea. Please call if your puppy has not started eating or drinking by 1 day after surgery.
Your puppy has an incision with stitches on the outer edge of each ear. Ear supports are used post surgically to train the ears to stand up. It is critical that you DO NOT apply any tape or bandage material to the ear at home. If you cover the incision while it is healing, serious infection and damage to the ear is likely to occur. Furthermore, bandaging the ear improperly can cause damage to the blood supply of the ear flap and cause permanent ear damage.
The ear supports must be changed weekly by the doctor in order to provide the proper support to train the ears to stand. This process can take 4 weeks to 6 months or more depending on the breed, strength of ear cartilage, age of pet at time or surgery, style of ear crop, and timing of ear retapings. Please feel free to talk to your doctor about the expected time frame for post-surgical taping for your puppy.
If the ear supports become loose or come off at home DO NOT attempt to retape the ears. Just gently remove the tape/supports and call us to schedule an appointment to retape the ears. It is important to have ears retaped within 1-2 days to avoid delays in getting the ears to stand.
Your puppy has been sent home with pain medication that will last for several days after surgery. Please administer the medication as prescribed on the label and call if there is any vomiting, diarrhea, or loss of appetite.
The sutures will be removed in 10-14 days. Until that time it is best if your puppy wears a special collar (Elizabethan collar) to prevent him or her from scratching out the sutures. Please schedule an appointmen to have the sutures removed.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the care of your puppy's ears, please do not hesitate to call.
