Post ear crop question

Had my male pup's ear's cropped exactly two weeks ago. The vet that did it is a friend of my inlaws and he did it for me after hours at home. He has a small facility at his house that he uses for emergencies sometimes and for animals with "questionable" injuries that need to be tended to by a professional. I was very happy with the job and I was amazed at how symetrical they are. I asked him about aftercare, and he told me it was best just to make sure they were kept clean and dry, and if any bleeding started to apply pressure to stop it. I asked if he was going to tape the ears or not, and he told me in his opinion it was best not to as they would dry up and heal a little bit faster. He did mention though that the right ear would need a little encouragement to stand fully erect like the left. He told me once the stitches bagan to disolve to hold the ear thumb inside and index and middle finger outside and gentley pull the ear upright in a massaging manner a few times a day. I've been doing this and to my surprise my boy doesn't mind it at all. When he is alert both ears stand erect, but i can still notice that the right side ear cartilage is not completely upright as the left is. I asked him (the vet) about it and he told me just be patient and keep doing the exercise he showed me a couple times a day and all will be fine.

Has anyone ever done this (pulling the ear). And should I be concerned? I don't mean to be a worry wort or overdramatic, but this is the first time I have ever had a pup's ears cropped. My female is almost a year old and I left her ears natural.

I know about taping to shape the ear but, if the massaging of the ear is going to work just fine i'd like to know.Not that I don't the vet, I just want a second opinion.

 

I've not had APBT with cropped ears but Dobermans yes.....massaging the ears does help.
How old is the puppy? How short were the ears cropped?

 

he was five months when the ear job was done(which was about 3 weeks ago). I have followed his instructions and the right ear, which was the one in question), is coming along nicely. Both ears are fully healed and fur is slowly coming back around the cut. I didn't cut an extreme cut, just medium and simple, not too high or too short. He really looks good with it. I'll post pics soon. I am glad too hear that someone knows about the whole massaging the ears thing, because I had never heard or read anything about doing that. I guess thats just giving me a reminder that I'm still a junior with a lot more to learn. Thanks for the reply pitbullmommy.

 

How old can a dog be and have his/her ears cropped? Is there a point where the dog is 'too old'? 6 months? 8 months? 1 year? I am a curious fellow.


Thanks,
Andrew

 

The cut-off for where I am in sc is 12 weeks. We wanted to do Rolo's at 14 weeks and he would not because of the blood loss at that age. I have pulled the ears though. China's were taped for three days and then it was taken off for healing to begin. I started pulling the left ear at two weeks into it. I love hers.

 

Some vets will do a verry low crop or (fighting crop) up to a year. Just a regular crop (low med. high) if you look around you can usually find one that will do it up to about 18-19 weeks. The sooner the better though if you ask me.
Here is an old male I had & my partner cropped his at 11 months due to a porcupine injury & infection that kept reoccuring. This is the verry low crop I mentioned earlier. Pretty much no ears, and the head has to be wrapped and bandages changed daily. At least thats what they had us do...

http://www.apbt.online-pedigrees.com...&dog_id=159619

 

I may be in the minority, but I like the 'fighting' crop. Maybe not as low as that ones ears, but I love the little ears. When I get a pup, yearsssssssssss from now, I will get his/hers cut........

Andrew

 

FTG, maybe I misunderstood you, but are you planning on doing an ear job yourself?? If so, PLEASE PLEASE erase any thoughts, inclinations or curiousities about it. Should not be done by anyone other that a licensed vet/vet tech. Do not listen to what people say about how easy and simple it is and so on. A home ear job can result in injury, infection, too much blood loss etc. all of which can result in death of your dog.

Like i said, maybe I misunderstood you. And I hope I did.

 

This is a pic of China before and after having her ears done.





Her head finally grew a little and now they look pretty good to me.





This is another dog we had done. Had a little trouble with his. His left ear ended up looking a little longer because the muscle in that ear was not as strong which made it stand straight up more than the other one did. He pulls the right ear closer to the top of his head so it appears shorter.





Hey FTG. Do some before and after pics so we can see how it turns out.

 

When u go to the vet ask him how he does it he should tell you. When I had my dog’s ears done they cut them but a buddy of mine who had his dogs done more recently had it done with a laser. Also around me alot of vets don’t do the procedure so make sure when you do find someone to do it they are a reputable vet.

 

I found this pic and it will show you what to expect after it's done.

 

I live in Ga. and most of the veterinarians around my area will NOT crop a dogs ears past 18 weeks old. they say it is because the ear cartalidge has begun to thicken to a point that healing would be rough. I have 2 girls with cropped ears, which i ONLY did b/c they were always getting into water, and their ears hung very low and flatter than normal, so they kept getting infections from the moisture being held inside the ears. Since their ears were cropped, i have not had them get a single ears infection. I didn't have to have either of them taped, they stood up fine on their own, but they do have a shorter crop.

 

a few pics of one of my girls with a crop.



and another pic of her as well. PLease disregard the "mean" look on her in this pic. We have a battery powered mouse that zooms across the floor, and she hates that thing! whenever it comes on, she does this.

 

That's pretty good!

 

Nice ears on your female there Velli2008! they did a good job eh!

 

China's crop turned out nice but MAN! What a cutie here with her natural ears!

 

Does any one have that sheet that was posted about the 4 types of ear cuts?
"not going to do it but nice for reference pic tho" i seen it but can't locate it now thanks !