Advice on Cropped Ears

[MooseyMom]

Hello everyone I am new to this board and thank everyone in advance for your opinions and assistance.

My question, I have had many Boxers and yet never had to get ears cropped since they were always already done. I recently had my 12 week old babys ears done and had a question. THe woman who cut them said to put nothing on them and gave me a powder called Neo-Predef to sprinkle on a few times a day. The Breeder said to put triple antibiotic ointment with lidocane on it 3-4 times a day since it stops the itch. Which is better in your experience? The one says nothing you want it to scab and heal over and not stay moist and the other says it will heal, without a scab and itch. I to date have only put this powder on it and he keeps shaking his head of course it is not only annoying with that cup on his head, but I am sure the itch is there. THe one side looks awesome not one visual scab or anything just healed and the other has opened up and when he was shaking his head and slapping his ears on the collar, opened it up and had blood everywhere. NOw it is not bleeding but is all crusty looking and ugly and I am sure uncomfortable. SHould I start putting something on it, or wait for the stitches to come out? They dont come out for another week.

Thank you so much for your experiences.
Tina and MooseyTafa

 

[calimomma]

Our vet has given us the powder for both of our pups when they had their ears done; it's supposed to have an anti-itch and antibiotic in it. He also sent home a child's athletic sock, which he told us to cut on either side of the part that goes on the ankle until there was enough for the foot part to go around the rack (if your pup is wearing one) and to be able to tie the cut pieces together around the chin. Just fit the cut sock over the rack and tie the two ends, making sure that the ears are still completely covered and not rubbing. The sock is still thin enough that air will get to the ears but will protect them as well so they will heal nicely. Our vet also said that moisture (ointments, water, etc) is the enemy... We used the ointment only after the ears had completely scabbed over and it was only used to soften the scabs to take them off. OH! And we kept the cones on their heads all of the time until the ears were completely healed so there wasn't a chance of them ripping them open. The dogs hated it but it makes for nice ears.

I'm not sure how other vets send the pups home (with a rack or not) but this is what ours did and both of our pups turned out beautifully.

I hope this info helps and I can totally empathize with you about the frustrations of ear croppings!! UGH!!

 

[Draymia]

I use ointment on my guys. I like to keep the suture line moist and not scabbed. Probably either method will work well, but I vote for keeping moist.

 

[kayboxer]

The vet who did ours (he has people come from all over U.S. for ear cropping) told us to use tripple antibiotic to keep them moist. It also helps with any scarring and keeps the skin from puckering (this is what he told us) and it seemed to work just as he said.