Taro at the vet......
Yesterday during a walk in the mountains, Taro ran through some thick brush and came out shaking his head and itching at his ear. My first thought was crap he got a fox tail.
So I take him in to a emergency vet clinic near my house to get it out. During the wait taro played with a few people waiting in the lobby and when it was his turn to get checked he gladly went in and played with the vet.
They told me he had to be sedated and it would take about a hour or so. Well two hours goes by and they finally call me in and tell me that he does not have a foxtail but had a bad ear infection.
I told them he never showed any signs and he had a check up three months prior and was fine. They said that it was "severe" and so he needed to go home with medication.
Now this is where I got really upset. During the check out, the lobby lady tells me "you need to get Taro spayed/neutered. He is vary aggressive and he will attack some one". I told her there is no way, he is the sweetest dog I have ever had. He loves little kids and other dogs. The lady starts in and tells me that I need to keep him away from small children and when she brings Taro out she tells nearby people to stay out of the way. She tells me that he needs to be socialized and I'm like wtf thats not the Taro I know.
She brings Taro out and he's a bit groggy from being sedated and is just too tired to give a damn about anyone near by. Thats the last time I use their services.
So I take him in to a emergency vet clinic near my house to get it out. During the wait taro played with a few people waiting in the lobby and when it was his turn to get checked he gladly went in and played with the vet.
They told me he had to be sedated and it would take about a hour or so. Well two hours goes by and they finally call me in and tell me that he does not have a foxtail but had a bad ear infection.
I told them he never showed any signs and he had a check up three months prior and was fine. They said that it was "severe" and so he needed to go home with medication.
Now this is where I got really upset. During the check out, the lobby lady tells me "you need to get Taro spayed/neutered. He is vary aggressive and he will attack some one". I told her there is no way, he is the sweetest dog I have ever had. He loves little kids and other dogs. The lady starts in and tells me that I need to keep him away from small children and when she brings Taro out she tells nearby people to stay out of the way. She tells me that he needs to be socialized and I'm like wtf thats not the Taro I know.
She brings Taro out and he's a bit groggy from being sedated and is just too tired to give a damn about anyone near by. Thats the last time I use their services.
Comments
I've been told twice that my dog is aggressive or dangerous and both times I was so taken aback I couldn't even respond. At some point incredulity renders me speechless. I'd certainly be avoiding that vet in the future.
This isn't the ER vet in Escondido is it?
I ask because sometimes a dog can act differently in a scary place when there is no one around that they fully trust (such as the owner or other "packmates"). I do agree that she was totally rude, but is there a possibility that Taro may have gotten a little snippy in a scary situation?
You should question the lady what Taro may have done that would label him aggressive in her eyes. Maybe he was being playful and mouthy, or maybe he snapped at the technician sedating him. Or it could just be the fact that he was sedated, and she assumed that since he was sedated that automatically labeled him (in her eyes) as aggressive.
I hope Taro's ear heals up nicely real soon. =)
I would wonder if they can't handle a youngster with an ear infection, then how are they going to deal with an adult that may have something worse like a broken leg?
So has anyone elses dogs eer have ear infections? Taro's still acting like he has some thing in his ear, is that normal? I guess we shell see after 5 days of using the meds.
Yuck.
Anyway, good luck. What in the world is a foxtail?
Koda had an ear infection when he was four months old. I took him one week in for shots, and he was fine. The next week it looked really bad and he only showed signs that morning. We were going in for his rabies shot that day, so we kind've lucked out about time. They gave him med's for 7 or 10 days I forget. He didn't stop acting like there was something in his ear for about 3 days after starting the medication.
I would definitely call and say something about the front desk nurse and ask the vet if he acted aggressively. I'd just act like I was calling like a concerned and responsible dog owner and once they said he was fine, then I'd unload the crap that lady said.
Koda, Maymay and I went out today at a spot on the Bay. It's an open off leash space, and Maymay rolled in muddy puddles. I took her to the bath place there, to get cleaned up. Five minutes after they had her in there, a man came out and said she was nipping at the washer. I couldn't believe it. I went in there, and she was nipping at the water. I told them to stop. Put some cold water in our travel bowl. She drank it and stopped going for the water. She was just thirsty not aggressive. I was pissed because this guy came running out and shouting in front of like 15 people and their dogs that mine was biting at the washer. I told him that if he was going to work with dogs, then he'd better learn how to read them better. He did apologize, but I finished washing Maymay myself in back. I wasn't going to let those morons near my little girl!
I would also Yelp them. lololol
The infected ear tends to be red and hot to the touch due to the scratching. The ear can also be held lower than the other for a while. A lot of head shaking and tilting.
I've used the ear drops/ointment with the oral medication. A side effect of the oral medication was more drinking and peeing.
Foxtails are pretty bad here. They can get in the ears and up the nose. Coated dogs can get the foxtails hooked on their coat, and the seeds can burrow into the skin and even into the organs.
I will be calling tomorrow to find out exactly what he did and then unleash my fury about the d-bag.
I'm lucky that I've pretty good experiences, because my male Shiba can be aggressive. Not with people (unless water is involved), but I did one time (stupidly) ask to have the kennel bathe him before I got him back. They're used to a lot of dogs and when I got back simply said "your GSD is a very sweet and gentlemanly dog, and we could not give the Shiba a bath." With further inquiry, I discovered he snapped and growled and finally bit someone trying to get him near water. But the big difference here is 1) my dog DID bite, and 2) they were reasonable about it, didn't start yelling about how awful he was, just said they didn't "recommend" grooming for him. I still kennel him there, and he is well-mannered since there is no longer any bathing attempted.
I mean, you work in an e-vet, and dogs are going to come in scared and in pain, so you'd think they wouldn't be so unreasonable, esp. sounds like your dog was pretty good....
Since then, I have found a nice calm but assertive vet that has her ways with Akira and everything goes pretty well. Maybe the lady was scared of Akitas or big dogs in general ?
Anyways, I don't think we should draw conclusion from dogs' behaviour the vets
I been giving Taro his ear drops twice a day and seems to be working.
I have to take him back in two weeks to find out how he's doing..............come on wth! He's the first dog I have ever had that had a ear infection and on top of that its some what severe. I'm really hoping the combination of the ear cleaning soluton and the medication will help him quick.
Either way he's pretty darn adorable.
Hang in there ....
Hoping for a speedy recovery.
Snf