Re-Crop?

Hessian · 05-15-2008, 07:36 PM

Hess is now a little over a year old. His ears were standing perfectly for months, and a few days ago he woke up with his right ear completely flopped over. I have a vet appointment on Wednesday to discuss the options we have for fixing the ear. Could someone please explain to me the procedure of the string cropping? I guess it's an implant in the ear with some sort of string to hold it up. I'm not too familiar with it. Any input and information on this would be wonderful. Thanks in advance!

Alex and Hess

**greenkouki** · 05-15-2008, 08:24 PM

It's not uncommon to have to keep posting past the 1yr mark, and it looks like he has a pretty long crop (judging from your avatar). Sometimes an ear can go limp for a day or two during the posting process and will be right back up the next day. If the tissue doesn't have enough circulation etc. I would just try and be persistent with your posting and maybe get someone to show you how to do it if there could be a better way. Stringing and re-crop should always be a last resort, but discuss with your veterinarian of course.

jdd · 05-15-2008, 09:05 PM

I would try posting again too.

Hessian · 05-16-2008, 02:21 AM

thanks for the advice everyone. i haven't posted his ears in about three months. is it too late to start posting again? his ears have been wonderful up until a few days ago.

Rosamburg · 05-16-2008, 02:30 AM

not too late

gracieface · 05-16-2008, 08:56 AM

I would definitely go back to posting, anything to avoid surgery.

Dobeman · 05-18-2008, 12:39 PM

Once you have ruled out that he does not have an ear infection, definitely post again for a while, at least 2-4 weeks, no break other than the few minutes between the old and the new post. Let me know if you need any help.

The implant can still be done at a later time if this does not work. I personally always like to avoid surgery at all cost. Also, the recrop usually costs as much as the original crop, so it would be well worth it to try to get this ear to stand without surgery. Last resort I know of two excellent surgeons in the area who would do the implant.

Good luck.

Murreydobe · 05-19-2008, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hessian

Hess is now a little over a year old. His ears were standing perfectly for months, and a few days ago he woke up with his right ear completely flopped over. I have a vet appointment on Wednesday to discuss the options we have for fixing the ear. Could someone please explain to me the procedure of the string cropping? I guess it's an implant in the ear with some sort of string to hold it up. I'm not too familiar with it. Any input and information on this would be wonderful. Thanks in advance!

Alex and Hess

Coming in late on this..but I'd try posting again for awhile, too.

Stringing is really minor surgery, tho, far less extreme than a re-crop. A very narrow plastic string is inserted under the skin, stretching from one ear to the other across the top of the skull. This string is pulled tight, pulling the ears upright. My Rush had it done-there were two dissolvable stitches in each ear. I posted for two days afterwards, mainly to protect the ears from him shaking them until they healed a bit, from that point onwards he had standing ears with good range of motion. As I remember, it cost me less than $200.

Not every dog is a good candidate for stringing. It depends on how well the base is standing.

Hessian · 05-19-2008, 05:38 PM

thank you so much everyone for the advice. i left town for the weekend and left him posted while i was gone. i unwrapped them last night to see how they are looking, and it is already starting to work. the ear stood perfectly. i'm going to continue to wrap. thank you so much!

clipclop · 05-19-2008, 05:43 PM

YAY! love to hear good ear stories.