Unforseen and inopportune emergencies

So here we are, again reminded of the old saw "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". I just returned from dropping the dog off at the vet for surgery. We had to take her to the emergency vet clinic yesterday because I'd discovered she had a swollen ear on Saturday. It turns out that she developed an aural hematoma, which is a collection of blood in the ear flap, due to trauma. According to the vet at the emergency clinic and the vet at the animal hospital, ear hematomas are pretty common in dogs, especially the floppy-eared breeds, and can result from either the dog scratching at the ear, or vigorously shaking its head, due to any number of things. In this case, my dog has had chronic ear infections, and shakes her head a lot. It just so happened that this weekend she may have shaken her head a little too violently, and caused injury to the blood vessels in her ear. The hematoma required surgery, and the vet is also going to treat her ear infections, wich are not only affecting the outer ear, but now the middle ear as well. She also suggested that the infections may be a result of a possible allergy, and said we should try altering her diet to see if that might help a little - otherwise she seems to be in excellent health and great spirits. She'll be in surgery today, then recovery this afternoon. I'll take a half day off work tomorrow and pick her up in the morning.

Two vet trips...

Two minor surgeries...

Four prescriptions...

And almost a thousand dollars later