Video Otoscopy / Ears
The video otoscope is a fiber-optic scope that enables us to visualize and perform procedures in the ear canal more thoroughly than with a traditional otoscope. Did you know that, at no extra cost, nearly every patient will have their ears looked at with our video otoscope?
We also take photos of each patient’s ear canals. These become part of the medical record that helps us monitor progress of ear treatments. With our video otoscope, we can visualize the ear canal much better than with traditional otoscopes. Better visualization means better care for your pet!
If your pet requires a deeper ear cleaning, further ear evaluation, ear foreign body, polyp or tumor removal, myringotomy, or some other ear procedures, video otoscopy with its special channels and specific instruments is used along with our special suction/flushing. These procedures are often performed while your pet is under general anesthesia. Video otoscopy allows your pet’s ear to be more thoroughly and more safely evaluated and can often reduce the time to resolution of your pet’s ear problem. A Board-Certified Veterinary AnesthesiologistTM is available for our general anesthesia procedures.
Myringotomy
Myringotomy is a procedure where a hole is created in the ear drum to obtain samples for cytologies and cultures from the middle ear as well as aid in cleaning or flushing of the middle ear.
Aerobic Bacterial Cultures and Sensitivities
This culture helps to identify the bacteria that causing the ear infection and the sensitivity helps to identify which antibiotics may work best against the bacteria isolated. The culture sample are most commonly taken via a swab. Ear cultures taken from the middle ear may require a myringotomy.
Ear Cytologies
This entails taking samples from the ear canal (usually with a cotton swab), rolling the samples on a microscope slide, then heat fixing and staining the samples, and then evaluating the sample under a microscope. The samples can often tell us what type of infection is present in the ear, how to treat infection more effectively and if the infection is resolving or has resolved.
Ear Swabs for Mites
Swabs are typically taken from the ears and rolled onto a microscope slide with mineral oil and evaluated under a microscope.