The Bichon Frise had vinegar-smelly ears.

"My Bichon has a strong acidic smell two days after bathing.  It keeps scratching its ears and shaking head many times a day," said Ms Lim, a slim and busy career lady who worked hard and travel regionally and could barely spare some time to bring her dog to the vet. "How do I get rid of this smell?" 

Smelly ears are a common complaint of some floppy eared dogs like poodles and spaniels. 

"Your Bichon has an excessive amount of ear hairs inside both ears.  The wiry hairs clog up the ear canal and accumulates moisture. The bacteria loved the dampness and multiplied to produce a vinegar-like smell and infection called otitis externa." I said.

"I use a blue ear wash bought from the pet shop but it did not help," said Ms Lim.  The wash could not eliminate this odour.  

"Unlike human beings who have only a horizontal ear canal, the dog has a L-shaped ear canal comprising a vertical canal and a horizontal canal. The ear opening you see is the entry to the vertical canal which curves inwards to form the horizontal canal".  

It was hard for Ms Lim to figure out what I was saying. I took out a model of the L-shaped ears using two syringes joined together to represent the dog's ears. It gave some idea. I showed her a photograph of the anatomy of the dog's ear canals. 

"Your photograph of the Cocker Spaniel was helpful in explaining the anatomy of the dog's ear canals," Ms Lim commented, looking at her watch as she had to go for another appointment. "What is the cure and how much it would cost me?" asked Ms Lim. 

"There are two options - regular ear hair plucking or surgery to open up the vertical ear canal, " I said. "The vet or the owner can pluck off the ear hairs every three months and irrigate the ear canals.  A forceps clamps onto the ear hairs which are twisted and pulled out fast. The groomer could do this too and you will find that many Singapore groomers use the fragrant ear powder to clean up the ears."

"It must be very painful for the dog," Ms Lim imagined.

"Many dogs will run away when they see the forceps," I said.  The poor dogs must know they are going to be tortured. 

"How much it will cost to do surgery and how effective it will be?" Ms Lim asked.

"The cost will be $150 per ear, inclusive of anaesthesia.  It is generally very effective as the ventilation of the ear is much better when the vertical canal wall is opened up."

"That is too expensive," Mrs Lim, the mother said. "There are so many people starving in this world. The money would be of more use to human beings." Since Mrs Lim had lived through World War Two, she knew about the hunger and deprivations. There was no money worth spending on dogs when priority should be given to alleviate human hunger. "We should go to the government animal infirmary," Mrs Lim suggested. "Unless you give us a discount."   

Bargaining was a way of life for Mrs Lim.

"Since the Bichon is only two years old, it will have no more ear problems for the next 15 - 20 years of life.  It will not need the regular ear hair pulling and ear canal irrigation for the next ten years and savings are considerable.  It can be as much as $900 spread over ten years." I said., assuming the dog gets regular grooming twice a year. 

However, a veterinary fee of $300 for anaesthesia and operation of two ears sounded like a lot of money in the 1970s.  It was one third of the monthly salary of a new graduate working in Singapore the civil service.  

"Why not get regular ear cleaning?" Groomer Ken proposed.  It would be more revenue generating not to recommend surgery, assuming the Bichon would be regularly groomed.

Ms Lim made her decision to get the operation done. 




The dog was put under general anaesthesia and half of the outer wall of the vertical canal was removed as shown by the dotted lines in the picture above. The rectangular piece of cartilage and skin (dotted rectangle in the picture above) was cut off.  The sides of the canal were stitched up. A small piece of cartilage on the lower part was anchored below the opening of the horizontal canal to serve as a drainage board. 
   

When the wounds healed and the stitches were removed, you could can see an opening. This is the entrance to the horizontal canal.  Now, the profuse growth of ear canal hairs on the inner side of the vertical canal could grow as much as they like as there would not be a problem of smelly ears. The vertical canal was open and there would be ventilation of the ear canal, preventing the growth of bacteria and fungus.  The opening of the horizontal canal cannot be seen when the ear flap flops down over the head.