Poor Tobi!

After I'd noticed that Tobi was constantly shaking his head and scratching his left ear, I went over to him to inspect. My first clue that something was wrong was that he would not let me look in his ear. I finally bribed him with treats and he reluctantly let me take a peek. All I can see is BLECH!!! It was disgusting! I will not elaborate on the contents, I will just say that it was startling enough to prompt me to call Tobi's vet to schedule an emergency visit. Off we went to visit the vet. Tobi shook the whole time we were in the waiting area, then hid under the bench in the examination room. After a brief consultation with the technician, the vet came in and placed Tobi on the examination table. Not a good idea. He was fine at first, and let her look all she wanted at his unaffected right ear. Then, she went for the left. It took all of my strength to keep him on the table as she inspected his ear and then swabbed it so she could examine the ick inside of it. It's kind of funny to me that he would rather have fallen off the table than let her swab the inside of his ear. At first the vet was saying things like, "Oh, poor baby, I know it hurts." Then I think she got annoyed by his constant attempts to make a break for it, and by the end was saying, "Now Tobi, you're being a big wimp." True, but my baby was in pain!! We waited for a little while, me on the bench, Tobi underneath. Turns out he has a yeast infection in his ear. He's had one before, but this was MUCH worse, which was why I panicked a bit. He was prescribed oral steroids (to help with pain) and ear goop. This is where it gets fun. The technician came in to show me how to administer the goop. It took both of us to hold him down while she quickly shoved it into his ear and squeezed. She said it would be better once the steroid kicked in. Yeah. OK. All I was thinking was how I was going to do this by myself while Kevin is gone for the next week.

We're getting the process down to an art. With his third dose of the goop and steroid, he is crying less and less. I'd like to thank the nice people who make Beggin' Strips and KRAFT cheese slices, without which I would not be able to administer Tobi's medicines. Tobi's greasy ear.