A moment of insight on otitis

'Ear ye, 'ear ye. Get everyone on the same page when it comes to core medical issues. (starush/stock.adobe.com)

We are re-educating our staff about pillars, or core topics we want all the staff to know. This renewed interest was spurred by an incident concerning a recent case of otitis.

An elderly couple has a cocker spaniel with chronic ear infections, and we have talked endlessly about food allergies and getting to the root of the problem. They don't want to do anything except treat the infection.

At the receptionist meeting yesterday, one of the receptionists said that at checkout this client mentioned how she applies the medication, which is basically at the outer pinnae. She thus discovered that the owner had not been applying the medication appropriately, which she would not have caught until a few weeks ago when she heard my ear care talk.

She was able to step in on the spot and instruct the owner on how to apply the medications appropriately-something that obviously has been lost in translation with myself, the technicians and the owners. So maybe this dog doesn't have underlying allergies and just had an ongoing infection we had never treated to completion. A good example of why you invest in team education.

Dr. Andrew Rollo is a Veterinary Economics Editorial Advisory Board member and an associate at Madison Veterinary Hospital in Michigan.