Vet seemingly made my dog's ears much worse

I just posted a few days ago about the necessity of a re-check with my vet. The vet herself said that if my dog seemed okay then it wasn't totally necessary. Well, he seemed to be doing better and I gave him his last dose of Tresaderm on Tuesday. On Wednesday his ears (his left ear specifically) seemed redder than normal and warm to the touch. This gave me pause but I thought I'd see if it subsided. I heard that Tresaderm can sometimes cause redness 24-48 hours after giving it so I thought I'd wait it out. Well, today it's worse. His left ear is very red and hot to the touch. His right ear is redder than normal but not as bad as his left. He is shaking his head and itching his ears.

I'm angry because when I took him into the vet, it was a mild problem. His ears weren't red or warm at all. It seems that the medication has made the issue worse. I'm angry because I don't have a lot of money right now and now we have to shell out more money to fix the problem that the vet seemingly made worse.

Am I overreacting? He has the ear problem for about a month before I took him to the vet and it wasn't getting any worse, it was just a reoccurring annoyance. I don't think that it would have gotten this bad had we not taken him to the vet and given him the medication that we were told to.

I know that I have to take him back now but I'm angry that they're going to be charging me for a problem that they made worse. I have a lot of trouble speaking up for myself so I'd never say that to them, but ugh. What should I do? Do I just have to suck it up and pay for it all myself?

I'm mostly just venting here and looking for some advice or anything anyone happens to give me. It's okay to tell me that I'm overreacting if that's what you think.

Quoted from your other thread about this. I think this might be what happened, I don't really have any advice though sorry. Personally I would just bring him to the vet.

You could call them and tell them what you said above and just in a friendly way since you said its difficult for you to speak up and you might not. Call them, tell them the situation and ask how they can help meet you half way at least...if not suggest something that will cure the problem without costing you more?

good luck!

Even if what the vet did made it worse, I doubt seriously that he did it TO make it worse. Diagnosing and medicating dogs is extremely difficult, since the dog can't give his symptoms AND since the meds simply cannot be as thoroughly tested as human meds (because dogs can't talk about their side effects!). I know that doesn't help you a whole lot, but I'd suggest taking it easy on the vet.

You will also need to be extremely dilligent about cleaning your dog's ears since you've been medicating them, otherwise you will start getting recurring ear infections every month or so. Ear cleaner from pet stores is actually not very good, the best kind to buy is the stuff you have to buy from the vet.

I would not say your vet caused your dog's ear infection. And most likely the redness is not because of the meds. Ear infections are tricky and not all bacterias, etc respond to every medication. A vet cannot possibly know which dog will respond to what med with certainty.

Do an ear smear and culture and sensitivity and treat accordingly. THEN you can complain that the meds didn't work

Agree, +1.