Ear cytology is a diagnostic tool used by veterinarians to help identify the organisms associated with ear infections. When cytology is performed, the veterinarian is basically looking for one of three things: Bacteria, yeast, and/or parasites.

While it might be regarded as "good medicine" to perform cytology on every pet that comes through the door with an inflamed ear, it's not cheap. Ear cytology can cost upwards of $60 a pop, depending on the clinic. And it may not even be necessary.

Seasoned veterinarians can diagnose the type of ear infection simply by looking at the nature of the ear discharge. Yellow-green creamy discharges (usually very odiferous) are caused by bacterial infections. Brown, pasty discharges usually have an underlying yeast component. Ear mites typically cause a black, flaky discharge. Some ears may have a mixture of all three.

Most non-parasitic ear infections are caused by allergies, which cause the ear canals to become inflamed, creating an ideal environment for bacteria and yeast (normally found in low numbers within the ears) to proliferate. As a result, bacterial and yeast infections will recur after treatment unless the underlying allergy is addressed. And performing ear cytology every time the dog comes with a re-infection can get mighty costly.

There is another reason why ear cytology may not be worth the expense: Most ear medications prescribed by veterinarians are "all-in-one" anyways, meaning that they contain ingredients that kill bacteria, yeast, and ear mites. So regardless if cytology is performed or not, the treatment will probably be the same for all three.

There are certain instances in which cytology may be needed to establish a diagnosis, but these are rare. Veterinarians know that a good otoscopic examination of the ear canals, not cytology, is the diagnostic tool of choice when it comes to ears. And otoscopy should be included in the physical exam.

So if money is an issue and your veterinarian wants to perform ear cytology on your dog, ask if you can treat the ears first with empirical medications and see if the problem clears up before diving into additional diagnostics. It could save you big.

In one of my recent blog/newsletters, I explained how to give a cat a pill by crushing the pill in butter. An Insider member wrote me to tell me how she likes to use peanut butter instead as the carrier for her pets' (a dog and a cat) medications. While in most instances this is fine, I felt compelled to advise her to use regular butter instead of peanut butter, especially when giving pills to her cat. Here's why:

What happens when you try to swallow peanut butter without chasing it with water or some other liquid? It sometimes gets hung up in the throat, doesn't it? That feeling of having something caught in your throat and being unable to "swallow" it down is not fun. Well, the same thing can happen in pets. And not only that, if a peanut butter-coated pill gets hung up in the esophagus, it can irritate or ulcerate the esophageal lining and cause esophagitis (this is especially true with cats). 

Butter, on the other hand, allows the pill to slide down easy and rarely gets hung up in the esophagus. So if you do want to "stick" with peanut butter as your mode of medicating, be sure to follow it with a nice syringe-full of water to help the medication go down.