All done

 We've been home for about an hour, Betty's the quietest I've ever seen her, but is ok.  When the vet gave her the pre-med she was zonked out completely within 10 minutes, in fact we even checked a couple of times to see if she was actually still breathing!  The vet said he'd given her quite a hefty dose as she's a big chunky dog - well, she's only medium height but solid, she weighs a smidgeon under 30kg.

Being half Shar Pei, she has very small narrow ear channels, which are very hairy inside.  The vet didn't find any grass seeds, but said there was matted fur deep inside her ears, spiky with dried wax, this is what was causing the inflammation.  He cut it out and showed us, it looked like half a dozen little fishing flies, a couple of which did look rather like grass seeds.  As her ear channels are so narrow, they have to use cat-sized instruments(!!) despite her being so big and chunky.

Following the procedure, it took about 10 minutes for her to come round, she looked totally bemused and as if she had no idea where she was.  She's still sleeping it off now.  She's had medication to soothe her ears, and has to go back for a follow up in a fortnight.

I'm very glad that's over, that she came round from the anaesthetic successfully and that there's nothing more serious going on.  The vet did say she's always likely to have ear problems (she has done all her life so far anyway) as nobody can stop the hairs growing in her ears!  He reckoned our insurance should cover the (considerable) costs and will get in touch with them himself, so we didn't have to pay today (which pleased husband!  Personally, I'd pay whatever it costs without question).

Here she is in recovery - which is a small comfortably furnished lounge for patients and their parents. 

The staff there are wonderful, they couldn't have been nicer, offering us drinks and popping in every few minutes to see if we were ok.  They're a small independent surgery run by a husband and wife team who live on the premises, their nurses are lovely too and we're all on first name terms.