A facelift for Fido and Botox for Buster: How pet owners are spending over $10,000 on cosmetic surgery for DOGS



A growing number of dog owners are turning to cosmetic surgery to improve the look of their four-legged friends.

Popular treatments, which can cost in excess of $10,000, include face lifts, tummy tucks, teeth straightening procedures, eyebrow corrections and even Botox injections to smooth out wrinkles.

There are also silicone testicles produced by Neuticles.com, so that neutered pooches can retain 'their natural look' and 'self esteem'.

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Improving his looks: Heather Hughes from Los Angeles, California said she decided to pay for her Doberman, Kaiser to go under the knife because his ears were too floppy (above, before and after)



Heather Hughes from Los Angeles, California said she decided to pay for her Doberman, Kaiser to go under the knife because his ears were too floppy.



During a 30-minute operation vets inserted mesh ear implants to give them more of an upright lifted look.



In some cases the surgery is used to improve the health of a pet.

Makeover: During a 30-minute operation vets inserted mesh implants into Kaiser's ears to give them more of an upright lifted look

For instance Nora Vanatta from Tualatin, Oregon, splashed out on a doggy tummy tuck for her obese Dachshund named Obie after he lost half his body weight.



The previously portly canine, who once tipped the scales at 77 pounds, underwent surgery to get rid of more than two pounds of excess skin.

' If the pet is beautiful, the owner is happy and wants to show their pet to their friends '

'He is back to a pretty normal routine minus walks and play time,' the delighted veterinarian wrote on Facebook two days after her pet's surgery.

Meanwhile Denise and David Smart from North Yorkshire in the UK spent more than $13,000 on a tummy tuck, facelift and other surgeries for their dog, Junior, in a bid to save him from blindness.



The five-year-old pooch suffers from a rare disease that causes excess skin to develop on the body, and he was left nearly immobile and unable to see because skin flaps had grown over his eyes.

Excess skin: Nora Vanatta from Tualatin, Oregon, splashed out on a doggy tummy tuck for her obese Dachshund named Obie after he lost half his body weight

Quick fix: During the operation two pounds of skin was removed from the pooch's tummy

Slimline: The previously portly canine strike a pose after his operation

However the smarts admitted that some of the surgeries were strictly cosmetic, rather than medically significant.



'It's taken years off him and he does look like a young man again,' Mrs Smart said.

'I don't think it's worth putting them through the pain for our perception of how they're supposed to look '



In 2010 an estimated $2.5 million was spent on providing pets with nose jobs, and another $1.6 million towards eye-lifts, according to the insurer Petplan.



In rare instances, the surgeries are being covered by pet insurance, though most insurance companies will not cover these charges.



Many veterinarians will also not perform these types of procedures.



Vet Chris Bern explained to CBS: 'I don't think it's worth putting them through the pain and the recovery and the risk for our perception of how they're supposed to look. We have justification to do it.'



Saggy: Denise and David Smart from North Yorkshire in the UK spent more than $13,000 on a tummy tuck, facelift and other surgeries for their dog, Junior, in a bid to save him from blindness



Some groups such as the American Veterinary Medical Association and Humane Society of the United States are also against animal surgical procedures for strictly cosmetic reasons.



Kristen Thiesen, from the organization said: 'Sometimes people don't think very hard about the inherent risks that are involved in anesthesia for one of our pets.'



However, Dr Edgard Brito, 50, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, one of the world's leading dogs plastic surgeons, told Bloomberg that it's important for dogs, especially show breeds, have the right expression [and] the correct proportions.'

