My Dog is Making His Ears Bleed!

Shazanne

Hi. We adopted a basset hound cross two weeks ago. He's adorable and very loving and is getting on great with my existing rescue dog.
However, while he does not have the classic basset ears, they do hang down and he seems to scratch them and make the ends of them bleed. We noticed the scabs on them the day we got him at the shelter but did not pay too much heed. However, when he came home I started noting blood on his head and (after I freaked out!) we discovered what was causing the problem.
He was neutered last Friday so is currently wearing an Elizabethan collar, which is preventing him from tearing his ears but, when I took it off briefly yesterday he managed to bleed the scabs immediately:(
He has been treated for fleas and his ears are clean, according to the vet who checked him over for us.
Why is he doing this and what can we do to stop it?

pokertalk

sounds like its an inner ear infection or could have mites i would get a second opinion is there a foul smell coming from his inner ear? dont clean the ear untill you get another vet to have a look as you will only hinder his/her diagnosis . they might perscribe something like oridermyl
basic signs of ear infection or build up is bad smelling and head shaking. remember never overclean a dogs ears rumoving essential wax that protects the ear canal

Sigma Force

It could be mites and although the usual flea treatments tend to treat mites he might need something put directly on his ears. You could ask the vet to do an ear scraping, where they'll take a sample of the skin on the ear and they'll look at it to see if there are any mites or other causes.
That way they'll know what to treat it with rather than just trial and error.

Aloe vera might help soothe his ears and perhaps keep the collar on him for now.

I was pointed in this direction because one of our dogs gets sick if he's treated with advocate etc. http://www.aromesse.com/skin-problem/petnat-dermactonsp-itchy-skin.html

Could be worth a try, but might be best to get the vet to check him out first.

Shazanne

pokertalk wrote: »

sounds like its an inner ear infection or could have mites i would get a second opinion is there a foul smell coming from his inner ear/?

There is no smell coming from his ears and I dont think the problem is inside his ear - it's more that he is scratching at the ends of his ears. However, I could be wrong as, like I say, I only have him two weeks and he has been wearing the collar for a week of that so I could not fully observe him. He hates the collar (naturally) so I am anxious to get it off him when his stitches are ready to come out. I'd hate to have to leave it on him in order to protect his ears.

pokertalk

its best he goes to A DIFFERENT VET then it could be just sensitive skin or psoriasis try some aloe on the ear but use 100% aloe

skyla24

thats so weird my beagle had the same problem and was jus neutered! becoz their ears r so long all the dirt and gunk jus sits there in there ears she was scratchin d ears off herself and crying while doin it, our very vigilant vet had a look and she'd a very bad ear infection had a wash out now she has drops which are in twice a day for ten days and already theres a massive difference, however we have to keep an eye out and clean her ears after this periodically to keep away the infection!

i hope he feels better soon

Redneck Reject

Had a Kerry Blue like that and the vet told me it was due to his ear canals being so unusually narrow that it was holding moisture in the ears causing them to become inflamed.During the cooler months he was great but during the warmer months it flared up.
If thats the case with your dog,they have this ear wash that is self drying that worked on my dog,can't remember the name of it,but it was a cucumber wash.Might see if that helps,providing it's not an infection or mites.

up for anything

My dog was making his ears raw with scratching constantly at them earlier this Summer. I took him to the vet who asked me did he do anything else out of the ordinary and I mentioned that he was also constantly licking his paws and between his 'toes'. Apparently these are symptoms of an allergy much like hayfever in humans and was probably due to the some of the grasses that grow in the back yard. My son who suffers from hayfever fell in the back garden in the long grass a month or so ago and immediately suffered from a reaction where he got huge hives around his eyes, so much so, that his eyes were swollen shut. Cutting the grass and anti-histamines cured both of them - dog anti-histamines for the dog though.

It may be that your dog has something similar.

eastinflatable

its best he goes to A DIFFERENT VET then it could be just sensitive skin or psoriasis try some aloe on the ear but use 100% aloe

meathstevie

Had a German SHP years ago that done the same, poor bugger suffered from chronic ear infections. Dogs don't scratch their ears till they bleed just because they're a bit itchy, that sort of scratching is quite often a symptom of something else.

Shazanne

The thing about Max though is that it is the tips of his ears (which are floppy) that he is scratching at and not the ear itself. The vet looked at his ears when I brought him for a general check-up a couple of days after I got him, which is only two weeks ago. It the very ends of his ears, on the outer side, that have scabs on them and when his Elizabethan collar comes off I know he will tear at them again.

Sigma Force

Because dogs can suffer similar symptoms but have different ailments it's best just to go back to the vets altogether. Will pm you a vets details that my aunt used when her cocker had problems with his ears.