Edge of ears bloodied, top of head too

[Tango's Mama]

Tango had the same thing at one time and we went a different route than giving him allergy meds(some of which can have long term effects on the organs) I clean his ears every 3 days with dermapet cleaner. I also keep some otomax and tresaderm on hand and alternate between them every few weeks. His were so bad that he ended up with a hematoma(sp) and had to have surgery to fix it. This has been the solution for us and we have no more torn looking ears..no bloody head and no bloody walls. Might be something to look into instead of allergy meds for life. I'm not certain what kind of shots or meds your giving but i'd check into them and make certain they arent harming the kidneys . I know predisone(sp again) can cause damage over a period of time. Just some info from one who suffered thru it too. Good luck!

 

[Chandler]

Similar thing happened to Rex's ear...

I don't know if this could have happened to you all, but I'll share my experience and maybe it will help you. Rex (my boxer/lab mix) and another pup were rough-housing at the dog-beach; without any of us onlookers noticing, the other dog must have taken a chunk out of Rex's ear, everytime he shook his head, his ear would hit his head and throat, and because Rex's ears are natural (not cropped), the appearance was that his head and throat were bleeding).

I rushed him to the vet; $500 later (eventually, nearly $1000) the vet stopped Rex's ear from bleeding (evidently, there are a bunch of vessell ending in the ears and that's why they bleed so much). The vet gave Rex a prescription for puppy-Vicodin to calm him (although Rex had no idea that anything was wrong), and antibiotics (Keflex 500mg; AM & PM for 10 days) to guard against infection.

At any rate, although this happened nearly a month ago, Rex still cannot get his ear wet, or it will start bleeding again. I talked with someone else at the dog-beach whose dog had (long ago) experienced the same thing; she said that her dogs ear wasn't better for months.

I hope that sharing Rex and my experience has helped you, and your pup gets better soon.

Chandler...

 

[rottenroxy]

This sounds similar to what we went through with Roxy not too long ago. In our case, it was just a food allergy, probably to grain. We had her on Chicken Soup and as soon as we switched to Canidae the bumps went away. Her bumps were tiny and scabby and seemed to be mostly on the top of her head with a few on the tips of her ears and on her back. When we scraped off the scabs on her ears, it looked just like something had taken a tiny bite. However, they only bled when a scab got scraped off and didn't seem to bother her in any way.
Anyway, just wanted to put in my two cents. Hope it helps!

 

[MyFrieda]

Thank you to all of you...

I feel so much better after reading your experiences, although I also feel so bad for our dogs. Yesterday, my son pointed out very small dark spots on the walls and doors, I now realize at Frieda's height, and I could not figure out what it could be!!! They are blood specks, from when she shakes her head... I never saw her scratching in any way. She appears happy and healthy. The inside of her ears are clear, I gently remove the wax regularly. She is an inside spoiled and pampered girl, so I doubt it is due to flies. This was a particularly cold winter, with tons of snow, and no flies. After reading your comments I realize that the blood on the top of her head that I notice after we go out to run and play, must be from her ears bouncing and touching her head. The edges look as if they have been gnwed at, some parts, not the whole ear. I will make sure to stay away from prednisone. Vets are so expensive around here that it was nice to get input from all of you. (I have two dogs but no discount...)

 

[tinajohnson]

allergy shots

Tango's mom - my baby's allergy shots are the same type you or I would get if we had allergies (no negative long-term effects on any organs). It's desensitization, which makes her less sensitive to the dust she's allergic to. Her allergy is severe, we tried everything, and I refused to let my regular vet make prednisone her long term solution. Hence the trip to the vet dermatologist. The allergy shots get to the root of the problem, unlike prednisone, which only temporarily treats the symptoms and comes with neg. long-term effects. Everyone's situations are different, but for ours the shots are wonderful.

 

[SpartanBoxer]

i know what you mean

about vets being so expensive!! I live in a big city (chicago) and I am yet to find a vet that is even reasonably cheap. I usually schedule her appointments for times when I know I'll be in Michigan by my mom's place. Problem is I can't always do that, sometimes she has to see a vet here. For example, to get spayed, a vet (a pretty nice one) in the city wanted something like 250 bucks. I called my mom's vet back home and they charged 60 bucks! Needless to say, with it being such a relatively normal procedure and I figure any vet can handle it as good as the next one - I saved myself the 200 bucks.
It's like every problem you have the only answer is 'go see your vet'. Then you never just see them once for a problem, it turns into at least 3 visits per problem (on top of yearly vaccinations and heartguard). Then 1/2 the time you still haven't figured out whats wrong!! With myself, I can just not go see a doctor and wait til i'm better, but i just can't take that chance with her.

 

[Tango's Mama]

Tango's mom - my baby's allergy shots are the same type you or I would get if we had allergies (no negative long-term effects on any organs). It's desensitization, which makes her less sensitive to the dust she's allergic to. Her allergy is severe, we tried everything, and I refused to let my regular vet make prednisone her long term solution. Hence the trip to the vet dermatologist. The allergy shots get to the root of the problem, unlike prednisone, which only temporarily treats the symptoms and comes with neg. long-term effects. Everyone's situations are different, but for ours the shots are wonderful.

Thats good to hear. I went back and read what you had said earlier. I didnt realize you had mentioned predisone in your post too. I need to read better . :p

 

[mojosmama]

How glad am I that I just became a member of this site! My husband and I have spent hundreds of dollars (that we don't have) to have our Mojo seen for these exact same symptoms. We've been putting her in an E-collar for short periods of time to keep her from itching her ears. But she just looks so miserable and sad in it. We all know what it's like to have an itch that you can't get to. I've been cleaning them and giving her ear drops to keep the inner ear from becoming infected from her itching. She's an inside baby-we've changed her food, she's had steroid shots, topical creams, oral medicationn-we're going to a dermatologist ASAP. Thanks everyone!