He Keeps Breaking His Ears Open - Need Solutions

[ReelDesigner]

Hello,

I've been dealing with this issue for a while and really, really need a solution. Basically, what happens is that whenever my dog shakes his head his big, floppy ears have the tips broken open as they hit the top of this head. After that, the droplets of blood are sprayed all over the walls, furniture, electronics, etc! The other day, I spent 3 hours just cleaning the walls in the hallway. For a while, they healed enough since I kept him from shaking, but the problem has resurfaced and I just can't stay there with him at all times to keep him from doing it. Right now, I've cut the end off of a pair of sweatpants and have pulled them over his head to keep his ears pinned down.

I don't want to have him having to wear the head-cover for the rest of his life and I certainly can't keep cleaning blood off of my walls. I've had him checked for ear infections and he's clear. I've gone through ideas ranging from ear cropping to cauterization.

Has anyone gone through something similar and have some thoughts/ideas/solutions?

Thanks.

 

[Slobberkiss]

I have the exact same problem and have been to the vet several time to check for ear mites & infections. But none was ever the case. Then we figured out it was allergies. About 2x a year (spring and fall) Lana gets really itchy ears to the point that the skin would break open from the head shaking and scratching.
Have you tried giving benadryl? That helps in several cases. In our case unfortunately that does not help and I need to get meds from the vet.
Now that i know the signs I can give it to her before she gets to that stage.
I can feel with you on the cleaning. that is such a task as it gets EVERYWHERE.
good luck.

 

[TossBranAbi]

My Mom's dog has the same problem. He stayed here for a while and, wow, my walls and everything like you said were covered with spots of blood. Even now, sometimes I still find a spot here and there I missed.

Allergies were a big culprit but I think the biggest was that once they started to heal, they would get itchy, causing him to shake and open the wounds back up, causing a vicious circle. What I did, was use EMT gel on the tips and put a curad plastic strip bandaid on the tips. I said curad because that is just the brand we had and they seemed to stick pretty well. Eventually they healed up and no more blood spots, it is just getting through that initial healing and past the itchies.

 

[ReelDesigner]

My Mom's dog has the same problem. He stayed here for a while and, wow, my walls and everything like you said were covered with spots of blood. Even now, sometimes I still find a spot here and there I missed.

Allergies were a big culprit but I think the biggest was that once they started to heal, they would get itchy, causing him to shake and open the wounds back up, causing a vicious circle. What I did, was use EMT gel on the tips and put a curad plastic strip bandaid on the tips. I said curad because that is just the brand we had and they seemed to stick pretty well. Eventually they healed up and no more blood spots, it is just getting through that initial healing and past the itchies.

I want to say, "Thank you, thank you, thank you," for the idea of the little bandage. I can't believe that after almost two years of dealing with this and looking for solutions that something so SIMPLE was the whole answer. It worked perfectly! He's healed up now and I'm not concerned with him shaking his head any more (beyond the possibility of it being an ear infection - though he doesn't shake it THAT much). Even if it does get broken open again, it's a nice, easy fix. Awesome.

I have the exact same problem and have been to the vet several time to check for ear mites & infections. But none was ever the case. Then we figured out it was allergies. About 2x a year (spring and fall) Lana gets really itchy ears to the point that the skin would break open from the head shaking and scratching.
Have you tried giving benadryl? That helps in several cases. In our case unfortunately that does not help and I need to get meds from the vet.
Now that i know the signs I can give it to her before she gets to that stage.
I can feel with you on the cleaning. that is such a task as it gets EVERYWHERE.
good luck.

Also, I did try giving him a little Benadryl to see if maybe it was allergies that he was reacting to but it didn't seem to change anything. However, I think now that it has healed up he's shaking it less and less.

 

[Evie&Adam]

I have to just ditto everyone above!!! Also, for days that aren't so bad.... I use sprayable hydrocortizone and rub it into Evie's ears. The best tho has been finding out what Evie is allergic too

 

[remybaby]

WOW I thought I was the only one!!!!! I can soooo sympathize with you. As soon as you get the blood cleaned off the walls, the cabinets, the fridge...he shakes his head again! We always say our home looked like the set of CSI:Miami - blood splatters everywhere! What I started to doing (we live in a very cold clmate and only seems to happen in winter) is rubbing vaseline onto the tips of Charlies ears. He seems to enjoy the "mommy and me" time and it has really helped. I don't know if it was the weather drying the tips of his ears out or what. I think it helps the itching part of the healing process too. So far this winter it hasn't happened (cross fingers) so maybe give that a go.

 

[mom2J&C]

Jake does the same thing , I found that NOT leaving a collar on him has helped because he would shake his head and the tips of his ears bang against the collar. (Not that I am big on leaving a collar on a dog while it's in the house) but I have definitely been more diligent about making sure its OFF of him as soon as he comes back into the house from being out. That seems to have cured that problem and I don't have to wash blood droplets off the walls anymore.

 

[WeasleRocky]

Lady had this issue of spraying little doplets all over the place... but if Rocky ever gets this I'll definatley remember this remedy...