Natural ear edges hard and crusty

[littleM]

I've been trying to figure this out for a long time now, searched the forums, and everywhere else and can't seem to find an answer.

Mieszko (7 yr old brindle boy) has this crust on the outside edges of his ears. It looks like light brown scabs and the hair goes away in small spots. It is mainly right on the edges of the ear flaps, with a few spots on in the middle. His ears are mite-free and he doesn't have any problems with the ears themselves, just the floppy pinnae.

It started as a couple of small patches, but has continued to get worse as time goes on. Its been there for a couple of months now and I can't seem to figure out what it is. Our vet says that its just something that happens to dogs when they get older, which I think is a crock (he also said that acepromazine was just fine for boxers) .

Anyway, it doesn't seem to bother Mieszko, but it won't go away and I am getting concerned. I saw one other post about this, but there wasn't an answer about it.

Other than getting a new vet (which I am in the process of), does anyone have any advice on this? Thanks in advance!

 

[angleheart]

I'm sorry but I sure don't know. I hope someone on here will be of more use than I

 

[SherylM]

This used to happen to Jack, but only in the summer. It turned out to be mosquitos, for some reason they loved his ears??

 

[littleM]

Its odd looking, actually. Its almost like calluses, but not really. The hair is bald there and it kind of looks like scabs, but its not. They don't bleed, and they are light grayish brown in color. The whole edges of his ears are like that, which is a shame. I've been wondering if its a fungus problem, but can't find any info anywhere that looks like this, and like I said, haven't had luck with the last couple vets we have had.

 

[Sablegirl]

If he was an outside dog, I would say it could be fly bites but other than that, I have no idea. Hope you find out soon and he gets all better.

 

[BigDies]

I would guess fly bites too. You could get some fly-off stuff at a pet store and see if that helps at all.

 

[violetashlee]

Ivy used to have this. I switched her food and it went away.

 

[littleM]

I've got an appt with his first vet that we had that we trust a lot. A couple hours drive, but worth it if we get an answer. I am hoping its an allergy thing (as I know his allergies are terrible). His whole ear edges are like this and it slowly is getting worse. I'll drop an update on here when I get an answer. Wish us luck!

 

[violetashlee]

I've got an appt with his first vet that we had that we trust a lot. A couple hours drive, but worth it if we get an answer. I am hoping its an allergy thing (as I know his allergies are terrible). His whole ear edges are like this and it slowly is getting worse. I'll drop an update on here when I get an answer. Wish us luck!

GOOD LUCK! and let us know what happens!