# Ear problem what could it be?& what to do!



## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

My yellow Lab, Sandi is 7 years old and seems to have been either bitten of I don't really know on only her right ear, the inside.

Ok let me explain. She was outside like normal yesterday meaning for potty breaks and eating she is in the house a lot though other than that and her daily walk. She was fine from what I know in the evening and then she went to sleep in the basement as two of my kids slept down there (my one came in from his place downtown so that is why they were down there) ok so in the morning after Sandi was down there sleeping with them they noticed her right ear was fat! I have had a Dalmatian who's ears both got huge after eating chocolate so this I am familiar with, but this is not like that at least I know there was no chocolate around for her to get into and its only her right ear. My one son said he was petting her ears and she became defensive. Like turning away and a growl, it was like it hurt her. I petted her and checked both her ears very gently the right one does not seem to bother her right now but I was being very careful),and only the one has like two filled kind of bumps rather large though they are like the whole flap of the ear, seems like they are filled with something I don't know how else to describe it. But what is peculiar is its just one. Do you think it could be a spider or I mean this probably happened maybe in the house overnight, but I am wondering though what could have bit her if it is anything or could it have been a bee or wasp, outside and it took a while to become enlarged. She has no symptoms of anything right now. She's absolutely fine like nothings happened. And I remember when my Dalmatian had chocolate, she got very lethargic and threw up. I immediately took her to the vet, Sandi just seems like no adverse reactions.
I am also wondering if I should do anything with her ear at all? Like put something on it ointment wise of just leave it alone and see what happens?What do you think? Thanks!


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

wags said:


> My yellow Lab, Sandi is 7 years old and seems to have been either bitten of I don't really know on only her right ear, the inside.
> 
> Ok let me explain. She was outside like normal yesterday meaning for potty breaks and eating she is in the house a lot though other than that and her daily walk. She was fine from what I know in the evening and then she went to sleep in the basement as two of my kids slept down there (my one came in from his place downtown so that is why they were down there) ok so in the morning after Sandi was down there sleeping with them they noticed her right ear was fat! I have had a Dalmatian who's ears both got huge after eating chocolate so this I am familiar with, but this is not like that at least I know there was no chocolate around for her to get into and its only her right ear. My one son said he was petting her ears and she became defensive. Like turning away and a growl, it was like it hurt her. I petted her and checked both her ears very gently the right one does not seem to bother her right now but I was being very careful),and only the one has like two filled kind of bumps rather large though they are like the whole flap of the ear, seems like they are filled with something I don't know how else to describe it. But what is peculiar is its just one. Do you think it could be a spider or I mean this probably happened maybe in the house overnight, but I am wondering though what could have bit her if it is anything or could it have been a bee or wasp, outside and it took a while to become enlarged. She has no symptoms of anything right now. She's absolutely fine like nothings happened. And I remember when my Dalmatian had chocolate, she got very lethargic and threw up. I immediately took her to the vet, Sandi just seems like no adverse reactions.
> I am also wondering if I should do anything with her ear at all? Like put something on it ointment wise of just leave it alone and see what happens?What do you think? Thanks!


Zio sometimes winds up with wasp stings or ant bites on various areas of his body. (Part of being a nosy hunting breed, methinks!) When this happens we put hydrocortizone cream on the affected area & give him benedryl to combat the reaction from the bite/sting.

We also check frequently over a few days to make sure that the bumps haven't gotten larger, inflamed (hot & red), etc. If they "look worse", we take him to the vet.

_Disclaimer: I am not a vet or a vet tech. Nor did I sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night. I'm just a pet owner. :wink:
_


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

I am going to keep an eye on the ear and apply the hydrocortizone you suggested along with the benadryl. ( I have both at home yeah  ) Thanks for this advice, Its alarming to see your dog with their ear fat like that and not knowing what the heck! Thanks again!


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## Eurobox (May 17, 2010)

Dogs can get ear hematomas (where the tissue in the ear fills with blood). Could she have shook her head and hit her ear on anything, causing bruising?


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

Eurobox said:


> Dogs can get ear hematomas (where the tissue in the ear fills with blood). Could she have shook her head and hit her ear on anything, causing bruising?


Oh wow I have not heard of this one. You know it just happened overnight. She was fine the night before she went in the basement to sleep and just woke up with it. That is why I thought gee did a spider get her, but now I have to look into this one. I have been putting the hydrocortisone on her and giving her the benadryl. I thought it was going a bit down but I am getting concerned now. What does the vet do if its the hematoma? I may wait one more day and then bring her in. Well the problem also is my husband is out of town this week and I need him to help me get her in and out of the car. She's like 90 lbs. and refuses to jump in the back of the suburban! Stubborn she is LOL! I thought it would get better by now. But it seems to just have gone down a touch not a lot like I thought it would, But then again if its a bug bite I really don't know how long it takes to go down! The thing is she is right now absolutely fine (eating drinking water just the same as always but with this puffy ear flap)and she hasn't been shaking her head at all and with they hydrocortisone has not been itching it. Just is the strangest thing ever. Thanks!


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## NatureLover (Sep 28, 2010)

*Ear Inflammation*

Hello,

I'm a newbie here but I've had lots of experience with ear inflammation so I'll take the liberty of sharing. That it isn't happening in both ears isn't definitive evidence of the cause, imo. Even when diet is the cause, for example, it sometimes doesn't happen in both ears. I wouldn't assume it's a spider or insect bite because if you do this and treat it symptomatically and the cause is actually dietary, you'll have done nothing to tackle the real problem. In fact, if the cause is that the body is trying to eliminate extraordinary waste through one or both ear canals (which it does, when improper diet causes its primary eliminative channels to become overburdened) you'll have only succeeded in stopping it from doing something beneficial.

You do have the additional evidence that the dog was sleeping in the basement, where spiders tend to congregate, but you don't actually need to know for sure what the cause is in order to decide on a proper course of action that will not create more harm. It would be advisable to fast the dog on water only or feed very lightly of highly digestible foods until the inflammation goes down, which would probably take a day or two (the less the dog eats, the quicker this will happen). This will allow the body to direct its energy toward whatever it's trying to accomplish with the inflammation, whether it's ushering out spider venom or extraordinary metabolic wastes.

The remedies you mentioned are highly toxic. They may decrease the inflammation, but they will add to your dog's overall toxic load. The body knows what it's doing when it creates inflammation. Inflammation is nothing but accelerated self-healing. Fluids are delivered to the area to dilute the toxins and wastes (or whatever is being eliminated), and the temperature in the affected area is increased to speed up the whole process. We associate healing with a decrease of inflammation but that doesn't mean if we force the inflammation to go away we can equate this with healing. Healing can't be forced. Actually what we've done in that situation is just postponed the work the body was trying to do, and allowed the toxins to stay put. If, rather, we remove the cause and allow the body to determine when to stop the inflammation, healing actually happens much quicker.

It sounds like this happened a few days ago so likely it has already resolved itself, so the above is for future reference. 

Ten years ago it happened to my dog and I treated the symptom rather than removing the cause. The result was nerve damage which caused very quick and permanent deafness. It occurred during and immediately following inflammation that afflicted one ear much more severely than the other. He may have more hearing in one ear than the other now, because he does hear very loud noises. But the loss is nevertheless very profound and has greatly affected his life and mine as well. It was only a few years later that I learned that the cause was dietary mistakes. I cleaned up his diet such that he never gets ear inflammation anymore (he’s almost 18 now) but of course he never recovered his hearing.


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## Eurobox (May 17, 2010)

NatureLover, I do believe the inflammation is only in the ear flap, and not the canal itself. 

Wags, I think if it is a hematoma, it will need to be drained by the vet. Someone on the boxer forum I belong to had this happen to their dog, and it required surgery. Good luck...

Here is some info, including pics of ear hematomas.
HEMATOMA


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## NatureLover (Sep 28, 2010)

Ok, you may be dealing with an insect bite then. I'd still opt for fasting rather than meds, to hasten healing.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i just read a fascinating article about hematomas and dogs ears....and some vets are now using leeches as we do on humans for certain conditions.....

some treatments for hematomas now involve very gentle massage (so as not to burst it) of the area to help the blood reabsorb.....because surgical or needle draining is not always a resolution....

if it is an insect bite, then it might be important to see if there is a source of insects in your basement for identification purposes....

since it's been several days, the swelling is a reaction of the body to protect itself from any toxins....

still, if it were me, i'd go to the vet and let the vet look....not necessarily do anything, just look.


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## Alan Deshawn (Oct 5, 2010)

Hello guys!

My dog (australian shepherd and border collie mix, not sure if the breed would have anything do with this occurrence) has an ear condition that I'm unsure of. Maybe you could help me out?

He has this black fluid developing in his ears and it has a very bad odor. He shakes his ears constantly and the stuff flies out of them every time he does. He is much more hyper and restless and the ears as well get hot inside. Any idea or opinion of what this might be?

I know I should take my dog to the vet, and I'm going to soon but I would like an idea on what this problem might be.

Thanks.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Alan Deshawn said:


> Hello guys!
> 
> My dog (australian shepherd and border collie mix, not sure if the breed would have anything do with this occurrence) has an ear condition that I'm unsure of. Maybe you could help me out?
> 
> ...


black fluid.
bad odour.

go to vet. do not pass go. go to vet now. 

black fluid could be blood from ear drum or ear canal or somewhere.
bad odour means infection.


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## k9capture_16 (Aug 23, 2010)

Wags its sounds like a Hematoma. Lincoln had one in his right ear. The vet surgically corrected it. Often times draining it does nothing as it will refill. Now if only I could convince my friend to get his dogs repaired (he thinks it will heal on its own yet its been there for 4 months)

This is where his was, you cant really tell by the pic how puffy it was..but it was VERY filled and huge, I happened to notice it when I massaged his ear and he yelped, the next morning I was petting his ear and felt it.









This is how the vet repaired it...









My vet told me draining does nothing, I dunno if thats true or not.


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## Eurobox (May 17, 2010)

Wow, I wish my boy's tattoo was in his ear! They tattooed him on his belly/inner thigh and he is so dark you cannot see it. That is the way to go!


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## k9capture_16 (Aug 23, 2010)

Yeah I tattooed myself in both ears (it was done properly). One ear the numbers run one way and the other the other way. Why? The SPCA here has been famous for saying " Well we checked one ear and found nothing" So, with both ears theres no excuse. I tattooed because I had no intentions of having him fixed so therefore he wouldnt of had a microchip. But I got pressured into having him fixed so he got chipped to lol. So now hes got both. With my previous dog, the breeder wanted to tattoo him in the flank and I wouldnt allow it I told her I would prefer it in the ear as he was chipped as well prior to coming to me. So his was in his ear too.


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## John Rambo (Sep 27, 2010)

awsome replies by u all..I have learned alot by reading this post!!!:smile:


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