Dog with swelling on ear

[HilltopDaisy]

I've done a search but was not able to find information on this particular issue.....

I took my Shih Tzu to a new groomer today. When I picked him up she told me she thought he had mange. Of course I freaked out, and said "He's never had any type of skin problem, ever". She showed me a swelling on his ear, and said she thought it was mange. I would have thought it was an abcess/infection from a wound, or insect bite, but there doesn't seem to be any puncture mark. It feels like a fluid-filled section about the size of a dime. Has anyone ever heard of this? I read that some treat mange with Ivermectin. Advice, please! Of course I will take him to the vet if necessary, but I'd prefer to doctor him myself, if possible.

Almost forgot--this does not appear to itch or cause him any problem.

[boxwoods]

might have been a tick who buried himself in there. They just hang on and skin grows over the tick.

[HarleysMom]

Sounds like an ear flap hematoma. I have drained them myself with a syringe. My golden retreiver got several when he was older and after the first one was drained by the vet, I drained the rest each time he got a new one. Google ear flap hematoma and you can find more info.

[BobK]

I think Harleysmom has a good prospect on this case.

[momlaffsalot]

I'd say it's a hematoma...fairly common.

[Ravenlost]

I agree. Sounds like a hematoma. Our old cat, Casper, had one a couple summers ago. His was so large he had to have surgery (they drained it and put stitches throughout the area to keep it from filling up with fluid again).

They can get hematomas from shaking their heads real hard. Casper was recovering from ear mites when he got his.

[Pony]

Is it hot and turgid? It could be an abcess or hematomato.

If your dog is a real "head shaker" then I'd say probably hematoma.

Either way, clean it up, have a good look at it. If you think it's an abcess, hot pack it. If you're game (and your dog is a sweetie), give it a poke with a sterile needle and see what you get.

Hm... considering the size (and of course, not being able to see it), could it be a cuterebra?

Pony! (who probably just gave you more options than you wanted)

[greenacres]

I go with hematoma also. Our shepard mix has had one in each ear. Each time his ear reminds me of a sopapilla (you know, a mexican desert thing). I don't know if I spelled that right.

[Susan n' Emily in TN]

I wouldn't go poking around on it myself. You could introduce bacteria into the hematoma and make matters much worse. fixing the hematoma surgically is a very simple procedure for a vet. Everything sterile and stitched down just right. Susan

[Cat]

Since no one has commented on the mange issue, I bought a potbellied piglet many years ago that ended up having mange. Her skin was very thick and you could peel off the skin in little sections. She scratched a lot, too.

I'm not saying this because I think the dog has mange, everyone's advice seems to be on track, I just thought I'd tell you what mange looked like to show the differences. I can imagine it'd be similar on a dog.

[FLhomesteader]

I wouldn’t go to that groomer first off. Not that the groomer did anything wrong but what your dog has is a hematoma and it is fairly common. And if your groomer doesn’t know what a hematoma is then I would find another groomer
Now there are 2 ways one could get one. Shih Tzu’s you have to pull hair out of the ear canal
And when you do that it irritates the ear a little bit and your dog could have shaken its ear that is the way most of then start
Or the other way and I hate to say this as this is rarely the case with any good groomer is the dog could have got hit or hit his head on something.
Ohh yea sometimes hematomas will go down if its really swelled up it will at least go down a little bit I would wait the weekend and if it hasn’t gone down at all or gotten bigger then take him to the vet.
Also all it is fluid and blood so it shouldn’t get infected
P.S. I am a groomer

[Little Quacker in OR]

If it turns out to be a Hematoma you want to be sure and determine the cause. Hence the "visit to the Vet" suggestions. These are caused by violent shaking of the head, bite wounds. cactus punctures and the like. This syndrome is common in cats(usually tom cats), dogs with(but not limited to)long ears and Pigs. Many time the cause of the head shaking as mentioned, is ear mites or an infection(otitis externa). There is a poisoning in Pigs that seems to predispose them to hematoma formation.




So, find out why the injury occured.

Hope all is well and OK...LQ

[HilltopDaisy]

Thank you, everyone. Buddy has never had a problem with mites. He gets groomed regularly, every 8 weeks. I had to find a new groomer for him and Lily, my female Shih Tzu, because our regular lady closed up her shop. I've never seen him shake his head violently. He sleeps right next to my head every night, and I think I could smell it if he had an infected ear. This woman did a beautiful job on them, and I think she came across the swelling and made a misdiagnosis. I'll keep an eye on it and if it doesn't seem to be smaller on Monday, I'll make a vet appointment. It was the mange idea that threw me. I've worked as a vet assistant in the past, and I've had dogs all my life, and I had never heard of this. She told me that I would have to treat all my dogs for mange. Weird. Thanks again.