[Gracie's Mama]

Gracie was outside today and when I went to let her back in I noticed her ear is swollen! She's not acting any different. Playing, running, excited. She will let us touch it and look at it like it's no big deal. When I squeezed it she whimpered and pulled away a little. I took pictures to post on here but, I can't find my camera cord! UGH! What could it be?!

My husband said growing up they had dogs that would get bitten/stung by stuff. They would swell a little but it would go down and get better on it's own. He said the couple times they took dogs to the vet the vet had told them there is not a whole lot he can do.

Help! please!

 

[Annie714]

Where on her ear is the swelling? Near the inner ear? Or more towards the outside?

 

[Gracie's Mama]

It's the bottom half of her ear. About halfway down all the way down to the tip.

I just looked at it and it seems to be going down. Now the very bottom of her ear(at the tip) and about a 1/3 of the way up has started to go down. It's still swollen but not nearly as much.

So basically her ear is fine at the top near her head and it's fine til about half way down. Then there is a swollen "stripe". And then down to the tip is still swollen but, not as much.
Does that make sense? It's so hard to describe! I wish I had my camera cord! I tried to draw a pic on paint that I could post but, it turned out horribly.

 

[CatherineM]

I've had that happen twice. Once when a dog got bitten by another dog, but it didn't break the skin. It was like a hematoma. The other time it was a fire ant bite.

 

[bassetmom26003]

My boy had an auricular hematoma.......I took him to the vet as I was too chicken to drain it with a needle.......she drained it and told me more than likely it would come back.....yup it did, within a day or so. She gave me some needles and showed me how to drain it myself. I decided not to try and it took a month or two but it FINALLY resorbed/scarred down on its own. It left the ear a little wrinkled but nothing bad, and his was about 2 inches long by 3/4 inch thick. You can have the vet go in and surgically drain and tack the area shut, but I was trying to avoid surgery.....my guy wasn't really bothered by it and it did finally go away on its own......if you google it most will say it requires surgery (if its an auricular hematoma that is)

 

[Annie714]

Poor Gracie! Hopefully it's just a bug bite.

Annie was harassing a wasp today...silly girl almost got herself stung. She was stung in the jowl by a bee before...got nice and swollen but the swelling didn't slow her down at all and was gone overnight.

 

[Gracie's Mama]

If it's still swollen in the morning I will call the vet. I hope she doesn't need surgery! I would really rather avoid that. A wrinkled ear doesn't seem too bad. And she really doesn't seem to mind it being swelled either. Right after we found her like that we brought her in and she was runnin around and greeting everyone. Excited to see everybody. Then she laid on the floor to chew a toy...and was laying ON the hurt ear. And while she was sniffing around she stepped on it a few times and didn't even notice! Plus she was letting use mess with it, no problem. She is going to the vet this saturday anyway for her check up and shots and stuff. Do you think it would be ok to wait til then? I was very concerned at first but, I dunno. It seems less serious now for some reason. Maybe because it's late and I'm getting sleepy. what do you guys think?

 

[bassetmom26003]

IF it is a hematoma......if you wait too long the blood can solidify and it makes it harder to drain with a needle. But, it can come back likely if drained with a needle anyways. If you really don't want to go the surgery route and it is not bothering her I would just call tomorrow and see what they say if you should come in sooner. My vet did say it could go down on its own but take awhile which it did.

 

[Mikey T]

It was like a hematoma

it probably was a hematoma fairly common in long ear dog the can even cause one just by shaking

Earl flap hematoma

Aural Hematomas

 

[bassetmom26003]

Poor Gracie! Hopefully it's just a bug bite.

Annie was harassing a wasp today...silly girl almost got herself stung. She was stung in the jowl by a bee before...got nice and swollen but the swelling didn't slow her down at all and was gone overnight.

My Annie will chase and bite at bees AARRGGH

 

[Wworm]

Poor Gracie! hope your ear heals soon...
--Worm

 

[Mikey T]

Annie was harassing a wasp today...silly girl almost got herself stung

Toughy use to eat bees. Stung inside the mouth a few time but it never stoped him nor did he have an adverse reaction.

 

[Gracie's Mama]

Ok so the swelling went down even more over night. I called the vet and they said that because it was firm and not squishy that is was probably a bite or a sting of some kind. They said by tonight the swelling should be completely gone.And that I could give her a half of a benedryl to help the swelling go down and to make her more comfortable.

 

[Esther]

ha
Lulu (ATB, RIP) got stung right on the beak by something a few years back. Whole face was swollen. benadryl...

 

[klm42005]

my nieces boxer would get stung and her whole head (ears included) would swell....she would have to give her childrens benedryl and rush her to the vet before she went into anaphlyxic shock......so dogs can be just as allergic as some humans..something to look out for..

 

[Gracie's Mama]

my nieces boxer would get stung and her whole head (ears included) would swell....she would have to give her childrens benedryl and rush her to the vet before she went into anaphlyxic shock......so dogs can be just as allergic as some humans..something to look out for..

Good to know. I guess I need to buy some benedryl to keep on hand. The swelling is almost all gone now. That one ear is just slightly thicker than the other and there is a small bump. I'm so glad it wasn't something more serious. I felt horrible. It wasnt helping that my husband was giving me dirty looks and mumbling about how this happened because I left her outside.
I can't really blame him. He was upset and scared that something happened to his baby. :wub:

 

[klm42005]

Well Miss Gracie I hope you feel better....and it's pretty cool that you already have your daddy wrapped around your little paw.....
My ma's like that with me (dad's a little tougher)....if I act I whimper she gets all worried and I get lots of attention that way...I do it alot when my ma is gone all night (something about work..who knows?) and I want her to pay me some attention instead of sleeping.....I am ready to play when I am ready to play....

-Your pal,
Woody Hayes

 

[bassetmom26003]

Glad to hear Ms. Gracie's ear is improving! I need to check my supply of Benadryl for my bee eater!

 

[barneybasset]

Barney my basset has a swollen ear flap up the top of the flap and down the bottom it looks like a rash. The rash came first and then the swelling. It doesn't seem to be bothering him at all. Has anyone else found this?

 

[boatswife]

Sonny had a rash on both of his ears at the bottom. Since he has to stick his head in the bushes to go poop, we attributed it to poison ivy/oak. They were not swollen though.
I hope Barney feels better soon!