Balloon Ear

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Postby ParisStreetPitCrew » September 5th, 2010, 9:54 pm

Help!

Sidney's ear is swollen up with fluid. The entire top of her ear flap is inflated like a balloon. She keeps shaking her head and trying to scratch at it, but she cries out every time. The ear feels warm.
I put Zymox Otic in her ear, as we use this regularly for chronic infections. She had her Atopica today.
Is there anything I can/should do for it? Compress?
Tomorrow is a holiday, of course. I will call my vet friend in the am but would love some ideas in the meantime.
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Postby plebayo » September 5th, 2010, 10:56 pm

Ear Hematoma - Aural Hematoma - Busted blood vessel in the ear.


There really isn't much that can be done at home other than keeping her from shaking her head.

The vet will drain it, you might have to come in again for it to be drained again. IMO surgery is a waste of time and usually doesn't work any better than draining it and stopping the dog from shaking their head. Typically what works best is placing a drain or lancing the ear so that it can constantly drain and eventually heal. It will leave some scarring once it heals but once it's healed it's over.
Last edited by plebayo on September 5th, 2010, 10:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby ParisStreetPitCrew » September 5th, 2010, 10:58 pm

Thank you. Should I try to wrap it somehow?
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Postby plebayo » September 5th, 2010, 11:00 pm

You could try cutting a tube sock and putting it over her head so the ear lays flat if she will tolerate it. You just don't want her traumatizing the area, if you can somehow wrap the ear to her head... just something to keep it flat and still.
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Postby ParisStreetPitCrew » September 5th, 2010, 11:11 pm

She let me tie a bandanna around her head now so she's not shaking it. Thanks!
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Postby plebayo » September 5th, 2010, 11:18 pm

haha what a good dog!

No problem, hopefully your vet friend can give you some better advice in the morning :D
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Postby iluvk9 » September 6th, 2010, 7:48 am

ParisStreetPitCrew wrote:She let me tie a bandanna around her head now so she's not shaking it. Thanks!


That was good thinking!

Hope is she okay.
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Postby ParisStreetPitCrew » September 6th, 2010, 9:44 am

Why does this stuff always happen on the holiday?!?! Arrrgh. I feel so bad for her. :(
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Postby Marinepits » September 6th, 2010, 6:51 pm

How is she doing?
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Postby call2arms » September 6th, 2010, 7:47 pm

Usually we drain the hemaotma and inject triamcinolone under the skin - reduces inflammation and helps to keep it from filling again. If it's really bad, I've seen dogs with soft drains put right in the ear.To bandage we use gauze rolls, flip the ear up on the head and bandage it, then vetwrap it. Looks like the whole head is bandaged but it can't be scratched or pawed off. Also making a little aeration hole for the affected ear especially if there's an ear infection, to keep treating. Good luck, hematomas suck!
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Postby ParisStreetPitCrew » September 6th, 2010, 8:09 pm

Thank you. She's doing fine. I talked to my vet friend who said it should be fine until tomorrow but she is guessing they'll want to drain it and lance it and stitch it back up. I'm going to call our normal vet in the AM and if they can't get her in, she'll go to our back-up vet.
It doesn't seem to bother her much, thankfully.
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Postby mnp13 » September 7th, 2010, 1:10 am

Do they go away in dogs? In people "cauliflower ear" never heals and the ear always looks "fat"
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Postby Malli » September 7th, 2010, 3:02 am

It will go away if its treated within a few days I'd say. If its left untreated, the blood will harden in the ear and sort of form a scar-like tissue. The ear will be much less flexible, thicker, and sort of wrinkled appearing - if you didn't know what it was you might think it was a birth defect or similar. Often the ear looks folded over but in an akward way.
Basically, if the owner wants the pet to look as he or she did before they need to have the vet attend to it fairly quickly.
Its caused by a broken blood vessel inside the ear, typically from excessive head shaking(or trauma, like from the ear hitting an object or the dog's head), usually the dog also has an ear infection or irritated or inflamed ears. The vessel leaks under the skin until the it fills up the space of the ear.
The trick in healing it is to keep the blood draining from that space long enough for the vessel that is broken to heal. This also requiresI(or the skills of an amazing bandage master ;) ) the dog to stop shaking his or her head, which can be easier said then done.
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Postby Malli » September 7th, 2010, 3:14 am

before :
http://www.dierenklinieklemmer.nl/page9 ... oedoor.jpg

perfect example of a poorly healed aural hematoma(one that is untreated or not successful in healing) : http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BqUOMlbUZ8I/S ... 0_1905.jpg
you wouldn't be able to lift the droopy or folded over part of the ear, it would be kind of hard or crunchy.
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Postby BullyLady » September 7th, 2010, 12:40 pm

mnp13 wrote:Do they go away in dogs? In people "cauliflower ear" never heals and the ear always looks "fat"


Shelby had this last September, it was very small but actually it healed up like new, you would never know she had one in the first place now. The big ones heal with lots of scar tissue though, and deform the ear. :nono: Poor puppies.
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Postby ParisStreetPitCrew » September 7th, 2010, 3:14 pm

We went in to see her normal vet this morning and he doesn't want to do surgery yet. He prescribed her some prednisolone and thinks I should see a difference within a week. If it gets worse or I don't see any improvement, they'll have to do surgery.

Also, she doesn't have an ear infection (which is good, but a little surprising).
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Postby BullyLady » September 7th, 2010, 7:18 pm

ParisStreetPitCrew wrote:Also, she doesn't have an ear infection (which is good, but a little surprising).


Shelby didn't either! No surgery yet, that's good news! Keep her from helicoptering (as we call the ear flapping in our hourse) and maybe you can void surgery altogether. :)
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Postby iluvk9 » September 7th, 2010, 8:20 pm

For Sidney: :hug3:

For you: :hug3:
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Postby ParisStreetPitCrew » September 7th, 2010, 8:52 pm

Thank you!
I hope we see results soon, but it may take a long time to go away.
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Postby plebayo » September 7th, 2010, 9:39 pm

I hope the meds work and she doesn't need surgery! :hug3: sending good healing vibes!
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