has anyone else dogs ear ever blown up like a balloon?

Question

my dog has hematomas in his ear and has been back and forth to the vets for 6 weeks now, has anyone else ever experienced this?

he has had it drained twice and then surgically drained and sutured 2 weeks ago, it is looking a bit deformed at the mo! the vet has been great just wondered if anyone had experienced it before, its costing me a fortune and the insurance wont pay up till hes better!!

Answer 1

If it's not already been done, he needs to have his ear opened up surgically and drained, then have the skin and the cartilage of the ear sutured together. It can also be 'splinted' with something like x-ray film to help it heal nicely. (If left, they fibrose and contract so that the dog ends up with a cauliflower ear).

Basically though, aural haematomas can be awful to deal with. There are a million and one different approaches, and each vet has their own preferred method. My suggestion would be if you're not happy with the way your vet is managing it, see a different vet...another method may just work.

Have you been able to identify an underlying cause? Haematomas usually develop because of something like head-shaking or scratching at the ears, which can indicate that something else (e.g. foreign body, otitis, atopy, etc.) is going on. If there's an underlying cause that's not being dealt with, the haematoma is unlikely to be resolved.

Good luck :)

UPDATE: Perhaps you need to ask your vet if s/he will speak/write to the insurance company on your behalf, given that sometimes they do just keep refilling (which is WHY there are a million and one approaches!!). Not sure if it will do you any good, but should be worth a try.

aj, I think, is talking about vetwrap/coflex/coplus...this is a good thing to use if your vet's not put some on him already.

Answer 2

My Boxer had that problem last year. It seemed to come out of nowhere! The first time I didn't know what was going on and I thought it would go away on its own. During a routine visit to the vet I was told that it was a hematoma and that it could have been drained if I'd come in sooner. Then a few months after that she got one on the other ear. That one was drained and it healed fine. Up to the time she died this past April it didn't occur again.

Answer 3

Our Great Dane had it happen to his right ear about three times before we found a surgeon who could rectify the problem completely. I'm not sure what the surgeon did but the ear feels a little stiff and it feels as though there is a sort of rubber or plastic tube in between the two layers of skin. Also the surgeon warned us that his ear might get a little of the cauliflower look which it did - not extreme though.
On one of our spaniels, they drained the hematoma and placed a large button on both sides of the ear (on the outer side of the skin) and stitched them together through the skin. After a couple of days he removed the stitching and it never returned. Speak to your vet about alternatives or about getting info from other vets about how they treat hemotomas. Good luck.

Answer 4

My friends dachshund had this happen from shaking her head.
It happens to breeds with large ear flaps.
Our vet opens it up drains it and sews two large buttons on. One on the outside and one on the inside of the ear to allow the fluid to drain out along the string through the button. The button acts as support to hold the ear together.
The dog my friend had done only had it happen the one time and then never again. Hopefully yours will clear up.

Answer 5

As you already know it is called an Aural Hematoma, and can sometimes take some time to get cleared up. The major problem is getting him to not shake his head during post-op recovery. As a vet assistant I have seen this condition several times, some clear up quickly some do not, just be patient.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

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Answer 8

My lab was doing this too... he kept re-repturing it when he shook his head as it was itchy and healing... we finally taped the ear to his head with this sticky stretchy gauze... i forget the trade name, but they are usually bright colors and are sold in the drug store.

Answer 9

Yep,been there,done that.
BUT...did NOT bother w/a vet!

It WILL re-fill & need re-draining *&* MUST be kept from flopping & WILL be crumpled!

So...why waste all that money? Dog doesn't care how it looks & once drained,doesn't hurt.

Answer 10

aint got dog ears , even though they are a bit on the large size ...