Help! What Is This On His Ear?

[Guest BrindleDad]

I took the best pictures I could so sorry if it's blurry. It started out very small (about the size of the head of a small nail) and now it's larger than a pencil eraser. it's also pretty big around like a small gum ball.

 

At first I thought it was an in grown hair but when I applied a little pressure nothing happened. Now when I apply pressure he whines so I know it's hurting. It looks like it's about to burst but it won't. There is no white head or black head like with an in grown hair. It's just shiny and reddish.

 

Any ideas? I may take him into the vet tomorrow to have it looked at. He acts fine. Nothing strange with stool or urine and he's eating so it doesn't seem to be affecting him.

 

Thank you in advance for your advice.

 

 

 

[tamborine]

It kind of looks like a histiocytoma (my Tammy had one on her front toe when she was around 9 years old - it went away spontaneously). Histiocytomas are benign. Or maybe it's a hematoma (blood blister)?

 

I'd have the vet check it!

 

 

[tbhounds]

Well, if I had to guess I would say it's a histocytoma--benign skin tumor. Most of the time they will eventually resolve on their own. They should be excised if they grow too big or seem bothersome to the dog. I course the only way to be sure would be to have your veterinarian examine him/her and perform a fine needle aspirate (FNA). A FNA is were the Dr sticks in needle in the tumor and draws out cells, then a slide is prepared and looked at under the microscope. Most histos give off cells will so, hopefully. you will have your answer. The only other tumor that comes to mind would be a Mast Cell Tumor (MCT)-they too give off cells well so, most likely you would see them with a FNA too. If your Dr does see MCT cells then yes, it will need to be excised (removed). Keep us informed

 

Edited May 9, 2008 by tbhounds

[Guest scfilby]

It is hard to tell, but it looks like a small boil. Maybe a bug bite?

[Guest BrindleDad]

Thanks for the comments.

 

Just some additional information. This thing has grown fairly fast. In about two weeks time it's gotten bigger. It's also hard to the touch...not soft like a blister.

 

 

 

[Guest mandm]

My greyhound had one that looked just like that on the very tip of his ear last winter. Same size too. It started out small and then grew. I took the dog to the vet for something else, but had the vet look at it when it was about nail head size. She said it didn't look like anything serious, but to bring him back if it didn't resolve in 4-6 weeks. It grew bigger during that time, to about the size of a pencil eraser, so I took him back to the vet. She looked at it closely, but didn't biopsy it. She said it was most probably a histiocytoma. I asked her to remove it, because it bothered the dog and it bothered my children. They said they didn't want to pet him because it looked like an ugly wart. And the dog would try to scratch it and then it would bleed and make a mess. The vet said that if it were located almost anywhere else on the dog's body, she could remove it lickety-split, but since it was on the ear, which is very vascular, it would bleed a lot, so that it would require stiches, which would require sedation. So I passed. It went away on it's own in about 2 months.

[Guest celticfairiemom]

Callie just had one of those. Hers was a histocytoma. It started out red and got hard, then turned black, dried up and fell off. It was there one day and I swear it hadn't been there the day before. I think - all told - it took a month from start to finish. Hers was on ear and left a hairless circle after it fell off but it hasn't been long enough to see if the hair will return.

[macoduck]

Looks like Gracie's histiocytoma. Benign. Hers comes and goes twice a year on her toe. No treatment needed just looks ugly.

Certainly get your vet to check just in case.