Scabs On Ear Tips

[Guest tamsworld]

Hi everyone,

 

Sorry if this seems impolite as its my first post, but Im hoping that we can perhaps find someone with a similar experience of this problem before our vets appointment on Saturday morning.

 

We have a recue Grey, he is aged somewhere between 2-5 years old, and is generally happy and healthy. He has been with us for almost a year, has great company in our other rescue, a collie cross. He eats well, drinks plenty of water and gets regular exercise.

 

However he has persistant scabs on the tip of his right ear. The left is fine, and the remainder of his right ear is also unaffected - it is literally on the very tip of just his right ear. We have taken him to the vets before, the first time (January) they gave us some steroid cream, which didnt help. The second time (February) they said that it could be due to the cold weather and that they should heal on their own but to bring him back if it didnt go away.

 

He loves his ears being played with, but occasionally he will yelp when you touch the tip of his ear. Other times you can touch it and it doesnt hurt him at all. We were told that if the scabs are loose, then we can try to take them off, which we have done before, but feel terrible as it has left a small carving out of his ear edge. We are sure that it just isnt right, but the vets seem at a loss of what to do!

 

The scab today has just come off, showing quite a deep wound, deep red flesh underneath.

 

We are going to ask the vets to do a biopsy on saturday and see if it is something more serious. In the meantime, does anyone have any experience of this with their grey? It would be really helpful and reassuring to know if we are not the only ones with this problem, and perhaps find out what others were diagnosed with.

 

I tried to attach a picture, but couldnt find out how to do it! Thanks in advance for any tips, advice, or just any support. We are two very worried parents

Tammy

 

EDIT: I should also say that the rest of his fur is in good condition, we cant find any mites, or other skin complaints, except that he has occasional dandruff when the weather is really cold.

Edited April 4, 2013 by tamsworld

[KF_in_Georgia]

Tammy, others will pitch in with info on the ears.

 

As for posting a photo, you're a newbie and you won't be able to post a photo until you have a certain number of posts. For now, perhaps you can post the photo somewhere online and just leave us a link to the photo.

[Guest tamsworld]

Ah, I see, thank you!! I dont have anywhere else that I can save it online unfortunately.

[Guest RMarie]

Yes! James came to us with one scabby ear tip. Not long thereafter, we arrived home one day to find the other ear tip was raw (and the skin was on the floor...ick!). Turns out, he was actually scratching the skin off. He had a persistent staph infection when we adopted him, which made him really itchy, particularly in the ear area. It took a couple rounds of antibiotics to get rid of the infection. Finding the right food also helped.

 

Keep an eye on the rest of his body, particularly the groin area. Pustules can crop up in no time. At any rate, I'd ask your vet about a staph infection. Also, ask about some Animax ointment to apply to the area. If you notice him scratching his ears, try rubbing some coconut oil behind his ears. He'll look a bit greasy, but he'll smell awesome. And, the oil will help moisturize any dry skin back there (if he's scratching his ears enough to rub the tips raw, chances are the skin behind the ears is also taking a beating (James would break this skin, as well)).

 

Let us know what you find out! And, good luck!

[Guest tamsworld]

Thank you very much for your help. We took Jay-Cloth to the vets yesterday morning, and we did mention the staph infection. The vet has said it is an infection, but not staph. She has given us antibiotics twice a day to kill any infection, then we have to wash the ear tip twice a day with boiled (and cooled) salt water and then apply an iodine lotion to it.

We also took him back to the Dogs Trust rescue centre where we got him last year (we are in the UK), and his old carer was so pleased to see how well he was doing adn how much weight h has put on! She was really happy to see him, but I think he was happy to come away again, it must have been a little distressing for him, perhaps he thought we were goin to take him back there!!

NEVER!!!!

 

Anyway, will update in a weeks time as to how his ear is, and thanks again x

[XTRAWLD]

What ultimately turned out to be allergies in Kasey, our vet initially thought they were hot spots that were bothering him, he would scratch, bleed, scab, possibly infect and repeat. His second potential scare was scabies, a burrowing mite which is highly contagious.

 

Let us know how you make out.