Why is my dog's ear bleeding after cleaning post-hematoma surgery?

I'm so sorry that you are dealing with this with Riley. I have a few suggestions for you. The first is to make sure you have treated any potential cause of head shaking. Some dogs will shake their head with very mild inflammation of the ear canal and do not require an ear infection. Short term, you can look into using a snood (http://www.thesnoodfactory.com/). They are most commonly used to keep long ears with fur out of food, but may be useful in this situation. Finally, I would ask your veterinarian if they have any suspicion that Riley may have ear margin vasculitis. That can cause wounds on the tips of the ears that won't heal well without a medication like Pentoxifylline (http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1585). Your veterinarian may need to do some additional testing to figure out what is going on and figure out the best way to treat it. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Yes. This is very common. Hematoma surgeries are meant to keep the incision open for the hematoma to continue to drain. Otherwise, it would fill right back up. If you can avoid the incision itself, you can use a warm wet washcloth to gently scrub and remove the dried blood. As time goes on, the drainage should improve and be less messy.

It's probably best to leave it alone for now. Ears tend to bleed a lot when they get cut, but it eventually stops and they don't bleed enough to be dangerous - unless he happens to have a clotting disorder. The more you wipe at the ear or agitate it, the more it will bleed. Also, hydrogen peroxide and other strong antiseptics can cause more damage than good, so it's best not to apply this to the wound. You can try cleaning the wound in 12 hours or so after the bleeding has stopped and he hopefully calms down. The first thing you should do is flush the wound using a syringe or other dispensing device with warm water for five minutes. This may not be easy, because dogs tend to hate water getting near their face. I recommend having someone help you with holding Cruise to make sure the wound gets flushed well. Infection is the biggest concern with these wounds; so after flushing, it's best to apply an antibacterial cream to the wound. In order to keep the wound clean, it's best to flush the wound 1-2 times a day and gently wipe away any big crusts - make sure not to scrub the wound, because this can make it worse. Apply the antibacterial cream after each flushing. If the ear starts to swell or have pus oozing from the wound, then I'd recommend he goes to the vet for treatment. Otherwise, the wound should heal fine over the next 2-3 weeks. I hope that helps and Cruise gets better soon.

There is no at home treatment option appropriate in this situation. You owe it to your dog to go to an emergency clinic and get this sorted out. She will be in extreme pain having her ear cut without anesthetic, and she is at great risk of infection considering an incision was made without proper surgical preparation. There is also the fact that she is continuing to bleed. If you won't take her to the vet tonight I suggest that you carefully bandage the ear to try and stop the bleeding. You will not be able to stop the haematoma reforming so you will have to take her to the vet in the morning.

Your dog needs to wear the e-collar as pawing at the ear and shaking the head will only make it bleed more and increase the hematoma. Icing, unfortunately will not make it down. Your dog will need to be seen again by your vet. Treatment: evacuation of the blood and instillation of a steroid can often stop the bleeding , There are also surgical methods which will stop the bleeding. There is always a chance that the ear will end up shaped differently or "crippled", which is merely a cosmetic problem.

It's not an emergency likely but it may need to be addressed. For bleeding lesions, apply firm pressure for 10-15 minutes. You can use hydrogen perxoide to clean the area one time but don;t use it more than that because it can impede healing. After that, use soap and water to clean the ear if it gets dirty but otherwise leave it alone. You need to prevent Reese from shaking her head and traumatizing the ear. Sometimes and elizabethan collar can help. This is is though the best product to prevent shaking the ear: https://www.noflapearwrap.com/?variant=1045913141273 Lesions on the ear tips are commonly due to fungal infections, vasculitis or fly bites. You can keep the ear clean and dry. Keep the ear protected from trauma. You can give Reese a supplement for omega 3 fatty acids for pets to help with inflammation. You can apply a tiny dab of organic coconut oil to the lesion 1-2 times a day and rub it in well. If the lesion is not improving within 5 days, if it starts looking worse or if it will not stop bleeding after 15 minutes, have Reese examined by the veterinarian. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

I would apply gentle pressure to the bump to stop the bleeding. Do not wipe the blood away from the bump as that disrupts the clotting process. Continue to apply pressure until the bleeding stops. I hope this helps.