My dog's ear hematoma is worsening. When should I go back to vet?

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.

It's possible that it will go away on its own in the next 2-4 weeks, but there will be some scar tissue that builds-up under the skin - maybe like the other ear appears. It's also possible that it will grow to fill the whole ear, or get infected. If it grows and/or is not going down in the next 2-4 weeks, then it's best to take Opal back to the vet. The vet will be able to drain it and can do a different procedure to keep it from swelling back up again (these often swell back up after they are drained). The steroid injections only work in about 70% of the cases and unfortunately it didn't work for Opal. There is really not much you can do for this at home that is very effective. You can try applying ice to the ear for 15 minutes 2-3 times daily and can also attempt to bandage it, so it's not continually being shaken. Below is a link to a good video that shows how to bandage the ear. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FQ0JopKfY0 I hope that helps and Opal gets better soon.

This is a very difficult condition to treat. Othematomas can occur when the dog scratches his hear a lot or shakes the head a lot (often because of a mite infection or other ear infection) or other trauma...There are several ways of treating othematoma. One is to remove the blood via syringe and to instill a corticosteroid, It is likely to fill again and will often need a second or third time emptying, Another way is to empty the hematoma and sew in a little catheter and attach a bag to collect blood and serous discharge,and hope the blood vessel stops bleeding. The third method is to fix the problem with surgery. Often the dog;s ear will cripple some, but this will not impair its function.

This is actually filled with blood. This is a hematoma between the skin layers in the ear flap. They develop when dogs scratch or shake their heads excessively, usually from an ear infection or some type of allergy. Generally this requires a veterinary exam and surgical drainage. They will also check Dozer's ears to see if they are infected or try to find the cause of the hematoma. He will need to wear a cone probably until the ear heals. Without treatment the ear swelling will go down but it may take a month or more and the ear will scar up and become deformed. This can be uncomfortable and there is a risk of infection so I recommend veterinary treatment soon. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Dozer.

Hello there! It sounds like Roxie needs to revisit the vet before she starts another hematoma. If she's flapping her head and holding hear ear to one side, there may be an infection brewing way down in her ear where you might not be able to see it. It's very easy for dogs with floppy ears to shake and break those little blood vessels in the pinna (flap), which will cause a new hematoma quickly - sometimes in just a few hours. Dogs that have had hematomas in the past are more susceptible to them, so Roxie is definitely at risk. Even a call to the vet's office can give you some insight into what to do next, but I can almost guarantee that they'll want to take a look way down in that ear to see if she's got a new infection brewing. Good luck, and I hope that Roxie avoids another hematoma!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! There are a variety of ways to treat an ear hematoma in dogs (oral medications, draining it and instilling a medication, or a surgical "tacking", as well as determining what the underlying cause for the hematoma is). They do need to be treated by a veterinarian, as they do not typically resolve on their own, and can become very painful/infected. After treatment, the ear may be the same, or it may have a "crinkled" appearance. I would recommend your dog be evaluated by a veterinarian to determine what treatment plan would be best. Good luck!

Ear hematoma occurs due to an ear infection, your dog is probably quite prone to this type of infection. when such an infection occurs some dogs shake their head violently which causes the ear hematoma. There is a medical treatment for ear hematoma (steroids for 1 months), in my experience it is as successful as the surgery.