Dog's ear swollen from rubber bands overnight. What should I do?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It does sound like possibly an ear infection. Usually, face swelling is not a commonly encountered sign of an ear infection so if his face continues to get swollen before tomorrow when you can have him evaluated by your veterinarian, consider having him evaluated tonight to make sure it is not something more concerning than an ear infection. In the meantime, try to limit his activity in case he has associated pain. Good luck! I will keep my fingers crossed that everything turns out well!

Hello. This is an aural hematoma. A few blood vessels in Grumpy's ear ruptured either from vigorous head shaking or scratching, or somehow injuring the ear from playing ( perhaps a playmate grabbed the ear ? ). You do want your vet to take a look at this in the next few days to make sure there is no underlying ear infection. If not then you have two choices. One is to leave the ear alone & the blood will be reabsorbed ( the ear will not pop ). When this happens, the ear may heal with a bit of a crinkle to it, but will be perfectly usable to Grumpy. The other option is surgery to drain the blood & suture the ear so that it does not refill with blood. The downside to this is of course the surgery, cost & the small possibility of a complication such as an infection. So do not worry about the ear, do not try & drain the ear yourself, & have your vet take a look soon. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I am sorry to hear about Dido. A photo of his ear may help us to better answer your question, to understand where the swelling of the ear is located. If it is swollen down inside he ear canal, this could be an ear infection. If the pinnae, or floppy part of the ear is swollen, this could be due to a hematoma https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951446 or pocket of blood the result of a ruptured blood vessel in the ear, due to trauma or scratching which can be secondary to an ear infection. I would recommend having your vet examine the ear to determine what treatment is needed.

Hi and thank you for using PetCoach. I am sorry Miss Bell's ear is swollen. A swollen ear can be due to an ear infection/chronic irritation (like allergies or ear mites) but could also be because of an aural hematoma. An aural hemtoma is when blood collects in the ear pinna (between the skin and cartilage). Both infections and hematomas can be painful and uncomfortable. I would recommend seeing your veterinarian to do a full physical exam and treat Miss Bell's ears depending on the diagnosis. Here are some articles that may be helpful for you: 1. Aural Hematomas: https://www.petcoach.co/article/ear-hematomas-in-dogs/ 2. Aural Hematomas: https://www.vin.com/veterinarypartner/default.aspx?pid=19239&species=All&id=4951446 3. Ear Infections: https://www.petcoach.co/article/ear-infections-otitis-externa-ear-cleaning-in-dogs/ 3. Ear Infections: https://www.vin.com/veterinarypartner/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951994

Gentle massage to the ear can help restore circulation and reduce fluid buildup. If his ear is still cold to the touch without the ice, he may need to be seen by your vet to determine if there was damage done to the tissue that may need to be treated.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Lucky seems to have developed an aural hematoma, which occurs when the ear is traumatized and a blood vessel is broken open inside the ear flap leading to a balloon of blood essentially. This typically needs to be drained to be treated. The cause is likely due to a severe ear infection. I cannot even tell where the opening of the ear is due to the severe swelling. In addition to the ear problem, I can see that poor Lucky is dealing with a severe skin allergy / skin disease as he is missing a lot of skin on his neck and the skin also appears to be lichenificated (thickened like elephant skin). I would strongly recommend having a veterinarian take a look at Lucky for the ear problems and also the severe allergies he suffers from. There are many options to help treat allergies in dogs such as Apoquel, Cytopoint, Atopica, etc. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

This looks like an aural hematoma, a condition where the space between the skin and the ear cartilage fills with blood. It most commonly occurs secondary to an ear infection. While a veterinarian needs to be involved to treat the hematoma and the underlying cause, it is not necessarily an emergency and I think it would be okay for the dog to wait a couple days if necessary as long as he isn't too uncomfortable. If your neighbor is out of town for more than a couple days you should take the dog to a vet.