My dog's ear tips are dry and breaking. What's wrong? How to prevent?

Poor Dallas! You can try to put a little coconut oil on the tips twice a day to help soothe them. I am concerned he may have injured them from shaking them too much secondary to an infection or he may have vasculitis. Since it is new and seems tender, I would definitely have your vet take a look to see what the cause it. Your vet will be able to determine if there is any infection in the ear or on the tips and also get him started on the proper meds if needed to help him feel better. I hope this helps!

It sounds like Gizmo may have a vasculitis on his ears. They are common in small breed dogs, especially Dachshunds. Sometimes the ears can get very crusty and bleed, and it may be in response to an allergy or something else stimulating his immune system (vaccines, for instance). I would have your vet check him out, they may recommend medication and ointment to put on his ears to help them heal. They will likely get better with treatment but sometimes it never entirely goes away. Good luck!

I would recommend doing testing on the ears to find out what is causing the scabs. If your pet is outside a lot, then flea bites are possible and it is recommended to purchase flea bite repellent at your local pet store to start, followed by topical triple antibiotic to get the scabs to heal. If your pet is kept mostly indoors, two common causes of this are demodexx mites or a yeast infection. Also another condition called ear margin vasculitis could be the cause. Ear margin vasculitis is a spontaneous condition where the vessels at the ear tip margin become inflamed creating a scabby appearance to the skin. Since all 3 of these look very similar it is important to get testing done in the form of a skin scrape/cytology and/or skin biopsy because each is treated so differently and it takes out a lot of the guess-work. Therefore scheduling an appointment with your vet is needed for proper diagnosis and treatment.

It sounds like he could have a bacterial infection on his ears. You could bathe him with a medicated shampoo and see if that helps but he may need an antibiotic treat the problem. Have your vet take a look at him to prescribe the best medication to treat. You could also add Free Form Snip Tips to his diet to keep his coat and skin healthy.

Hello. It looks like some of the other pups have been chewing on the ear. It will definitely continue to heal on its own & the swelling will go down. To combat the dry cracked skin, you can rub a little aloe vera onto the ear tip, but watch to make sure more puppy teeth do not continue to go after the ear. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Unfortunately oral medications are probably going to be your best option for trying to manage this condition. Vasculitis can be difficult to treat and will probably not respond to topical therapy very well. Pentoxifylline is a drug that can be used to treat vasculitis by increasing circulation to the area. This is an oral medication however. It is typically well tolerated in most cases that I have used it in. If the immune system is the cause of the skin condition, unfortunately the treatment for that would be to suppress the immune system. You can try topical Tacrolimus to the area to see if this helps reduce the severity. I would discuss these options with your veterinarian to see what the best route to take is. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

It looks to me like something more serious could be going on, although it can be difficult to tell from a picture. Sometimes vasculitis can cause discoloration and poor blood flow to the tips of the ears - this would need a biopsy for a definite diagnosis. I would recommend rechecking with your vet.