My dog has a squishy, purple, itchy bump on his ear. What is it?

Thank you for the picture and clarification. This looks like it could be an aural hematoma, which is when fluid gets trapped between the layers of the ear. This is usually a sign of an ear infection. I'd have this checked out by a vet.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. From the picture, the small bump appears to be a cyst or small benign wart like mass. It is difficult to say for sure what the mass is exactly without further testing. If you want a definitive answer, I would recommend having a veterinarian doing some more testing on the mass by inserting a small needle into the mass and looking at the cells under the microscope. As for the itching, I would recommend the below following products. If there is no improvement or the itching worsens, I would recommend having a veterinarian examine Jasper so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. 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. 1. Douxo PS Calm shampoo and bathe twice weekly until resolved 2. Douxo PS Calm mousse and apply once daily 3. Pramosoothe HC spray and apply 1-2 times daily until resolved 4. Essential 6 spot on by Dermoscent 5. Welactin omega 3 fish oil capsules for dogs

Poor Violet! I am concerned by your description that she has a weird odor to her eyes. That suggests an ear infection to me, and it could be in the deeper parts of her ear, leaving the outer ear normal in appearance and making you think they are fine. That would also cause her to scratch her ear vigorously, causing the bump. I do recommend having Violet seen by a vet on Monday. The vet can examine her ear and determine if she does have an ear infection. Should she have one, the vet can treat her for it. I hope this helps!

This may be an abscess, a cyst or a tumor. You should have it examined by your veterinarian, as it is not possible to distinguish these by just looking at a photo. An abscess can usually be treated with antibiotics and/or be lanced, and a cyst can be evacuated. To identify a tumor, your vet may want to do a fine needle aspirate (he takes some material from the bump with a needle and then looks at it under the microscope) to determine whether the mass is concerning.

That does look to be a mass. A mass is a collection of cells and can be benign (inflammation, cyst, some tumors) or a malignant tumor. Given the age of your dog this may be a histiocytoma, but as many skin tumors can look alike the best plan to confirm this is for your vet to perform a needle aspirate for cytology. That way you will know for sure if this can be monitored or if it needs any therapy. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

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.

It is difficult to tell from the picture, but it looks like what you are seeing is a mass. We will commonly see benign masses in young dogs called a histiocytoma which can be itchy. Unfortunately, there isn't any way to determine what a mass it just by looking at it. Your vet can do a simple test called a fine needle aspirate to remove some cells with a needle and look at them under a microscope to determine what the mass is. If it is a histiocytoma, it will go away on its own, but Damon may need some medication to keep it from being itchy. I have attached more information on histiocytomas below. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1676 Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.