My dog fell days ago, now has a swollen area below ear. What to do?

How awful for you that Buds ran off but I'm glad he came back! There are a couple of things this bump could be on his head. He could have injured himself, he could have an abscess, an insect bite, or he could have a cyst. Given that the bump has down with the ice pack and he is acting his normal self, I would continue to ice the bump for five minutes at a time a couple of times a day for the next two to three days. Should the bump go away completely, you can stop icing it. If the bump doesn't go away, gets larger, he has behavior changes such as lethargy and anorexia, and/or he shows other symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea, then I would take him into a vet to have him examined. Good luck, I hope this helps!

Any head trauma resulting in noticeable swelling should be addressed as soon as possible by your veterinarian. If your vet is unavailable, go to the nearest veterinary ER. Restrict Tuffy's activity until she sees the doctor. Do not medicate her without the advice of a vet. Keep her warm and as stress free as possible until she gets to the clinic or hospital.

If this presentation is due to a trauma and secondary localized spot of skin infection (likely to be caused by bacteria), a check up, appropriate disinfection and antibiotics (oral, topical or in a shampoo formulation) are needed to solve the problem. Yes I would recommend to have them prescribed by your vet. Disinfection may be started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths. Buster collar may be useful as well to avoid any scratching. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. Please find the time to give us a feedback about the consultation as that will be used to improve our service.

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.

Unfortunately this may be a so-called othematoma, ie a severe bruise of the ear flap. This will need to be drained or possibly fixed surgically by your veterinarian. It is very important that your dog does not shake the ear and make the swelling worse. You can get an e-collar which sort of keeps the ear near the head and does not allow it to flop until you can take Ozzy to the vet.

Poor girl. This may be an infected mass or even a cyst. I would recommend having your vet take samples from this to be certain as to what is inside and perhaps the vet can also carefully drain it using a needle and syringe. In the meantime you can do alternating cold and warm compresses on the area for 5-10 minutes twice a day, if tolerated. Otherwise, your vet will need to get involved here to get this resolved. Best wishes with your pet Stormie and I hope you can get this source of discomfort taken care of soon for her. Take care.

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.