Why is my puppy's ear swollen, painful, and he's tilting his head?

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!

It's probably an ear infection, often it cannot be seen from the outside. Ear infections are very common in dogs, it is usually caused by either yeast or bacterial disease. the treatment is usually simple and straightforward, you will have to take him to the vet and get the ears checked, then a prescription ear drops will be prescribed according to the infectious agent. The ball on the side of the neck is probably a swollen lymph node, this should go down with the antibiotic treatment.

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 could be an allergic reaction, or it could be from some kind of skin infection. It is unusual that the swelling seems to be moving around. I would recommend scheduling an appointment with your vet, particularly since Noah seems painful.

Poor Troy! Itchy, painful ears with the redness and discharge visible in the pictures are most consistent with bacterial and/or yeast ear infections. Some dogs are quite uncomfortable and will hold their ears in different positions. There are no effective over the counter medications to treat actual ear infections, so it would be best to take Troy to his vet. The vet will be able to examine him and perform an ear cytology to microscopically determine the type of infection present in order to pick the most appropriate medications. I hope this helps and that Troy is feeling better soon!

I would be worried about a potential inner ear infection. Other ear infections can progress to inner ear infections which are painful, can result in hearing loss and balance issues. It is possible that the head tilt is the first sign that the balance Centers are being affected. I would advise taking Dahlia back in to the vet.

It sounds like there are a couple of things wrong with Brownie at the moment. The swelling of his ear could be caused by an ear infection, and that could affect his hearing preventing him from responding to your call the other day. The scratching could be due to an ear infection, but it could also be caused by fleas, allergies, ringworm, or mites. With these number of symptoms, I'd recommend a vet visit first thing Monday. The vet can diagnose what is causing all of them, and can prescribe a treatment for him. Good luck, I hope this helps!