How to treat a dog's large cut near the ear? Is peroxide okay?

Poor guy. This is a laceration, and it looks like it may be deep. It needs to be cleaned with an antiseptic such as Betadine diluted 50:50 with water or Chlorhexidine solution diluted with water until a very light blue mixture. Then Izzy needs to be placed on oral antibiotics and possibly even suturing of this area so that the skin covers it and allows it to heal. It looks like it is already infected, and infected wounds don't heal, so antibiotics are a must. I would perhaps go to a second vet for another look at this or insist on your current vet treating this wound properly. I hope that Izzy's wound heals up well soon! Best of luck and take care.

I think it will be fine to try and treat this at home for now (even though we don't know the cause), but would recommend a visit to the vet if: 1) It doesn't get better in 2 weeks 2) It starts to get worse or have a lot of discharge. Keeping the wound clean and keeping it covered are the key treatments for success in getting this wound to heal as soon as possible. For this, I recommend the following: 1) Wash/spray the area with just cool, clean water (no soap or other antiseptics) for at least 2 minutes at a time. Do this once a day. 2) Bandage the wound with gauze and apply an over-the-counter antibacterial cream (i.e Neosporin) to the wound. Here is a link to a good demonstration of a head bandage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3c-SXhUSBY Keeping it covered and keeping Indiana from pulling it off will be the most difficult part of the treatment. You can help keep the bandage on by placing a good (really sticky) tape above and below the bandage. NOTE: Be careful not to bandage too tight or it can cut-off the circulation. If you notice that the neck/chin area start to swell, then remove the bandage and leave it off until the swelling goes down. These types of lesions tend to take a while to heal, so don't be surprised if its not completely healed until a month later. Once the skin looks normal you can stop the cleaning/bandaging. I hope that helps and Indiana gets better soon.

Oh my. Poor guy. Unfortunately this ear has a hole through it and is badly infected. He needs to see a doctor for proper care of this ear and prescribed antibiotics as well as have suturing of the laceration. This cannot be treated at home with much success. For now you can try cleaning it with Betadine diluted 50:50 with warm water to help prevent further infection, but please schedule an appt with your vet right away or if he does no belong to anyone in particular, then he should be surrender to an animal shelter so that they can use their resources there to try and save this pets ear and eye. I wish you all the best moving forward and hope that you can Kata moving forward. Best wishes and take care.

It's probably best to leave it alone for now. Ears tend to bleed a lot when they get cut, but it eventually stops and they don't bleed enough to be dangerous - unless he happens to have a clotting disorder. The more you wipe at the ear or agitate it, the more it will bleed. Also, hydrogen peroxide and other strong antiseptics can cause more damage than good, so it's best not to apply this to the wound. You can try cleaning the wound in 12 hours or so after the bleeding has stopped and he hopefully calms down. The first thing you should do is flush the wound using a syringe or other dispensing device with warm water for five minutes. This may not be easy, because dogs tend to hate water getting near their face. I recommend having someone help you with holding Cruise to make sure the wound gets flushed well. Infection is the biggest concern with these wounds; so after flushing, it's best to apply an antibacterial cream to the wound. In order to keep the wound clean, it's best to flush the wound 1-2 times a day and gently wipe away any big crusts - make sure not to scrub the wound, because this can make it worse. Apply the antibacterial cream after each flushing. If the ear starts to swell or have pus oozing from the wound, then I'd recommend he goes to the vet for treatment. Otherwise, the wound should heal fine over the next 2-3 weeks. I hope that helps and Cruise gets better soon.

You can clean it the first time with peroxide, then just keep it clean with a mild soap and water. If it is small, it should close on its own. If the ear was split or if the cut is larger than about 1cm then it may need stitches.

I am sorry to hear about your pup! Ideally we would use a chlorhexidine soap while being careful not to get it in the eye. You can purchase this at most drug stores under the trade name Hibiclens or the store may have a generic version. After cleaning you can apply a topical antibiotic ointment and monitor the area for increased bleeding, swelling, or yellow/green discharge which can be a sign of infection and veterinary care will be needed. If you discover the wound gets larger/appears to open up after cleaning then sutures (stitches) may be needed by the vet.

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry to hear that Willow has a cut on her ear. It is possible that she caused it herself by scratching, but if you did not observe it happening, she could have traumatized it on something else, or been wounded by another animal. Based on your description of the wound, I recommend bringing her to your local veterinarian to have her evaluated. At the very least, the wound likely needs to be cleaned and flushed with a sterile solution to prevent infection. Depending on how deep or infected the wound is, it may require more extensive management such as surgical closure of the wound, or bandages. Willow likely also needs an Elizabethan (cone) collar to prevent her from further traumatizing the wound. Unfortunately, dogs like to scratch at their ears and can make it very hard for wounds to heal. If the wound is superficial and Willow is otherwise healthy, you may be able to apply compression to the wound to get it to stop bleeding, and monitor it closely at home for signs of infection (redness, swelling, yellow-green discharge, foul odor). If you see any of these signs, Willow should definitely be evaluated by a veterinarian. Just a reminder, NEVER give dogs any pain medications that are intended for humans, as they can be lethally toxic to dogs. I hope this is helpful!