Ears torn? Please help
 

I took my puppy for his third distemper shot today, and the vet said he had ear mites. They cleaned his ears and applied some medicine (I wasn't there during the procedure), and the vet gave me a cleaning solution, an ear mite killer ointment, and a topical antibiotic, all to apply twice a day at home.

Tonight I tried applying the stuff, and the puppy of course was not crazy about any of it. He screamed his guts out every time a drop touched his ear, and I had him pinned and fed him treats continuously during the procedure. He still screamed. It was super stressful because I was afraid I would touch his ear drums or have him jerk his neck and choke himself.

At the end of this torture for both of us, I noticed a very weird separation at the bottom of the outer sides of both of his ears. I thought I tore his ears while applying the treatment, but there was no blood, and I never applied pulling pressure to the ear--just had it folded out and pressed against his head while I was cleaning it and applying the solution. But, still, I never saw that interruption in the outer line of his ears before. It almost looks like the skin is separated from the ear.

Could they have torn his ears at the vets office and washed the blood off before giving him back to me? He was there for a long time... I really hope I'm just paranoid, but I am very worried about this.

That little "flap" is perfectly normal, they all have them.

:thumbup: Perfectly normal.

Also, the ear drum is deep in the ear canal. No worries about touching that since nothing should go that deep in the ear.

Thank you guys so much. Looked on Google and saw a few other pictures of these "flaps." What a huge relief. I was worried sick that I hurt my little dog. :aimeeyork

By the way, the antibiotic the vet described is called Gentizol. I researched it a little, and there are a lot of complaints about people's dogs going deaf due this treatment. Deafness is one of the side effects of this drug.

Why the heck would the vet prescribe an antibiotic to a small puppy on top of the ear mite killer? I applied the ear mite killer and the aloe cleaning solution but not the antibiotic. I will call the vet on Monday and talk about this. It seems to me that once he goes on his regular flea medicine, that will take care of ear mites in the future, so why risk him losing his hearing??

Do you have any other pets? Ear mites are highly contagious.

From petMD:

He's my only pet... this guy's a handful :)

I have heard of deafness from it. If it's a side effect I believe the vet has an obligation to discuss it with you so you decide what you want to administer to your dog. I don't like vets who don't tell me side effects.

I dont know what you are using for heartworm medication, but Revolution controls ear mites.....you may want to consider switching to Revolution for at least several months.....

IDK but if my pup was screaming that much with each drop of the ear medication I think I would be looking for a second opinion.

I agree about Revolution helping with the ear mite issue.

All that screaming seems over the top for ear drops.

Ears bleed a lot when ripped. You would know if that happened. This anatomy is perfectly normal.

Perhaps the vet saw bacteria on the slide which would warrant antibiotics. A lot of these drugs also work for yeast.

You won't hurt the eardrum if the ear is folded back correctly.

The screaming would be pain or fear. Try making it fun and not pinning unless it becomes absolutely necessary. He is too young to be traumatized by medical treatments.