Doggiedose

Somehow Lexi managed to nick or cut the tip of her right ear. I noticed yesterday that she had some blood on her face and neck but didn't know what it was from (I figured she got too close to some rose bushes). I cleaned her off and she seemed fine.

This afternoon my husband got home from work and noticed that Lexi had blood dripping from the tip of her ear (again, we think she got too close to a shrub or rose bush). We took her to the vet and they tried to stop the bleeding, but every time they did, Lexi would shake her head and it would start to bleed everywhere again. In the end, the vet put some styptic powder on her ear, and then folded her ear up on her head (to help against gravity), wrapped it in gauze and then to keep it in place, wrapped a large bandage around her neck and head a few times. (Styptic powder alone didn't work - it flew off each time she shook her head.)

Lexi looks pitiful, and we can deal with that, but what I'm more worried about is that she seems really stressed out. She's been panting and breathing pretty quickly since she got home a couple hours ago. She ate her dinner but has been panting pretty much ever since. She's lying on the couch, eyes half closed, but breathing fast and loudly.

We'd really like to try and leave the bandage on and give her ear time to heal (the vet recommended 5 days or so), but I'm worried about her being so stressed. I don't think we have any natural remedies in the house and definitely no prescriptions to give her in terms of anti-anxiety stuff. I tried to hold her tightly to simulate a thundershirt...didn't seem to help all that much. Any suggestions? Thoughts? Do I need to worry about her blood pressure and/or heart rate being high? I'm hoping she'll get used to this, but am not so sure.

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Gypsiemouse

Aww, poor Lexi
I saw her pic on FB- maybe she's hot with her head all bandaged up like that?

Is it cool outside where you are? maybe take her for a little stroll around the yard / neighborhood and see if the panting stops. Then you'll know if she's hot or stressed?

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Lynne- Owned by and Slave to Maggie and Mongo

af_wx_wife

Awww...poor Lexi! I hope she is feeling better soon.

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Wyatts_Momma

Do you have any melatonin? Do you have a lampshade cone or inflatable one she could wear instead of being all bandaged up? It is really necessary to have her head all wrapped? ( didn't see pic online).


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Doggiedose

Thanks everyone. Lynne, we've given her a few ice cubes (she wouldn't drink from her bowl even when i brought it to her) and she's breathing better. Maybe it was a combination of stress and heat. Thanks for the suggestion.

They wrapped it partly so the ear would stay elevated and so if she does shake her head, the clotted area wouldn't split open again.


Ran out to petsmart but only saw styptic gel. Also went to walmart and got a human liquid bandaid - not sure that we'll use it but i'm glad to have it on hand (and it was only about $5 - good and easy investment).

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LuluBear

my other dog did the same thing and ripped her ear "leather" open and kept shaking off the bandage and reopening the wound, so the vet told us it that as long as she shook her head she would keep reopening the capillaries in her ear causing the bleeding and suggested stitches. the vet put three stitches in her ear(under sedation) and the bleeding stopped she didn't need the bandage anymore after that and within a week and a half the stitches came out and she was good as new...although she did have a small scar, I told her it made her look tough.

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Proud Mama to Holly-Shepherd/Lab mix, Lucy-Fancy Fawn Boxer and Toby-Pit bull Shepherd mix . If more is truly better that makes my four legged kids better than your two legged ones.

Doggiedose

Our vet also mentioned the possibility of stitches - right now, the way the laceration is, she can't stitch it so if we end up on that path (and I hope we don't), she'd have to remove a small portion of the tip and then fold some of the skin over or something like that. Sounds disgusting to me!

Lexi's been pretty anxious ever since getting the "Mother Hubbard" bandage wrap. The last couple of mornings she has been quivering. We've given her some bio-calm but so far it doesn't seem to be working all that much and this morning she managed to wiggle her ear out. Back to the vet this afternoon!

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DF1960

That stuff burns like H..

I tried it on my finger once and I don't think I'll ever use it again.

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af_wx_wife

I agree, liquid bandage burns. I bought it cause of a cut I had on my finger & advised my husband to NEVER apply it to a cut on our boys.

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Doggiedose

Thanks for the head's up on the liquid bandage. I had read online that it could burn...that doesn't sound good. I believe our vet applied some kind of liquid bandage already but we haven't.

So Lexi went back to the vet this afternoon and they managed to re-wrap her ear. Lexi's really not a fan...she's not herself at all. She's basically clinging to us, and lying on the couch the rest of the time. The vet suggested doing the surgery, which again would require removing a small piece of the tip of her hear and then folding the skin up against the cartilage and stitching it. I want to do what's best for her...the thought of surgery seems so extreme, but I also know that healing these type of wounds is quite difficult too.

If we did do surgery, now would be a good time...with the holidays, I have more time off of work. Any thoughts/tips/insight?

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