Well, we’ve just got back from an excellent week in Dartmoor (a post of which should appear in a couple of days), but of pressing concern right at this moment has been poor Dixie. Before we went off, she had developed an ‘aural haematoma’ in her left ear, and a visit to our Vet had got her some ear drops and the hope that it would sort itself out.
It didn’t. And twice whilst in Dartmoor, we had to take her to a Vet in Tavistock to get her ear drained. She wasn’t actually ill and still ran around the moors quite happily, but the ear was starting to drive her mad.
So, on arriving home on Sunday evening we rang our own Vets again, and today she underwent a rather unpleasant operation to try and sort it out. Being 12 years old, they had to do several tests on her to make sure she was fit enough for a general anaesthetic – which she thankfully was – and they then proceeded to cut open and properly drain her ear, and finally sew it back up again with seven pairs of buttons….
Needless to say, she is now feeling rather peeved. And I’ve never seen so much blood. Every time she shakes her head, blood flies all over the place. In fact we’ve had to get the crate out to try and contain both her – and the blood – within a defined space. I can see me sleeping on the sofa for a couple of nights, too.
The buttons have to stay in for at least 14 days, by which time the ear should have nicely knitted itself back together again. And they’re not even colour coordinated………..
Dixie 
Oh, poor Dixie. Wyatt had those on one of his ears a few years ago. Thank goodness for hydrogen peroxide – I used it to soak out the blood, which was on the bedclothes, towels, etc.. What I learned from Wyatt’s ear episodes was that he’s allergic to grains, and when I changed his diet to a no-grain one, his ears got better. I also give him a tablespoon of banana yogurt in his food and that also helps. Great big virtual hugs Chrissie, and chop kisses and jumbones for Dixie and Tilly. Love, Karen and Wyatt Earp the Boxer :^)
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Having never heard of it before, it’s interesting to hear that Wyatt Earp had one! She’s hating being in the crate, stomping about in a real temper at the moment…
She loves yoghurt too – maybe it would help??
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Oh yes, Wyatt had several of those lumps/bruises on one ear. If you look closely at Wyatt’s photos, it looks like one of his ears is shorter than the other – and is because one ear is all scrunched-up from the same thing that Dixie has.
If you’d like to email me, we can get into more details? I’d love to help in anyway that I can.
Yogurt really helps dogs prevent yeast infections and if Dixie likes it, I’d give her some. There is a couple of over-the-counter things I can recommend as well.
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Poor love. Buttons!? Get well soon x
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Thanks 🙂
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Oh bless her, she looks so sorry for herself. Hopefully she’ll soon be back to her old self. Never seen those button things before, how do they work?
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They’re just ordinary buttons, Andy, sewn in pairs on each side (ie: inside/outside) across the ear flap!
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Eeeeeeoooo.. poor pup… This happened to one of my dogs once – turned out to be ear mites from a cat and the dog scratched it and bust his ear. The headgear didn’t last long, tho. Poor Dixie.
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Thanks Mike – another person who’s seen this before! I’ve just had the most awful night, ‘sleeping’ on the kitchen floor next to the crate. She has been in a dreadful strop and temper all night – hates the crate, hates the bucket thing, I can see this is going to be a long fortnight!
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Oh dear poor, poor Dixie, she looks so sad and fed up too. A hug from Dawn. Hopes she heals and is back to her normal self soon
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Thanks Dawn, I’ve passed the hug on. 🙂 Just come in from work and she’s already looking much calmer than last night, so a bit more sleep tonight might be possible!
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Poor Dixie, I hope that she is feeling a bit better now?
Are you sure that the vet is not having a laugh with those buttons though? Looking like an unhappy pearly queen.
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To be honest, we just couldn’t believe the buttons when we saw them! Took her out for a 15 minute walk tonight – being an active doggy she was beginning to go a bit crazy stuck in the house – and I took her cone off. I’m sure that all who saw her round the village were very jealous of her ear art.
Got her first follow-up vet visit tomorrow morning. She is feeling a lot calmer now and is behaving more like the grumpy Dixie we know and love. And in the end I only had one night sleeping on the kitchen floor with her – she’s back in our bedroom now! Thank goodness 🙂
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Thats one peeved pooch!
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She certainly is, Dave!
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Poor Dixie, speedy recovery, never nice when they’re poorly!
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Thanks Mark 🙂 We’re all starting to have some better nights now – thank goodness!
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Poor Dixie – she must be going mad. I always feel sorry for dogs when they have to wear those huge collars – she must be so uncomfortable and frustrated. I hope she’s better soon and that the op’s sorted it once and for all. My Mum’s just burst both her eardrums and, although she doesn’t have to wear a huge collar, she isn’t too chuffed either 😦
Carol.
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She’s starting to be a bit calmer now I’ve been taking her out on some short wanders, but she’s definitely wishing she could dispense with the Cone of Shame!
Hey, I hope your mum’s doing ok. Bursting both ear drums sounds incredibly painful.
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I’ve so much catching up to do with all your fab blog posts, but poor, poor Dixie! I’m glad to read in later posts that the buttons are gone now? However, I’m very confused by the buttons? What purpose did they serve?
Dolly ripped the edge of her ear once during an over-enthusiatic play fight with a lurcher. Two unsuccesful attempts to cauterise it were made, and in the end my vet cut a ‘v’ into the edge of the ear, to get clean, straight edges to stich together, so she now has permanent fold in one edge. Her ear was bandaged across the top of her head, and her whole head was bound with vetwrap & bandages to stop the ear escaping, in what looked like a poor attempt at a nun’s wimple! I can totally relate to the blood with regard to ear injuries, and how far it can fly! CSI would go to town on us if they ever had reason to be in here!
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The buttons were to make sure the outer and inner ear knitted together properly so that there was no longer a space for the blood to fill up. I got quite used to them in the end, thought they looked rather hippy!
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