Help with split ear on Great Dane

[PaintedMeadows]

My great dane always gets splits on his ear tips in cold weather. He is uncropped and when they get cold and he shakes his head they start to bleed like chapped lips. He has blood all over his head, neck and spots everywhere else. I have put bandaids on them to stop them from dripping on the floor but want to help prevent this. My poor boy!

 

[Miniv]

Do you have a stiptick pencil (Alum)....the stuff that men use to stop bleeding from a bad shave job?

We used that on one of our dogs who got his ear snagged in a scuffle with one of his "friends". And then we bandaged the ear after that. Never realized there were so many blood vessels in an ear!

 

[PaintedMeadows]

I've used that but everytime he shakes his head he bleeds again. I was hoping there was something I could do or put on his ears or something to prevent it in the first place. He has big honkin ears! lol.

 

[Maxi'sMinis]

Prevention would be to use salve like A&D ointment well in advance of cold weather. I have a golden that has the big floppy ears and he got a little slice on the end of his ear flap. I tried everything. Finally had to pack the ear with gauze and wrap it to his head with vet wrap to keep him from shaking it open again. I also used powder blood stop for large animals and coated the wound with that. I had to keep him wrapped for a few days to get it to finally close up enough to not bleed again when he shook his head.

 

[Floridachick]

When we lived up north I would Bag balm our Coonhounds ears. LOL It works wonders.

 

[Slinkky]

Another quick way to stop bleeding once it starts is plain old Corn Starch.

Great stuff to have around!

 

[h2t99]

You could use super glue!! Just to let you know super glue was and is still used in hospitals to glue the skull!! I have used it on all of my cuts!! especially paper cuts, my boyfriend from years ago used it when he was cutting wood and the axe bounced off and hit his leg. He had a 4 inch cut in his leg, deep and he had no insurance so he grabbed the super glue and glued it shut. you could barely see where he did it after it healed!! I have also used it on a horse before that had a bad cut that would not heal until I glued it!!

 

[liltnt]

Probalby a totally stupid idea but what about those ear warmer had bands that people wear. You could just cover his ears in the winter so they dont get cold. I assume he doesnt stay out fofr very long so you probably wouldnt have to worry about it rubbing on his throat.

 

[Sixstardanes]

If your baby has uncropped ears you may want to look at this page

http://www.6stardanes.com/ears.html

Other than helping to train a natural ear to lay well it can also be used to help against flappage.

 

[PaintedMeadows]

Thank you everyone. I laid in bed last night thinking about this problem. lol. I also came up with the glue and putting a sort of dickie on him when he is outside. I never thought of the bag balm or similar products! Thank you. And the taping idea is neat too. Thank you Sixstar. I prefer the idea of something that I can take off when he comes in the house. I appreciate the help. This is the best forum on the net!! Here is a picture of Fargo.

 

[Charlene]

oh what a beautiful dane! love the name, too.

 

[Just Us N Texas]

I had a big dog with big ears once that split it's ear open. Tried hard to bandage, stop the bleeding and etc., then the vet told me to take an old sock, or panty hose, and cut the toe out of it. Then pull the sock or hose over the dog's head, and it will hold the ear/ears down, and when they shake hold the ear so that they won't open and bleed again. It works! It also works on horses that have an eye issue or head wound. For the horses with an eye issue, you leave the stocking closed for the bad eye, to hold a bandage on, and cut out an eye hole for the good eye. You can leve the hose long down just over the muzzle, or just cut or pull it where on the head and back of neck you want to be to hold it on the dog or horse.

 

[PaintedMeadows]

Thank you Charlene. We love him!! Our first dane was a black and he was amazing (Thunder) but I always dreamt about owning a harlequin since I saw my first one at 9 years old. Fargo was my birthday present 3 years ago. We actually picked him up on my birthday. He was only 6 weeks old (I know, I know but momma died) and he was so tiny. lol. Then he developed HOD (Hypertrophic Osteodistrophy (sp?)) and I nursed him through the worst case that any of the vets consulted had ever seen. Most vets said put him down as he will be in constant pain his whole life and won't be able to walk. Well phooey on them!! Thank goodness for my vet/bestfriend. She worked hard with me and we pulled him through and he is doing fantastic!! There is a video of him on youtube running and you can see that he is strong and healthy and has no pain. You will find it under fogman52. I think we called mini horse and great dane play ball or something like that. Anyways, he is my baby and I love him to death. I found some gauze wrap and wrapped it around his head and one ear and it is working great so far. Easy to remove when he is sleeping and eating and easy to put on when he is outside. Thanks for all of the help everyone! I really appreciate it!

 

[TinyMiteVillage]

He is beautiful. I would try the bag balm or some other type of ointment for dry skin. I remember one time when I worked on the ambilance (I am a paramedic) 911 called me (they knew I was a animal loveer so I got all the animal calls) and said a ladys dog had its ear stuck in a paper shredder........now that was a mess. Apparently the dog, a German Short Hair Pointer, wanted to see what was in the waste basket and the paper shredder was next to it and snatch its ear up, we finally got it out but it was like a blood bath in there. we had to take the paper shredder apart. But she healed just fine but I had to wrap it with gauze and then wrap it around her head to keep it on. She brought it by the EMS office to see me once it was healed and the newspaper did a story on it...........but yeah the ears ar highly vascular. I hope Fargo's ears get better soon.

 

[PaintedMeadows]

Thank you Susan (TinyMiteVillage). I had it wrapped to his head but he got it off when I was away so have to redo it better. I think I will do the tape under the chin idea. Taping the 2 ears together. I'll put some ozonal on the split, gauze on that and then the tape. Do you all think that will work? I also have a chicken with a hole in her back that needs some work (bandage and a chicken saddle) and another chicken with ascites that needs to be drained. My first time doing a catheter so wish me luck! Thank goodness all of the horses are fine. Foaling season starts April so hopefully all of the other troubles will be gone by then. Sheesh!