Any veterinarians in the house?

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My Australian shepherd got ambushed by a pitt and she got the tip of his ear pretty good. I bathed him to see if there are any other wounds and it seems to be just his ear. I took him to the emergency vet and we left before he could be seen. I just wasn't impressed with the staff and the fact that all they cared about was me paying upfront rather than my bleeding dog. His regular vet will be in tomorrow so we will head there first thing in the morning.

I cleaned the area and put some bactine and neosporin on it. Problem is every time he gets stressed about anything, it starts bleeding again. I know ears are just one of those places that will do that. I put some of that powder on that stops bleeding if their nails are trimmed too short but it's not working. Any suggestions? I also gave him some K-9 Aspirin for the pain. I'm also wondering what the vet can do about it. Can they stitch the tip of an ear? The skin is so thin right there.

[justagirl]

I'm not a vet, and I don't know what can/will be done for it, but I do want to point out that aspirin is an anticoagulant - meaning it is a type of "blood thinner" and can cause problems with blood clotting. As much as you want to help relieve your dog's pain, I would be cautious on the amount of aspirin you give him. Many people are advised to stop taking aspirin prior to surgery to reduce the risk of bleeding complications.

Please don't let me freak you out...It's not going to cause him to bleed to death or anything, small doses of aspirin have very mild effects, but I did want to point out it may cause continued bleeding/delay the time it takes to clot.

It sounds like you did everything you should have...checked for other injuries, cleansed the area, used an antibacterial cream.

I'm sorry this occurred to your dog - thankfully it wasn't any worse - keep us informed on how he does!

~JAG

[oldrocker]

The vet will be able to fix it. As justagirl said the aspirin you gave him is going to increase the bleeding so no more aspirin. Styptic powder stings like the dickens on a wound. Try your best to bandage and tape the ear to stop the bleeding. Put an e-collar on him if you have one. Though I've never used it on a dog I have used ground black pepper on myself to almost instantly stop a wound from bleeding and it does not sting. Good luck.

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Thank you, I forgot about that with aspirin. I just spent some time on the floor with him brushing him out and putting pressure on the wound with gauze and it has stopped bleeding for now. I think we're going to have a long night of this. I think he will definitely need surgery on his ear given the extent of the tear.

I don't think he's going to bleed to death but he's definitely hurting from it and needing a lot of holding. He is always like that anyway but even more so today. That emergency animal hospital really ticked me off. I wish I could've had him looked at last night but they were so snotty with me. The guy at the counter said "You have to pay $150 right now for us to even look at him. It goes up from there." I didn't even ask about cost, I was just telling him what happened. Since it wasn't a life or death situation I chose to leave and just wait until Monday.

On the other dog, she is actually a good dog that I know and like. When I am at the neighbor's she is always on my lap and licking my face. They know she is aggressive to other dogs and are always very careful to keep her away from them. It was just an accident last night with my dog being outside with me and her rushing the door when it was opened.

[Iwantmyname]

whe the ear got cut it is possible that a blood vessel was torn or cut. Free bleeding is actually good as it is the natural way to eliminate toxins. Pus is nasty stuff but is bad blood cells being sloughed off. Heat and redness are also signs of healing. For my own 2 dogs I have a rule not to freak for wounds that do not look worse than what I would bring a child to the hospital for. A Pitty attack can be bad and there may be wounds under the coat where you might not see. I would definately go to a vet after a dog attack.

I'll give you a tip about the payment situation. I drive about 20 miles out of the way to go to a vet in a small nearby town because she allows me to pay in smaller increments. For example my chi just had surgury and it came to 500 dollars. I was allowed to pay in weekly increments till it was paid. She also allows a kind of health savings account. In other words if I know my dog will need to go in for a dental and it will cost about 124.00 I can give her 25 dollars per month till I have it paid and then get the dental .

My point is that you may be able to find a vet who will allow easy payment plan, or some other alternative payment.

Oh, I have also heard cayanne pepper accelorates scabbing over. You want nice healthy scabs, no pus and healing.

[lrprn]

I'm a people nurse, not a vet, but I might be able to help. It sounds like the ear chew tore a small artery that isn't clotting off well or you are getting blood ooze from multiple torn capillaries that aren't clotting off well.

Luckily any bleeding wound will clot if you use cotton balls or clean cotton fabric like a towel to hold steady, firm pressure over where it's bleeding for 10 minutes without letting up (it would have been only five minutes without the prior aspirin dose). If your dog will tolerate it, it helps to add an ice cube on top of the cloth - the cold constricts the bleeding vessels and speeds up clotting too. It's worth a try to get your sweet dog through the night until he can see the vet tomorrow.

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Thank you again for the replies. He does have a lot of capillaries at the tips of his ear, I can see them on the other ear in that spot so it makes sense that this wound keeps bleeding as it does. We've gone about a half hour now without bleeding. My apartment looks like the scene of a massacre. There's blood spatter everywhere from him shaking his head. I just cleaned some off of the TV screen. I think keeping him calm is the key tonight. Thank goodness for his undercoat because the other dog went straight for his throat and I think it gave him some protection. I've searched all through his coat and went over him with a wire brush to see if there were any other tender spots. We're lucky it's just the ear.

On the money, I really wasn't concerned with it last night at the hospital. I mean, yes I am concerned but at that moment it was not what I was asking. For them to behave like that and cut me off while I'm trying to explain his wounds and demand payment was not good bedside manner. He has a fantastic vet that I found last April who is very caring and takes the time to talk to the owners. It's a half hour drive but worth it to see him. I don't know how much the surgery will cost but I think this vet will be reasonable with me and take payments if we need to do that.

Before the attack last night we were out on our nightly last chance to check the peemail walk and met a guy and his female dalmatian. My dog and his dog hit it off right away and we made a plan to "bump into" each other in future dog outings. Looks like it may be a while now before we get to see our new friends again. Darnit.

[Flamingo]

I do a lot of work with our county wildlife rehabbers, my daughter is studying and interning to be a vet tech/wildlife rehabber and we have years of working wth all sorts of animals and reptiles. As the other posters indicated, just as if you cut your own head or your fingers, your dogs ear is going to bleed like crazy due to the number of capillaries in that area. Since this is already the early a.m. when I am reading your posting, you probably have things under control now but of course the asperin you gave your dog also contributed to any excessive bleeding as the others have also indicated.

Emergency vets, just like human ERs, get stuck by many nonpaying or noninsured folks so they want to ensure they get paid upfront. Your dog's injury apparently was not life threatening or they would have taken immediate action, just as they do in the human ER. All regular vets have an emergency tie in vet or clinic for when they are closed or on weekends, just as human doctors.

I hope all went well/is well with your dog and try not to hold stuff against the emergency vet place as they have probably been stung by lots of nonpaying customers in this economy and what they were doing to get payment is probably office policy for new/nonestablished patients in a non-life threatening situation.

[OhioFiler]

Liquid bandage works well on dog ears that won't stop bleeding.

[Smokinjbc]

I would still take him in to your vet, they will likely want to shave any suspect areas- you'd be surprised at how many puncture wounds can hide under fur . The ear probably should be stitched up- otherwise you'll be cleaning blood drops off your ceiling for awhile (from dog shaking ears- which can also cause a hematoma).

I'm sorry you had that experience at the e-vet but that is pretty true of most of them. They don't have a prior relationship with most of the patients, they are typically 25% more expensive than a normal vet and they want some guarantee of payment. I worked at one as relief that we had to have owners sign a $250 "CPR" type release before we took a critical dog back without seeing the doctor first- in other words, they had to agree that the minimum cost would be $250 or we would not see their pet.

Not a vet- managed vet hospitals for over 10 years.

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Well, we're back from the regular vet. I'm very glad that I waited to have him treated there since it wasn't life or death. We decided not to do surgery on the ear since he has such long hair it will cover the ripped tip and isn't medically necessary. They shaved his neck and he did in fact have a puncture wound that was already abscessing. Looks like he's got a sprain in his neck as well. They did x-rays just to make sure there are no fractures.

So it's 10 days of antibiotics, 3 days of pain meds and hot compresses on the neck. The total bill was only $118. That clinic amazes me with the quality of care they give and how they keep the prices so reasonable. They have a mission statement in each room that quality care comes first and they will never push unnecessary and expensive procedures or products.

[LuciluS]

Well, we're back from the regular vet. I'm very glad that I waited to have him treated there since it wasn't life or death. We decided not to do surgery on the ear since he has such long hair it will cover the ripped tip and isn't medically necessary. They shaved his neck and he did in fact have a puncture wound that was already abscessing. Looks like he's got a sprain in his neck as well. They did x-rays just to make sure there are no fractures.

So it's 10 days of antibiotics, 3 days of pain meds and hot compresses on the neck. The total bill was only $118. That clinic amazes me with the quality of care they give and how they keep the prices so reasonable. They have a mission statement in each room that quality care comes first and they will never push unnecessary and expensive procedures or products.

O so glad he's not hurt too bad and the Bill wasn't outrageous. It's nice to know you have a Good Vet.

When our shih-tzu started loosing her hair last Oct. Hubby took her to the Vet & told him we would be filing BK in the near future. There were many, many times we would call with questions about her condition and the Vet would call us back at no charge. He called us one night and spent 1 1/2 hrs. on the phone explaining her ailments.

Not so good to know she will be on prescription meds of $100 a month and prescription dog food for the rest of her life. Of course, BK Attorney, said that amount for a pet will 'not fly' with the Trustee.

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I thought I replied to this but maybe not... or maybe it was deleted because I included the name of a vet supplier who could give you a break on those meds. Please PM me for that info if you'd like it.

Anyway, I know how much it can be to maintain a furkiddo with problems. My cat who passed away last December had chronic renal failure. He actually did just fine for a few years with just having to take some powder and make sure to watch his fluid intake. My free cat cost a few thousand in vet bills when he first got sick, but it was worth it. He gave us many more wonderful memories in his remaining years.

Doggy and I just woke up from a well needed nap after the stress of the last 24 hours. I'm lucky he is such an easy going guy so giving his meds is not a problem at all. They gave him a good pain med that won't thin his blood. I've been doing hot compresses on the abscessed puncture wound too. They drained it while we were there but it has filled up again twice since we left. He doesn't care what I do to him as long as he gets to be on my lap while I'm doing it. I'm so happy with his vet I emailed them to thank them again and gave them a 5 star review on a business review site.