# Aural Hematoma



## Spartan Mom (Jun 18, 2009)

Apollo (our 10 year old golden) was shaking his head a lot last night. He's had a history of ear infections and we watch his ears pretty closely and clean them with Epi-Otic. However when I checked last night, I found that his ear was terribly swollen. Our vet says it's an aural hematoma and suspects that Apollo was probably stung by a bee or some other insect and scratched/pawed/rubbed at his ear until a blood vessel burst. He is at the vet now having it excised and stitched up. 

I'm hoping that some of you have had experience with hematomas and might be be willing to share what you and your golden went through. One major concern now is that the vet says it will take 2 - 3 weeks to heal and Apollo will have to wear a cone to keep him from scratching his ear. He HATES the cone - he gets terribly panicked. 

Any feedback, thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!


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## Buddy's mom forever (Jun 23, 2011)

I am sorry no experience with it, bumping up for others to see.


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## penparson (Sep 19, 2010)

There have been several threads on aural hematomas - here's one of them: http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...314-aural-hematoma-friends-chocolate-lab.html.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I have no experience with the quilting procedure...

We had a golden with thin ears who would have the "balloon ear" problem every time he had an ear infection. We discussed having the ears quilted with his vet, but opted for simply having the vet aspirate the blister and remove enough fluid for it to feel more comfortable and help it heal on its own. 

The quilting is a better option since it prevents the hematomas from reoccurring. Which they do otherwise.


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

My previous dog had them a couple of times. The first time the vet just drained the hematoma but it came back before it fully healed the second time he cut a huge (Ok it was maybe 1/4" x 1") hole in the inside of the ear and quilted the ear with stitches. This time it worked and my pup did not have to wear the cone of shame.


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

Lincoln had his hematoma surgically repaired. If its big I would opt for the surgical repair. Its painful if just left to heal if its a large one.

Heres a pic of his surgical site to give you an idea what it would look like. This I believe is the quilting method or whatever its refered to. At least thats the impression my old vet gave. Lincoln healed in about 2 weeks. He had an immune system then..today it would probably take weeks for him to heal . Lincoln never had another one *knocks on wood*.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

One of my dogs had a large aural hematoma last year and had the quilting procedure done. It was definitely one of the worst/longest healing periods I've had to go through for anything my dogs have been through. My dog had his entire head wrapped with a bandage and had to wear the cone for 2 weeks straight so that he would leave it alone. His ear would twitch at random, and for a few days after the surgery he would whine quietly.. I know he was in pain, even with the pain meds 

Bandaged and absolutely miserable and in pain:











After the bandage came off, you can kind of see the sutures. He still had to wear the cone until the sutures came out. There was no way he would have left it alone without the cone.


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

missmarstar said:


> One of my dogs had a large aural hematoma last year and had the quilting procedure done. It was definitely one of the worst/longest healing periods I've had to go through for anything my dogs have been through. My dog had his entire head wrapped with a bandage and had to wear the cone for 2 weeks straight so that he would leave it alone. His ear would twitch at random, and for a few days after the surgery he would whine quietly.. I know he was in pain, even with the pain meds
> 
> Bandaged and absolutely miserable and in pain:
> 
> ...


Oh look at that sad face . Lincoln needed his cone to. He was in so much pain he wouldnt even shake his head. My vet didnt give mine pain meds he told me he didnt need them. I think pain meds are a must. 

Did yours have the full ear swell? Lincolns just had a portion swell but the vet told me if I left it that it would swell the rest of the ear


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

Our old aussie has had both ears quilted, several years apart. Shaking alot can cause it. I think probably some of those older threads tells her story better than I can remember it. lol


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## Spartan Mom (Jun 18, 2009)

Thanks for the input everyone!

I did search for threads before I posted - but I think I used hematoma, not aural hematoma, and I got a whole bunch of threads that were not useful. Thanks for a direct link penparson.

missmarstar, Apollo looks much like the picture of your dog with all the bandages. He came through the procedure well, and thankfully doesn't seem to be in a lot of pain. He is on both antibiotics and pain meds. He is clearly not himself - he is more lethargic.

He is dealing with the cone better than I expected. He seems more confused than panicked. I'm thinking about looking for one of the more comfortable options for the cone - the fabric or an inflatable. But, I worry that it won't keep him from scratching at this ear.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

Spartan Mom said:


> missmarstar, Apollo looks much like the picture of your dog with all the bandages. He came through the procedure well, and thankfully doesn't seem to be in a lot of pain. He is on both antibiotics and pain meds. He is clearly not himself - he is more lethargic.
> 
> He is dealing with the cone better than I expected. He seems more confused than panicked. I'm thinking about looking for one of the more comfortable options for the cone - the fabric or an inflatable. But, I worry that it won't keep him from scratching at this ear.



We tried the other cone methods too, the Comfy Cone and the inflatable donut.. either I have a Houdini on my hands or they're just not that great because he was able to either deflate the donut or flip the comfy cone backwards (this was when he had to wear them for hot spots).. I wasn't taking the chance with the hematoma surgery bandage... the hard plastic cone worked great and I didn't have to worry about him getting at the bandage and doing serious damage to his ear.

Glad he is through surgery and working towards being on the mend!!!


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

missmarstar said:


> We tried the other cone methods too, the Comfy Cone and the inflatable donut.. either I have a Houdini on my hands or they're just not that great because he was able to either deflate the donut or flip the comfy cone backwards (this was when he had to wear them for hot spots).. I wasn't taking the chance with the hematoma surgery bandage... the hard plastic cone worked great and I didn't have to worry about him getting at the bandage and doing serious damage to his ear.
> 
> Glad he is through surgery and working towards being on the mend!!!


I asked you a question in my previous post did you see it...


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

Lincoln_16 said:


> Oh look at that sad face . Lincoln needed his cone to. He was in so much pain he wouldnt even shake his head. My vet didnt give mine pain meds he told me he didnt need them. I think pain meds are a must.
> 
> Did yours have the full ear swell? Lincolns just had a portion swell but the vet told me if I left it that it would swell the rest of the ear



Sorry I saw my pictures quoted in your post and thought it was my post so I scrolled by it quickly without paying attention.

Dillon absolutely had pain meds and took them for several days. I played it by ear but knew he was in pain because he would quietly whine to himself, and he is generally very stoic and calm.. I could just tell he was very unhappy and uncomfortable so I felt the pain meds helped him a lot. I can't imagine a vet not thinking they are necessary for any surgery like this.

His entire ear flap was not swelled, it was just a large bubble on the flap. The vet told me that she felt it was large enough that it would just get larger rather than resolve itself so we opted for the surgery rather than a wait and see approach. He's always had problematic ears so it made me feel better that the quilted scars would at least prevent this from happening again most likely, at least on that particular ear.


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

Lincolns hematoma was only about 2 inches by 2 inches but the vet felt it would get larger if not surgically corrected. I was told it will never happen in that same spot but can happen elsewhere in the ear. I havent had any issues since and I hope I have no more...that was an expensive fix but worth it IMO. 

I cannot believe my vet didnt give me pain meds...


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

You performed a veterinary procedure without a license??? A hematoma is painful and thats something you need to have a veterinarian deal with :S


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*So upset*

I read some very Sad News on Facebook!! 

Jane said that Apollo went to the Rainbow BRIDGE this morning!!
Rest In Peace, sweet Apollo!!


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## Buddy's mom forever (Jun 23, 2011)

Karen519 said:


> I read some very Sad News on Facebook!!
> 
> Jane said that Apollo went to the Rainbow BRIDGE this morning!!
> Rest In Peace, sweet Apollo!!


It is very sad news indeed. I am very sorry for the loss of Apollo.
Run free, play hard, sleep softly sweet boy.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

very sad news


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