The case, pets, and veterinary professionals in this article are fictional and used for educational purposes only.
Ernie the Dachshund had beautifully shiny, smooth ears that his owner Jodie loved to stroke. Therefore, Jodie noticed quickly when Ernie’s ears started to feel strangely crusty at the tips. Thinking Ernie might have accumulated some dried food residue on his ears, Jodie used a warm wet cloth to clean them, and realised that the crusts were actually scabs, which lifted off to reveal patchy raw skin irritation beneath.
Jodie left Ernie’s ears alone to heal and kept an eye on them – a process Ernie complicated by intermittently scratching at his ears, making them ooze blood until Jodie (much to Ernie’s displeasure) placed a bucket collar on him.
After several weeks, however, Ernie’s ears still seemed to be getting worse, so Jodie booked a consultation at their local veterinary clinic.
The vet examined Ernie’s ear canals and the rest of his skin, which otherwise looked in good condition, and then took some samples from Ernie’s ears for examination under the microscope. This ruled out any obvious ear infection or parasitic causes such as skin mites (not a surprise given Ernie’s good parasite control history).
Ernie was sent home with topical anti-inflammatory treatment, but unfortunately, this didn’t seem to help. At the recommendation of the vet, Ernie then underwent some general health checks including blood and urine tests (which showed no abnormalities) and was booked for a short anaesthetic and biopsy sample collection from his affected ear tips.
Ernie’s biopsy results indicated that he was suffering from a condition called Pinnal Vasculitis, where a hypersensitivity (allergic) response causes damage to the small blood vessels in the ears. No obvious underlying trigger was found, so it was deemed idiopathic (of unknown cause).
Fortunately, Ernie responded well to a medication called pentoxifylline, which helped improve blood flow to the damaged ear tips, allowing them to repair before too much damage was done.
If you notice any skin lesions on your pet, book a consultation with one of our vets to get the skinny on your pet’s problem!