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My dog has an ear hematoma. What's the immediate next step?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 9 years and 11 months old

I think my dog has a hematoma. What is the next step from here?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on March 29th, 2017

The hematoma needs to be drained by your vet first. Then you will need pain/anti-inflammatory medication to help reduce further filling of the ear pinna so that the ear can return to normal size. And lastly treat for any underlying ear infections, which is the -# 1 cause for ear hematomas. Schedule an appt with your vet and they should be able to help take care of all of this for you and your pet Millie.

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    Answered By Angel Alvarado, LVT

    Licensed Veterinary Technician

    Published on January 11th, 2020

    It will eventually resolve, bit may leave the ear flap deformed. The underlying cause is typically an ear infection (bacterial or fungal). This usually requires prescription medication to resolve. Using an OTC ear cleaner may help, but may not completely resolve any infection. Place an e-collar (cone) on him or her to prevent rubbing or pawing. The gold standard for treatment is surgical while concurrently treating the underlying infection.

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Related Questions

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We live in the bush far from a vet and our dog has a ear hematoma, any thoughts in what we could do for the dog or should we just give it time to mend itself? Thanks Mark.
It will eventually resolve, bit may leave the ear flap deformed. The underlying cause is typically an ear infection (bacterial or fungal). This usually requires prescription medication to resolve. Using an OTC ear cleaner may help, but may not completely resolve any infection. Place an e-collar (cone) on him or her to prevent rubbing or pawing. The gold standard for treatment is surgical while concurrently treating the underlying infection.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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What is the treatment of dog ear hematoma ? Also if it left untreated to heal on it's own on German shepherd dog I know it take long time to heal so after healing own it's own on the ears of German shepherd then after healing completely will my dogs
Thanks for using Boop by Petco! There are a variety of ways to treat an ear hematoma in dogs (oral medications, draining it and instilling a medication, or a surgical "tacking", as well as determining what the underlying cause for the hematoma is). They do need to be treated by a veterinarian, as they do not typically resolve on their own, and can become very painful/infected. After treatment, the ear may be the same, or it may have a "crinkled" appearance. I would recommend your dog be evaluated by a veterinarian to determine what treatment plan would be best. Good luck!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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My dog and I just came from vet where he had a hematoma in ear flap drained. Vet said that it will most likely fill up again and scheduled surgery for Tuesday. He had no ear infections but vet said probably had allergies. Gave us Apoquel script. I gu
Poor Bodie! Your vet is correct, typically aural hematomas do fill up again, and your vet would have drained it to provide comfort to him. They are uncomfortable to the dog. The surgery is necessary to prevent it from filling up over and over so you don't have to keep bringing him back in to get it drained. I hope this helps!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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Tank’s ear is swollen and seemed filled with fluid. I made him an appt for tomorrow morning. Will they just drain it?
They will examine Tank’s ear and then discuss the various options. If it is something like a hematoma, they may drain it or offer a surgical correction. The surgical correction generally works best. Draining hematoma is typically requires a few drainings as well as wearing a special sleeve to stop the ear from flapping around. Many times there is an underlying allergy, infection or a mast cell tumor so they will check him for those causes as well. If it is something like a tumor, that is a completely different treatment plan. I hope this helps.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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My pitbull has develop a aural hematoma caused by shaking her head too often, I took her to the vet and they recomended to just leave it and prescrived prednisone and cephalexin. How long doest it take to get back to normal.
I'm so sorry that Julia has this problem (and she is adorable BTW). Aural hematomas typically never resolve completely on their own. If left untreated (i.e. undrained) eventually the blood that's trapped between the skin and the cartilage of the ear will be reabsorbed, assuming the ear infection (which is causing the head shaking and thus the hematoma) is properly treated. However, typically this leaves a scarred ear, something called a cauliflower ear, and this can be avoided with proper treatment. First, make sure that the medication that has been prescribed is going to appropriately treat the ear infection. That means a vet needs to do a cytology (microscopic evaluation) of the debris inside the ear. Most ear infections are fungal in nature, and need antifungal treatments to completely resolve. Then talk to the vet about draining the blood inside the ear. This may resolve the problem completely, but be prepared that Julia may need surgery to reattach the cartilage to the skin and r
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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My dog has a small hemotoma on one earflap and in the other ear near the canal she has a large pimple looking bump. I was wondering what I should do about them?
You should schedule an assessment with your vet in order to drain the hematoma and identify the underlying cause of the ear discomfort which has caused it. It may be necessary to sedate her in order to fully assess and treat the ears and the hematoma deending on the extent of the problem
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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Hi, my 6 year old American bulldog has an ear hematoma and the vet wants to do surgery...I was wondering if something like that really does need surgery?
Surgery is the "gold standard" for addressing aural hematomas. Draining it with a needle and syringe may provide a quick fix, but more often than not the ear refills with blood. Allowing it to resolve without treatment may take weeks and could lead to a deformed ear flap. Surgery can be done to clean out the clotted blood and stop the bleeding. A specific suture pattern is used to keep the ear flap from refilling and in shape. The underlying cause, usually ear infection, should be addressed as well to prevent excessive head shaking.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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My dog has a hematoma and it big my vet is closes today I know people have drained it themselves at home and some say they leave it and it goes away on its own in 3 to 4 weeks what can I do
I also have seen people leave them be to eventually absorb. However I would not recommend doing this to your pet because it does cause them discomfort and there is a risk of having pressure necrosis develop on the ear flap. I would also not recommend draining this yourself because this requires making a cut in the ear flap and often a mild sedative is needed for the pet to tolerate a procedure like this. Also if there is an infection then antibiotics will be needed in addition. The best advice is to let your vet drain this area at the clinic/hospital. You can place a cold compress on the ear flap, if allowed, to help reduce the blood pooling for now and then get Bear seen by your vet as soon as you can. Best wishes with Bear and his ear hematoma. I hope everything works out well for her. Take care.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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What can i do at home to help a Hematoma in my dogs ear?
I'm sorry that Remy had a hematoma in his ear! Unfortunately, there is really nothing you can do at home to treat this problem - it will eventually go away on its own, but this can take several weeks in some cases and may cause some scarring or disfigurement of the ear. I do not recommend attempting to drain it at home, as this often introduces infection and makes the problem worse. Your vet can surgically repair the hematoma, or may prescribe a steroid or other medication to help it heal faster if you opt not to do surgery - so it would be a good idea to take Remy Martin in for an exam if you are able to. In many cases, affected dogs also have an ear infection or other underlying problem that needs to be diagnosed and treated as well.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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I have a 6 year old golden retriever Remi who has a hematoma in one of his ear flaps. Have made an appt. I am worried about him going under general anesthesia, but will do what's best for him. Anything I should ask his vet? Should I suggest the proto
Your dog will only have to go under anesthesia if the veterinarian decides to fix the othematoma surgically by opening it , draining it and reattaching the skin to the cartilage. the danger of a conventionally treated othematoma with draining, instilling steroids and hoping it goes away, is that the ear may become crippled, and/or (often) the it will refill with blood and may need to be drained several times. It is very important to find the underlying cause of the hematoma, such as an ear mite or other ear infection and also treat that. Your vet should discuss all options with you. Anesthesia nowadays is very safe.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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