My dog's ear is torn and bleeding. How can I relieve his pain safely?

Question

What can dogs have for pain relief? We have a dog who got into a fight with our other dog and got his ear ripped a little bit. He keeps shaking his head and it keep re-injuring and bleeding. Last night and now tonight he seems to be panting pretty heavily and seems to be in pain. It just happened Thursday morning. Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Large (61lb +) | Male | unneutered | 3 years and 1 month old | 210 lbs

Lauren Jones VMD · Accepted Answer

Poor Butcher! You are correct that excessive panting can certainly indicate a sign of pain in dogs. Human pain medications, such as Advil or Aleve, are not safe for dogs due to the risk of liver and kidney damage. Aspirin is not recommended for use in dogs since it can lead to blood clotting problems and ulceration of the stomach or intestines. Long story short, the safest and most effective anti-inflammatory pain relievers for dogs are prescription-based from your veterinarian. Additionally, I would be concerned about infection in the laceration on Butcher's ear since the wound originated from a dog fight. Bite wounds or severe scratches generally require a course of antibiotics. At this point, I strongly recommend taking Butcher to your vet or an emergency vet to have this laceration and associated pain addressed. Until you can get to the vet, put an e-collar (cone) on Butcher to prevent him from scratching his ear, as this could make matters worse. Ears are highly vascular, so a bit of manual pressure and ice (limit the ice to 10 minutes at a time) may help to lessen the bleeding until you can get to the vet. I hope this helps and that all goes well!

My dog's ear is torn and bleeding. How can I relieve his pain safely?

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