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What to do about my dog's peeling ear scab? Can I use bacitracin?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Pembroke Welsh Corgi | Male | neutered | 2 years and 7 months old | 42 lbs

I was scratching behind my dog’s ear and noticed a 1cm sized scab started to peel off. He isn’t biting it or scratching it. There’s no active bleeding or drainage. What should I do? Can I apply bacitracin to the site?

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1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on April 29th, 2018

Thank you for contacting Pet Coach with your concerns about Wellington! I love his name, by the way. I live in New Zealand, and that's the capital of the country. From the pictures, it actually looks like it's healing nicely and I wouldn't do anything to it. Putting something on it could disrupt the healing process, and I see no sign of infection to warrant treatment. I'd just let it be, don't try to peel the scab off yourself. It will fall off in due time. Keep an eye on it, but as I said, it looks like it's healing just fine. Best of luck, I hope this helps!

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