# Does This Warrant A Vet Visit? (Ear Related)



## [email protected] (Oct 6, 2009)

So Samson's ears went solidly up on Thanksgiving Day (at about 4 months old) and had been up since then. About four days ago, he was playing with his stuffed animal and started swinging it with his mouth -- head shaking -- and hit his head against the wall (I feel awful about this so don't necessarily need anyone to make me feel any worse about it)







His ear bleed a bit -- from the very tip. I applied a cold towel immediately and the bleeding stopped. There is no discoloration, no swelling. He doesn't react at all to his ear being touched. But since this happened, his ear has completely flopped over. One totally up and tall and the other totally down. Not sure if this warrants a vet's visit or not. I just can't figure out how the impact could have made his ear flop over and if it did indeed, does this mean that this is more serious than it appears and that we should have a vet take a look. thanks for any insight


----------



## sagelfn (Aug 13, 2009)

his ear was bleeding from the tip? like he cut it?
did his ear flop over right after he hit his head? it could have went down due to teething but if it were my dog and he hit his head hard enough to cause bleeding i'd take him to the vet asap


----------



## ch3ckpo1nt (Nov 30, 2009)

When in doubt, take 'em to the vet. It sounds to me that the cartilage may have been damaged, causing his ear to flop over. It could just fix over time, but I wouldn't risk it.


----------



## [email protected] (Oct 6, 2009)

hi brandi. thanks for the post. he hit his head on saturday. i was just looking through some pictures that i took on sunday and in them, the ear is up. and last night it was sort of up for awhile. the up and down was leading me to think it is a result of teething too -- except the other ear is standing strong. is it normal for only one to flop during teething?

i am thinking that there must be a cut on the ear tip -- otherwise, where would blood come from? but i don't actually see a cut.


----------



## littledmc17 (Apr 9, 2008)

if you are really worried then take him
I am sure he is fine but only you know!!


----------



## Kayos and Havoc (Oct 17, 2002)

It does sound like teething. A cut on the tip of his ear would not affect his ear carriage I don't think. And if this happened a few daya go a very small cut may already be healed up.


----------



## zyppi (Jun 2, 2006)

My pups have all had the upsy downsies with their ears before the stand permanently.

Sounds normal to me.


----------



## Miikkas mom (Dec 21, 2009)

I'm sorry about Samson. I hope he's doing better! Also.... 

"I feel awful about this so don't necessarily need anyone to make me feel any worse about it" Why would anyone say something to make you feel worse? My God, its NOT your fault!! He was playing and having fun! This could happen to anyone's puppy! 

Finally, what is teeting? 

Cheryl


----------



## [email protected] (Oct 6, 2009)

thank ya'll for the replies. okay, so woke up this morning and the other ear is now floppy. so i am going to assume that this is just teething. i'll continue to pay attention to the one that he hit just to be sure.

thank you all again for your perspectives.

cheryl, yeah, i know, i guess i just felt a little irresponsible . you're right though, i guess this kind of thing comes with the territory of playing and could happen anytime. 

sorry, i misspelled --- teeting should be teething --- the stage they go through when they lose their baby teeth and the adult teeth come in.


----------



## Miikkas mom (Dec 21, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: sherri1
> sorry, i misspelled --- teeting should be teething --- the stage they go through when they lose their baby teeth and the adult teeth come in.


LOL! Now I feel dumb...I should have figured that out. But. on the other hand, what does floppy ears have to do with teething? Remember, I am new to purebred GSD's


----------



## [email protected] (Oct 6, 2009)

hi miikkasmom! apparently there is potential for the ears to flop during the teething process because the body's calcium supply is routed away from the ears and toward the teeth. the "deficiency" for the ears in turn causes the flop. i'm sure there is a more technical and perhaps more accurate way of explaining it but that is is my understanding.


----------

