Another tale of woe starring the Woo...

Gypsy. Why is it always Gypsy?

It has been nothing but vet visits lately for my dear Gypsy Kitty Woo. The first was on March 18th for her annual appointment and vaccinations. At the time she had some irritation in her left ear canal, but not an infection. Thirteen days later, however, she had a full blown yeast AND bacterial infection in BOTH ears. Because she is special that way.

I see you...

Cut to yesterday morning. I woke up to discover Gypsy playing "alligator". Alligator is what I call it when Woo sits by the side of the bed and wills me to wake up with the power of her mind. All you can feel are her eyes staring at you intensely. But the second you open your eyes or otherwise aknowledge her presence, she strikes with a stealty liiiiiiiick before trotting away with a hearty "Ha Ha Ha".

This is one of her most favorite games. Which, of course, means it is one of my least favorite. It is especially unpleasant on Saturday's when I am attempting to sleep in. I think the fact that I hate it is Gypsy's primary motivation to keep playing. It is just more fun that way.

Look. I know you are awake. Feed me.

However, yesterday was a Thursday and I was having a particularly difficult time waking up, so I called Gypsy back over to my bedside and started petting her and rubbing her ears. The ear infections had seemingly cleared up, but I still wanted to have a look and see if I could detect any lingering discharge or faint odor of yeast. And that is when I first noticed The Ear Flap.

Gypsy's left ear flap was swollen and sort of felt like a hot water balloon. Strangely, she didn't seem to be in any pain, but, boy, was it enough to completely freak me out. So it should come as no big surprise when I tell you that not twenty minutes later I was dressed and Gypsy and I were on our way to the vet.

Which leads to the diagnosis...

Apparently, Gypsy has an aural hematoma. That means she basically ruptured a blood vessel inside her ear flap, and the blood has pooled inside it. But, shockingly, her hematoma isn't that bad.

Well, I should rephrase that. It isn't that bad RIGHT NOW. Which is to say that it could get worse. A lot worse. Especially, if we can't get her to stop shaking her head. And since there is not a really good way to keep a dog from shaking their head, there is a pretty good chance that we are all screwed. Especially if you factor in the fact that one of her ears is still fighting an infection. An itchy infection.

Bother.

If the hematoma continues to grow (which it might), we will have to have it drained. A process which, according to the vet, we should hope to avoid. The risk of infection is super high, and it can take several weeks for the ear to drain properly. So please keep your fingers crossed that Gypsy suddenly ceases to be itchy and the blood gets reabsorbed by her body. That would be awesome.

I tried to photograph the ear in question, but I am not sure how effective the images are. As every woman knows, black is a very slimming color and, in this instance, it is hard to get a good feel for the ear flap turned water balloon. But here you go:

Gypsy's right ear. This is the usual width of her ear flaps.

This is the width of the ear flap with the hematoma.

It feels heavy and hot, but doesn't seem to bother Gypsy at all.

This is the underside of the flap.
You can see where her skin is a little red around the hematoma.

The tip of her ear.

Ear by ear comparison.

Thanks to the internet, I now know that you can bandage your dog's ears in such a way that they no longer shake when your dog does. Somehow I am pretty sure Gypsy would die of embarrassment if I made her wear one of THESE. That said, there is no telling what I'd do (to Gypsy) to avoid surgery. And she thought wearing costumes was bad!

Poor Woo.