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  Discussion on Rare Ear ( Aural) Hematoma HELP! Vet made it worse!
Author Message
New Member:
xraygurl

Posted on Friday, Jul 13, 2012 - 5:51 pm:

My Haflinger gelding somehow managed to rub his ear hard enough that a hematoma has formed. It is large and the whole ear is swollen all the way to the base, but much thicker/fatter midway to the tip. At first the ear curled down at the tip but after about a week it straightened up some. I thought it was a bee sting. I had the vet out after a week and a half because the swelling just wouldn't go down. He recommended draining it to help it straighten up and he cut it open. He drained some blood out of it and wrapped it..told me to leave the wrap on for two days. When I took the wrap off I could tell it had filled back up with blood and looked even more swollen than before we started! Talked to the vet again, he said open it up and drain it again...which I did and wrapped it again for two days...Still very fat and ugly..no better. He is getting very crazy about messing with it so it is getting very hard to doctor.
Question is, should I leave it alone? and will his ear always be twice as big as the other?
Or should I haul him two hours away to the Univ. VET school for more care? Will they put in drains?

Would really appreciate some help. It is very painful to look at and he is getting head shy.
Member:
babychop

Posted on Friday, Jul 13, 2012 - 7:54 pm:

Poor thing. If he's got a hematoma or seroma most likely the body will deal with it on it's own and absorb it over time. But why does it keep filling up, is there some kind of bleeding going on? I wonder what he did to himself? He's not going to like you touching it because it hurts, that's true of any wound. The bummer about this particular one is that you may have to deal with an 'ear shy' horse after it's all said and done and that can be sticky.

If you're really worried about this and it looks like it's tight and swollen it never hurts to get a second opinion. The fact that it keeps filling up makes me wonder why. What is causing it to fill back up. But I'm curious like that.
Member:
dres

Posted on Saturday, Jul 14, 2012 - 9:19 am:

if you have the means to take the trip .. GO .. second opinions are always welcomed ... . poor thing .. i agree with Andrea, he just might become a head shy horse , so take proper care now ..

On the first day God created horses on the second day he painted them with spots..
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Jul 14, 2012 - 9:23 am:

Welcome Amy,
If the ear remains full of blood, I would recommend further work to avoid a deformed appearing ear.

What works in dogs is to make a large slit along the long axis inside and allow blood and serum to drain then suture down the skin to the cartilage leaving a small gap at the incision for continuing drainage. The undermined skin defect is allowed to heal inside out with the slit the last thing to heal. Usually a few weeks then the sutures are removed. Sometimes these are bandaged but that is not always needed. Of course fixing the reason the dog was shaking and rubbing his ear in the first place is critical to getting this healed.
DrO
Member:
pattyb

Posted on Saturday, Jul 14, 2012 - 10:21 am:

Hi Amy C.

When I read your post last night, the first thing that came to mind was Yes, I would make the trip for a second opinion. I've seen what these things can do to dog's ears and as DrO stated, the trick is to keep it draining so it can heal from the inside out. My experience has been that these were best handled with a drain strip being inserted to keep the drain hole open....but I don't know how well a horse would tolerate one and leave it alone.... From what I've seen with these though, the sooner you open that back up and keep it draining, the less scar tissue you'll have building up to permanently deform the eat. With a dog, they put the ole lamp shade collar on them to keep them from digging at the incision...not quite sure how they would handle that with a horse. Good luck and please post updates. ((((hug))))
New Member:
xraygurl

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 17, 2012 - 8:45 am:

Thanks ya'll
Here's our update...

Friday afternoon when I got home it looked so much worse with a steady bloody discharge and hair missing from the ear. So I called the MSU vet school and made an emergency appointment for Saturday. By Saturday morning the left ear (good ear) had started to swell and he had rubbed hair off of it and it was weeping.
Dr. Carouthers said he has developed cellulitis which has spread to the good ear (left) and now he has developed a small hematoma in the left ear..AARGH! So he was admitted and started on anti inflammatories and antibiotics and he is scheduled for surgery on both ears for this afternoon. Let's all hope it goes well.

As for why he is rubbing his ears so hard..the vets have no idea. no ticks, no fly bites, no mites...maybe due to stress and he is mutilating himself?? we can't figure it out.

I will keep you posted.
Member:
babychop

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 17, 2012 - 10:56 am:

Oh honey, I am so sorry to hear he is going through this (and you!). At least he will be in the right place, vet schools are armed with all the up and coming knowledge and new procedures they'll need to combat what is going on with him.

Hang in there, hopefully this will get sorted out soon. Perhaps while they're in there they can figure out why he's doing this in the first place. He might have something going on that one would never connect to any of this by just looking at him.
Member:
pattyb

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 17, 2012 - 11:53 am:

Good luck Amy C.......but soooo glad you went to MSU. Like Andrea said, the schools are armed with the latest....and I think they see more of the odd and unexplained that we can alllll learn from.

(((((Amy and horsey)))))
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 17, 2012 - 10:12 pm:

Oh my, cellulitis is serious stuff.

Hope that you will see steady improvement with your horse in a very good care facility.
New Member:
xraygurl

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 18, 2012 - 2:36 pm:

Hi DrO,
The surgeon called me last night and said that the surgery went well, but his right ear will always be fatter/bigger than the left due to the fibrous tissue she was unable to remove. She also hinted that he will be susceptible to future problems...does this mean he will more likely hematoma his ears again? I wonder at the probability of it happening again?
She also said to invest in a good fly mask with ears which I have, but isn't it true that if it rains with a mask on the horse's vision is impaired? I am just wondering what to do about that as I work 10 hour shifts and sometimes the weather is unpredictable...I would hate to leave him in a mask in the rain if he couldn't see.
Any body got any suggestions how to fly mask just the ears on a routine basis???
Member:
babychop

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 18, 2012 - 6:33 pm:

You could always get one of those fancy Kensington bug eye ones and just cut the eyes out if you're that worried about it but I bet it wouldn't bother him that much if you got him the bug eye one in the first place :-)

Worth a try - just put some water on it while you're there and see how he does. Then you won't have to wonder.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 18, 2012 - 8:58 pm:

Amy, you should ask these questions of the surgeon, having examined the horse (s)he will be able to answer more accurately than me. Many horses do perfectly fine with a mask on in the rain.
DrO
Member:
althaea

Posted on Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 - 12:48 am:

They also make ear hoods (mostly for jumpers in the ring) that will work as well.
https://www.equinenow.com/store-item-28358

has them relatively cheap.
You can add a velcro closure to these.
I don't like fly masks when my horses are out in the big turnouts overnight. They can get caught and they can't see well with them at night.
Member:
babychop

Posted on Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 - 10:54 am:

But then you have to have a halter on don't you(?) as one good shake and it goes flying and you risk Poll Evil (eww, learned about that on another string - you don't want THAT). Plus getting hung up with a halter on. I'd worry more about that than a fly mask. Fly mask is easier to get off.
Member:
althaea

Posted on Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 - 2:27 pm:

Normally - yes - you'd have a halter on. But you can make a velcro attachment for under the throatlatch instead. I've done this - it's effective and comes off easier than a halter.
Member:
babychop

Posted on Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 - 2:58 pm:

Aren't they knit though? I would worry about them getting soaked and water getting in the ear more with those than with a fly mask. Just thinking about the rain issue...

I would think that would drive a horse nuts.
Member:
althaea

Posted on Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 - 3:57 pm:

The older ones were knit - they were mostly created to keep ear plugs in place. The one I posted the addy for is a mesh - designed to keep bugs out. They are less likely to absorb water. They can be found at Dover or most other online sales outlets. I just picked that particular one because it showed the type best. I imagine if there is healing going on you'd want them a bit larger to avoid rubbing contact on sore ears.
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