Droopy ear

[mworthington]

My cairn terrier has a droopy left ear. I have taken him to the vet and the ears are clean and free of pests. I do not know what to do. He looks so sad with one droopy ear and I am afraid he could become prone to ear problems. Has anyone had this problem or heard of it happening? What should I do? He can hold it erect when he wants to express himself, but most of the time it just droops.

[Tracy A.]

Was his ear ever upright? If yes, an ear can get damaged so that is droops.

[mworthington]

Yes, his ear was erect. What would cause such damage? Is there anyway to repair the damage?

[kcsdogs]

That is weird that it would become droopy after it had stood up. Maybe giving him a little extra calcium would help. If his cartilage has become weakened for some reason that might help some, that is what we do with puppies from the puppy mills that have not had enough calcium from their mothers.

[Tracy A.]

A few things that can happen-

An e-collar has been known to damage an ear.

Rough handling of an ear can damange it

A dog getting his head stuck somewhere can do it

It's like a break in the cartilige happens, i've seen in GSD's before and i've listed the reasons i've heard/seen for a fully upright ear going south.

Also Predisone usage will use up calicum/cartlidge and it's uncommon for a dogs ears to get floppy while on it.

As an adult, I don't think you can do much to fix the ear. I've had good results with young dogs (under 1 year old) with my method.

[goforette]

My last Westie had her ear damaged around age 6 and it never recovered or stood back up. She was chasing a snake by our raspberry bush one year and we're not sure if the snake bit her or if the raspberry thorns injured that ear in her frenzie to catch the snake but it caused a hemotoba to occur in her left ear, but it never did stand up again after that. But it wasn't a serious health condition, it was just something that took us time to get used to. We felt bad and to say the least the raspberry bush was permanently blocked off just in case - the snakes well were a different story - we tried to keep them away - but each summer we catch 17-20 of them in the yard for release at the lake

[Pepandfriend's mom]

You catch 17-20 snakes each year?? W-w-w-w-hoa, I probably wouldn't dare to go OUT in the yard. Do they bother the girls or (gulp) vice versa?

Hope they are not rattlers. Otherwise, good for you for not killing them. I have only encountered a couple of snakes in the wild, and both times the snakes and I both made new trails.

pam

[sheila and Misty]

Droopy ear-probably got stuck somewhere and damaged the cartilage doubt ts fixable -maybe just maybe He sleeps on his one ear alot and he trained it down- because if it was damaged I dont see how its possible that he can lift it on occasion, either way its probably cute and I'm sure its no big deal. I wouldnt worry about it unless your in show.

[sj4iy]

My dog's ears drooped when he was taking a heavy dose of prednisone, but they stood back up when we lowered the dosage.

[goforette]

You catch 17-20 snakes each year?? W-w-w-w-hoa, I probably wouldn't dare to go OUT in the yard. Do they bother the girls or (gulp) vice versa?

Hope they are not rattlers. Otherwise, good for you for not killing them. I have only encountered a couple of snakes in the wild, and both times the snakes and I both made new trails.

pam

Luckily the only ones in the gard are bull and garter snakes - there are some rattlers at the lake but luckily none have come our way - we wouldn't be trying to rehome the rattlers - I'd be dialing animal control ASAP! - My Cairns actually haven't had their first experience with snakes - this will be thier first year - so I'll keep you posted - I'm hoping they take little to no interest - we're trying not to encourage "critter" but the terrier in them I'm sure will take over and they'll see them as sport