sores ON ears

Hello, I have a 7 year old female Beagle and she has developed an open sore on her ear close to the tip. She has recently also grown 3 lumps on the same ear they look like infected pimples but no white or black heads, just firm lumps. The one that is the oldest erupted and formed a thick oozy scab & then dried up on the outside but still had pus in it. We pulled the scab and washed it with peroxide and used an A & D ointment on it . It still exists but is not draining. It is just gross. Limited by our income right now we can not afford the vet but most assuredly do not want anything serious to go unknown to us. She has bouts of moodiness and chews a bald spot on her back close to her tail but usually after being reprimanded she stops and it goes away for a few weeks. She also licks and chews her feet quite a bit but does not seem to be bothered by the ear problems(pain). Please help we love this dog and do not want to let her deteriorate.
                                         Thank you in advance!

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

Since your dog seems to have a history of atopy (licking and chewing paws and the spot on her back), the lesions on your dog's ears may be secondary to (atopy) allergic skin disease.  Common causes to what you describe include: sebaceous cysts,  histeocytoma's, or  fly strike (fly's biting the tips of the ear and causing infection).  

However, due to her age I must also list much more serious causes i.e.: skin cancers, which include: squamous cell carcinoma, mast cell tumors,  or other skin cancer.    Cancers increase with age.

If the lesions are histeocytoma's each lesion will usually resolve on it's own in 3 months,  but she could get other lesions in other places.  Sebaceous cysts can be drained but they will continue to fill up again unless you have them surgically removed.

If there is a possibility that the lesions could be skin cancers, it would be best to have them completely excised and biopsied.

[nutmeg23]

is it expensive to have the sores biopsied? how is it treated?Is it fatal?