Couldn't find the "Ask the Vet" part of this forum so trying again to post sorry if duplicate

[TheresanAppfurthat]

Hope I'm not double-posting my question, I have not been able to figure out how to get to the "Ask the Vet" part. I posted in the dog forum about this. my 10-yr-old JRT had small scab on underside of ear flap a while back, a couple days ago I noticed a dime-size lump, today it is size of quarter and noticeably thickened. Before I try to find a new vet would respectfully request of Dr. Cheng some general information about what might be going on. I DREAD cancer as I know everyone does. I'm not rich and have to get as much education on this topic before going to a vet. Thank you for responding and if possible helping with info how to get to the Ask the Vet part of the forum.

[Ghilly]

I'm sorry to hear about all you've been through with your pets.  It's difficult enough to lose them to old age but when there is disease of any type involved it's always more difficult because we always tend to second guess ourselves and wonder "what if?".  In this case, spending a couple of days educating yourself as to what this could be is not a problem.  Chances are quite good that 48 hours isn't going to make a bit of difference in how this is handled by a vet.  Remember, however, that this IS still considered a holiday weekend and most businesses are probably going to be closed on Monday in observance of New Year's Day, so you may not be able to get him in to be seen until Tuesday or later.  

In the meantime, keep an eye on the ear.  If the lump appears to be growing at a fast rate, then you may want to just take him to an emergency vet over the weekend since waiting could result in the situation becoming worse.  However, if it appears to be maintaining the status quo then I don't see any harm in waiting until the weekend is over and using that time to find out all you can as to what this could possibly be.  At least that way when you do get him in to the vet's office you will have half an idea what's going on and it won't be all just Greek to you.  Good luck and PLEASE post back and let us know what the vet says!

Ghilly

[TheresanAppfurthat]

Thank you Ghilly. Most of my first post disappeared. The small scab was quite some time ago, it healed and fell off. The lump is at the former scab site. The lump appeared 2-3 days ago and is bigger today. There appears to be no inflammation and he isn't scratching or shaking his head. Gentle palpation doesn't result in any pain response from him, This time there is no scab. No apparent heat. But it is noticeably bigger. I had a horse with a sarcoid ear tumor that became malignant and I lost him from that in 2004 -- I don't know if dogs get sarcoids and at any rate the lump is under the skin surface (underside of ear flap and not in ear canal) . Plus I lost my older JRT at Christmas in 2010 to a cascade of events resulting from undiagnosed kidney disease (vet never even read or interpreted the bloodwork and I wasn't given it til my dog died). So I'm so on edge with worry that I can hardly think straight but I know I want to educate myself on possibilities of what this might be before looking for a new vet, needless to say I'm not going back to the other one. I hope spending a day or two learning before seeking new vet help doesn't make me a bad pet parent!

[Ghilly]

Here's a link to the "Ask A Vet" forum:    http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Animal-Health---General/show/112

If your dog had been bothering the ear and had knocked the scab off himself, what you might be seeing on the ear now is a hematoma.  A hematoma is like a blood blister that commonly forms within the ear pinna when there is a continued insult to the ear.  Ears are very tender and the dog's claws can really irritate it if they continually bother it.  Aural hematomas are normally the result of an infected ear canal because the infection causes pain and itching and makes the dog paw and scratch constantly at the ear.  Sometimes, if the ears are sensitive enough, even a vigorous shaking of the head can cause an aural hematoma but it is more often due to some type of injury with continued bothering by the paw.  Normally these hematomas go away but sometimes if they are large enough and slow enough to heal it is necessary to place a suture every couple of centimeters around the area of the hematoma, creating like a quilt to lessen the size of it and make it difficult for it to continue to fill up with blood.  The hematoma usually heals within a couple of weeks and hopefully the problem is gone.  

If this is what your dog has, what you first need to do is have the vet do a complete inspection of the ear canal to make sure there is not an infection in there that made him worry at the ear in the first place, otherwise the healing of the hematoma is going to be delayed because the root cause is still there.  

Also, to put your mind at ease, when I went to get you the address so I could link you to the Ask A Vet forum, I saw your post over there, so hopefully one of the doctors will be responding to you soon.  :)  Please let us know how your dog is doing.

Ghilly