Lyla has a small place on the tip of her right ear that is maybe half a square inch where she has lost all her hair. The skin in this area is not pink like the rest of her ear, but it dark, almost black and dry/crusty. If you pull, or sometimes just touch, the hair around this part of the ear, the hair just comes right off in a clump (like it's not even attached underneath the skin) and always has crusty skin attached to it.

I'm very confused by this. She doesn't seem bothered by it, and it doesn't seem to be itchy. It's been going on for at least a month maybe two. For a while I didn't worry about it because it didn't seem to be getting larger, but now I think maybe it is growing. Any ideas what this could be??


UPDATE: This is a very old discussion. Lyla's ear problem cleared up with a little 1:10 bleach to water solution applied twice a day with a cotton ball for 2 weeks. Never came back! Not sure exactly what is was, but probably some pesky fungal infection.

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Are you sure she's not scratching it? My rescue Wiley has a 1" patch of hair missing on her ear but she is prone to yeast in her ear and she scratches when her yeast is bothering her. I just put a small amount of bacitracin on it and it clears up. I did ask the vet about her ear and she told me that sometimes dogs just have chronic yeast problems and that Wiley (she's a puppy mill rescue) might be one. I do treat this and it gets better for a month or 2. Have you checked inside her ear?

I would not assume this is like Wiley's as the dark crusty sounds like you might want to at least call your vet and ask! Good Luck!
No, I really odn't think she is scratching it unless she only does it when I'm not around, which I doubt. It is on the tip of her ear, and I don't see anything that look unusual inside the ear, or even on any part of the visible part of the ear other than that one spot. I emailed my vet with a description asking if it was worth bringing her in for, so hopefully he gets that and gives me an answer tomorrow. I don't think it's anything dangerous, but it is strange and I don't want it to spread!
I don't think it's anything dangerous either! Wiley has a dark almost black spot in her ear that I was afraid was something bad but my vet has never said anything about it!
Honestly health issues are not really my strong suit, but offhand I would say it sounds like it could be some sort of fungal infection? Not sure. I agree having the vet take a look might be good. A lot of things that can be treated with topicals when confined to a small space become a much bigger issues once spread over wider areas of the body.
I agree with Beth... it kind of sounds likes rain rot that horses get which is a fungal infection. I am not saying that is what it is, but it does sound like that. I think asking the vet is a good idea, and see if he might just recommend something to put on it or if she needs to go in and see him. I hope it turns out to not be a big deal though!
Yes, mine also got fungal on the ear 2 mths back. It was exactly what Sky and Lyla mentioned.
About a year and a half ago my Beauregard went through the exact same thing! He started losing hair on both ears and it didn't seem to bother him at all. I started freaking out thinking I was a horrible dog mom! I took him to the vet and they swabbed his ears to test for fungal infections. Turned out he had ringworm...they gave us an anti-fungal cream and some fish oil pills to help with the hair growing back. Once we started applying the fungal cream and giving him the pills, all of his hair grew back and he was as good as new! I was so relieved!
Hi Patricia, Beauregard and Tegan. Our old girl Minnie just tested positive for ringworm. We are doing the topical treatment at the moment. Just wondering if the ringworm spread to anyone else in your household. I feel itchy just thinking about it. Thanks in advance for your info.
Bandit has gone through the same problem before. We went to the vet and we found out that he had vasculitis - inflammation of blood vessels. The cause is uncertain, but the vet asked us to just put some Cortizone on it for a week. If it improved, then it shouldnt be a big deal. We did that for a week and the hair on the tips grew back. maybe that's what lyla has??
This happened to us and all the vet's tests were negative
my corgi had the same issue when he was a puppy, and it was only on the tips of his ears...it was the strangest thing. i never did figure out what it was, it just eventually resolved itself. his hair grew back and now he doesn't have the problem anymore. i don't know what to tell you other than just wait it out and see if it fixes itself. however, if you notice that it's spreading to other parts of her ear you may want to go to the vet because it could be something bacterial or even fungal.
Could it be ringworm (it's a fungal infection not actually a worm)?

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