My right ear bleeding inside?

Stray dog...lower 1/3 of ear fell off!?

• Please help me! This is absolutely the truth. Three days ago, a stray dog came to our house (I've named her Polly; she is the sweetest little thing). I noticed that day that she had a small tick attached to the outside of one ear, and I removed the tick (it was not engorged nor even tightly attached; I don't know if that has anything to do with the rest of the story). So, anyway...at that time, I also noticed that, on the same ear, about the bottom 1/3 of the ear was slightly swollen but felt very hard. The fur was very, very stiff in this area too, and there was a raised ridge separating the hard part of the ear from the upper normal part. When I tried to further examine the ear, the dog whimpered and pulled away (at the slightest touch, even). I did not see any sore; there was no evidence of mites, etc. The next day, I took the little dog to my dog's vet to have her checked for a microchip; none was found. I also made an appointment for next week to have her fully checked if no one had claimed her by that time (this was the earliest appointment the vet had, and, other than the ear, the dog seems healthy and happy--very well fed and well loved; fur is slick and shiny). Well... This afternoon, my daughters and I soaked Polly's ear in warm water (I thought maybe something was matted on her ear and soaking would help clean it). She was very content to lie still and seemed even to enjoy letting the tip of her ear soak in the bowl of water my daughter held. It seemed to soften maybe a little (but very little, really, if any). Then I applied antibiotic ointment. By then, it was 9:00 pm--no vet was open and we are almost 2 hours from the nearest emergency clinic. But, no worries, I thought, She seemed to be in no pain at all (unless, again, you touched the ear with a decent amount of pressure), and there was no blood or sore of any kind. It honestly just felt hard--both the ear itself and the fur over it (almost like the tip was dipped in varnish or something). I just went out to check on her, and the bottom tip of her ear (not just the tip; it's literally about 1/3 of her ear!) is gone! There is, still, no blood, and she actually appears to feel BETTER (she let me put more antibiotic ointment on and did not pull away nor whimper). The only sign that anything has happened at all is that on the remaining edge of the ear, the tissue inside is pink/red but not actively bleeding or even oozing clear liquid. Nothing. I swear it's like a spontaneous amputation; like what you might see with frostbite or something (but...even though the little dog's only been with me for a few days, I don't think the temps here in Kentucky have been cold enough at any point this winter to cause actual frostbite). IF nobody claims this little girl, she will become a member of our family, and I feel confident our vet will treat her with excellent care once he sees her next week, and I will call him tomorrow to get his opinion and to get her in sooner, but I am so very worried about her tonight! I can't sleep (even though the pup is sleeping like a baby!), and I can't find ANYTHING online that really even resembles what I'm seeing in this little dog. From what I've read, it does not sound like mange or mites. The ONLY thing I've thought it might be is ear tip vasculitis (but it's only on one ear, so that doesn't sound right, does it?) or maybe skin cancer, but that seems a stretch. I'm so sorry to go on and on, but I've read where other people have written similar questions, and the answers were really angry; saying that "dog's ears don't just fall off" and accusing the writer of being a troll, so I really wanted to be thorough and assure you of my sincerity. I LOVE my pets and take the best care of them I can; I will do nothing less for this little dog, I swear. I will appreciate any advice (reassurance, please!) you can provide. Thank you so much! Thank you, everyone, so much! I really do appreciate all of your help. It's 11:30 here, and I just went out to check on her again (if nobody claims her, she'll become an indoor doggy, but in case an owner does show up and they don't normally keep her inside, I thought it would just be kind of mean to get her used to sleeping inside). She was asleep on her pillow but jumped right up, happy as could be, and ran over to me. She ate two more cups of food and settled down with a rawhide, so, again, she seems to be feeling ok (I, on the other hand, am a wreck! I broke the dog, I keep thinking!). Maybe it IS frostbite or the fly thing. It really does look like frostbite, at least what I know of it with regard to humans anyway. I don't think it could have been a band of any kind (I can hardly stand to even think of that! I can't imagine how that would hurt!). Her ears are pretty long and floppy and this was just on the bottom 1/3 and it broke clean off in a straight line

• Answer:

  If it wasn't frost bite it may have been flies. Back when I worked with horses a lot (and barns have flies) sometimes I would see fly bitten ear tips go bad like this. I've never heard of it falling off, but weird stuff happens. I guess she had had the fly biting torture go on quite a while and get quite bad. I don't get it either. It just happens.