Blood blisters can often be concerning for pup parents. Known also as hematomas, they occur when blood-filled blisters develop on a dog’s body – most commonly on the ears.
Here’s what you need to know about them:
Causes
The most common causes of blood blisters are:
- Excessive scratching, often due to mites, irritation, or infection
- Injury in the affected area
- Excessive head shaking, often due to mites, irritation, or infection
Symptoms
Symptoms of a visible, external blood blister include:
- Swelling
- Redness
- Discoloration
- Deformation
- Avoiding pressure, touch, or interaction with the area
- Repeated shaking of the head
- Repeated scratching
Symptoms of a rarer internal blood blister, which is more dangerous, include:
- Pain
- Neurological problems
- Incontinence
- Seizures
- Organ failure
- Comas
Treatment
Most blood blisters can heal, slowly, on their own. But this can take up to multiple months, and in that time, you would need to make sure your dog isn’t scratching at the spot or shaking their head too much, or else the blister may rupture and cause infections.
It’s recommended that you bring your pup to a vet if they have even a very mild blood blister. A vet may:
- Bandage the blister and put a cone on the dog (usually for ear blisters)
- Drain the blood from the blister
- Add a temporary drain at the site of the blister
- Opt for surgery to remove and suture the clot (usually for internal hematomas)
Never attempt to drain a blood blister on your own!
Feature Image Source: Pixabay