My 5 year old dachshund/rat terrier mix has crusty skin on the tips of her ears. It is not mange or fleas. The skin is dry and it seems to be itchy. Anyone have any idea what it could be?
Yes–dealt with this before on a dog in the past but I cannot remember precisely what the cause of it is. I believe a vet visit is in order as it may be a bacterial thing?
Ah, I see you are in the south. Land of ickies and grungies. That’s probably when I remember it from. Lived south of the Mason-Dixon for a time. Did a quick google search which says mites may be the cause or, ear margin hyperkeratosis https://wagwalking.com/condition/ear-margin-hyperkeratosis . In any case, looks like it’s a vet visit. Good luck!
Are you sure it’s not sarcoptic mange? I recently went through this with my shelter pup. My vet said scrapings are often useless due to the risk of not getting an actual mite on the slide, but apparently there’s a trick where if you flick the ear tip in a certain way and the dog’s hind leg goes crazy, then it’s sarcoptic mange (it’s in the vet textbooks). Good news is that treatment these days is one NexGard tablet, and possible repeat in a month.
I did this with Syd Vicious although he didn’t have any “mangy” spots on him. His leg went crazy before treatment and didn’t after treatment, and his general itchiness went away.
I had a dog with that, and it was that ear margin hyperkeratosis mentioned above. The vet gave us a prescription shampoo and instructions to wash the ear edges daily. It was gone in a week or two. Easy peasy! :yes:
