Why is her ear tip losing hair? - Page 1

The tip of my GSD's ear is losing all its fur, is dry, and sometimes is a bit red. She doesn't scratch at it, and doesn't bother with it unless I'm rubbing it washing with an antiseptic shampoo the vet gave me.
I can tell you it is NOT ear mites, mange, fleas, or allergies (she doesn't itch or scratch anywhere). I can also tell you it is not contagious as none of my other dogs have it. It does seem to be coming in on the other ear as well now. It is Winter here in NY, so I know it is not bug related.
My vet is bewildered, and so am I.
Any thoughts/ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for looking.

I have a dog that has this same thing, it comes and goes.  I have investigated EVERY possibility.  Full thyroid panel sent to Dr. Dodds (came back completely normal), multiple scrapings and swabs...nothing.  No other allergies or conditions, no skin or coat problems, healthy dog, good diet.  It is not seasonal since he's had it in winter and summer.  It's not bug bites because that was the vet's initial thought and I've used a dog bug repellent.  I've treated it with every home remedy and dog cream under the sun and it doesn't really get better or worse.  My dog is 4 and has had this on and off his whole life and none of my other dogs have it.  I know a few other dogs from his lines and/or breeder that have it.  It does seem to lessen as he ages.  Right now he just has one hairless spot because the vet I took him to for a 3 year rabies vaccine was curious and wanted to scrape it (again).  It looks and acts like "vasculities" but that just describes the condition, not the underlying cause.  The only thing I can think of is that my dog's ears are pretty tall and pointy.  They are not too big but aren't small either.  Maybe he just doesn't get the best circulation up there.  *shrug*  The vet still likes to guess but I don't really care anymore, it never spreads and doesn't bother the dog (he's not itching his head or ears).

hormones
 

Do you guys think this could have anything to do with the crate? Are they in wire crates? Do they bang or rub their head on the roof of the crates? I have seen it with other dogs as well.
T

The dog I have that sometimes has this is only in a crate when traveling and for Schutzhund and flyball.  He's not crated at home.

My girl had it on and off.  had nothing to do with crates or having too tall ears :)  I believe it was an allergic reaction to something.  just like other allergy responses occur in different areas of the body and in different ways  - ear infections, paw licking/chewing/ chewing on the front legs/ belly skin rashes/ you get the idea.  Just my uneducated hunch.  today, I would probably try coconut oil, topically, and see if that did not at least take care of the dryness.  I would continue to watch the thyroid.... 

Darcy

I've seen something like this that was a mild fungal infection--you can treat with some athlete's foot cream and it should resolve. I do think it can be transferred from dog to dog via crates.

Or you can take her to the vet and get a scraping

Christine

One of my females had exactly this. I took her to the vet, first question he asked was when she was expected to be in heat again, I said a month or so, he said go home and come back if its not gone after she's out of heat.... It went away while she was in heat. Hormones.

It appears to be ear tip vasculitis, which is believed to be an auto-immune condition which my vet sees primarily in GSDs.  My 2 yo female has been battling it for over a year.  At one point it looked like the photo and we were able to keep it under control with pentoxifylline, a drug used to increase circulation to the extremities. However, it can become very severe and the tips of the ears can slough off.  My dog's condition became severe a few months ago to the point where her ears were bleeding and necrosis was setting in.  I felt like I had no choice but to hit it hard with meds before her ears started falling off (literally).  She's been on prednisone, doxycycline, pentoxifylline, tacrolimus and niacinamide 2-3 times a day.  She's now off the pred but is still on the rest.   She will likely need to remain on some of the meds for life.  Most of her fur has grown back, but this is a condition that is managed and never really cured.  Vaccines can exacerbate it and even bring it on, but that was not the case with her.  She does have some environmental allergies which I suspect contribute to it. 

This is how her ears looked in January.  The black spots are necrosis.                   

 

Can you please tell me what you are feeding your dogs. ???  Maybe I can offer some insight.