Ear tip hair loss - Page 1

How many of you have experienced hair loss on the tips of your GSD's ears?  The hair falls out and the ears get crusty on the edges (like they have been chewed on by flies).  What did your vet say it was and how was it treated?  At first my vet thought it was ear mites and I was applying Revolution monthly.  However, it never cleared up.  As the practice saw more cases (mostly GSD's) they looked into it more.  They now believe it is a vascular condition possibly caused by an immune response from vaccination.  She says it usually occurs after vaccinations.  After 30 days on Pentoxifylline the ears look a lot better.  Just waiting for hair growth.  I guess some dogs need 60 days on the pills.  Vet did say that stressors could cause the hair to fall out again.  She also said that dogs with this condition should not be revaccinated (except for law mandated rabies) but instead titered (which I do anyway).  

Never had this problem with any previous GSD's, now both of my current ones have it.  Just wondering if this is a new problem cropping up or I'm just aware of it now because my dogs have it.

 

I've had two of my past dogs have this issue, neither of which were GSD.  I had two Vets dx as a fungal infection.  I would treat with an antifungal from your Vet, you can also use something natural like coconut oil or diluted tea tree oil (very dilute).  I successfully treated yeast infections in my dogs ears using diluted tea tree oil/coconut oil slurry and alternated by cleaning with mild vinegar to change the PH.  Cleared up nicely. 

Hey!! Funny you should mention this!! I have just had the exact same condition arise!! Only thing is that the dog was pregnant (now feeding puppies) and I will look into it as soon as they are weaned!! We don't have biting flies here - cool to temperate climate, and I was perplexed because there is also a little 'crustyness' on the nose!! Am hoping it's hormonal but it may prove otherwise as this dog is an import from a rabies affected country so would have had a rabies vaccination. . .
Looking forward to further responses!!

My female GSD has this, it was diagnosed as ear-tip vasculitis, which is believed to be an auto-immune condition as the OP stated.  It started when she was 10 months old and she is now 3 yo and it has been ongoing treatment for her.  Before the diagnosis we treated it as allergies, fungal, etc. and tried everything imaginable without success. She tends to have worse flare-ups at certain times of the year.  And yes, vaccines can cause it to flare up, but that was not the case with her.  If left untreated, the skin cells on the ears start to die and slough off, resulting in disfigurement.  Her initial treatment was the pentoxifylline which she is on permanently. Pentoxifylline is a human drug which increases circulation to the extremities.   It did result in great improvement and it went into remission but then she had a very bad  flare-up where she did a course of pred and doxy in addition to the pentoxifylline as well as topical tacrolimus (Protopic).  And also the supplement niacinamide.  It sounds like a lot, but her ears were so bad that necrosis was starting, the tips were turning black, so we had to be aggressive in her treatment.  After it went into remission we have continued on with the pentoxifylline and the niacinamide with occasional use of the tacrolimus.  My vet has seen the condition a lot in GSDs.  There is also an associated type of vasculitis that occurs in GSDs called Familial cutaneous vasculopathy of GSDs where it affects the foot pads and occurs most often in puppies.  There was a study on this.

Since she has been affected I have seen and heard of several GSDs with the same condition.  Unfortunately, it is rarely diagnosed correctly and they do not receive the treatment they should.  It is often mistaken by vets as allergies or fungal.

Here is when it was at its worst:



And recently after treatment.  The tips are a little gooey from the ointment:



 

I had a male who developed this at about ten months. It started about a month after being vaccinated. One vet thought it mange and recommended ivermectin. My regular vet when she returned said the ivermectin would only further hinder the immune system and recommended essential oils. The recipe she gave me was 10 parts almond oil, 1 part lavender oil, 1 part garlic oil, I part mullein oil.  Massage on affected area several times a day.  My guy healed in a few weeks of using the oil.

Similar to what agilegsds vet diagnosed, my vet called it avascular necrosis.

I wonder if the essential oils help with circulation???

Pregnancy would be a stressor that could cause a flare up.  One of my girls flared up when she went into heat.

 

I advised you to check to your dog to a doctor and Proffedior of DVM.

Hollistic remedies are much better than drugs especially the Ivemec treatment..Sometimes it has to be used but the Oil treatment is very efficient.\\

same thing with getting ear infections stopped

:YR

One of mine gets this on and off. It doesn't seem to bother him (he doesn't itch it).  I had a friend who works in a lab check a swab and a scraping...nothing.  He's never had mites or mange, never even had a yeast infection in his ears, doesn't have allergies, doesn't have autoimmune problems as far as I know, had a full thyroid panel checked - completely normal...heck this dog hasn't been to the vet for anything other than an actual leg injury and 3 year vaccines or annual heartworm tests.  He gets it in the winter when it's really dry and the heat is running constantly.  Normally I don't do anything and the hair comes back.  Sometimes I put a cream on it that sort of moisturizes it but usually don't bother. Some winters are worse, others are not really a problem at all.  This winter has been one of the worse ones (as I'm sure it has for everyone aside from dog ailments!) but still not nearly like what agilegsds posted.

My interpretation of the issue was way off, based on those pictures. What my dogs have had was only on the ear margins and never got red and inflamed. So, disregard my advice.