# HELP! Puppy ripped out ear cropping stitches!--- What do I do!?



## MrDeuce

This is my first time on one of these sites so please bear with me.. 
My 4month old puppy's ears were cropped on Tuesday.. I've used cotton balls to apply peroxide to his ears and occasional neosporin.. But by Wednesday night/Thursday moring he had scratched out some of the stitches on both ears- towards the bottoms of his ears.. What concerns me is that his left ear now has an open wound, again, on the bottom portion of part of his ear that was cut.. It's not necessarily hanging open, but it is slightly separated (inner ear from outer ear i guess) if you know what I'm saying.. An ointment called Red Jel was recommended to me by a friend, and I put it on him- on both ears- about an hour ago.. He said that it should heal fine, and close up regularly- just as if the stitches were still in place.. 
Is this true? and is there anything else I should know? 
ANY information will be helpful and greatly appreciated..


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## FloorCandy

Call your vet asap.


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## Indigo Bully Connection

how many stiches were busted


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## Indigo Bully Connection

if he busted only 1 or 2 don't freak out it's common. I've had pups bust a stitch the first day. Just make sure to keep him quiet and leave the cone on so he doesn't start scratching them as they start healing.


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## Indigo Bully Connection

Personally, I don't touch my dogs ears until the stitches come out. I administer oral antibiotics which do the same thing with no discomfort to the dog


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## performanceknls

Peroxide IS NO GOOD!!!! That may have helped dissolve the stitches. But don;t freak out if it was just at the base you can call your vet but I would just let them be. I have had over 12 dogs with cropped ears and I had many pop stitches and their is really nothing you can do. Just keep him from scratching his ears and you can buy one of these cones that are soft (do not use the hard ones) and are perfect for cropped ears.
Collar - Vet Recovery, 8&quot - Accessories - Lambert Vet Supply
you can buy them online or at the pet store, or even some vets carry them. You might have to call around but those work the best for ear crops. The less you mess with his ears the less Chance they have of becoming infected! resist the urge to touch them and no ointment or anything. You want them to crust up and build a scab over so it can heal, NO PEROXIDE!

Again don't stress too hard unless they get infected.


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## Indigo Bully Connection

good post Lisa, yes no matter how tempting it is, don't touch the ears... alot of people say to massage them, even some vets say to apply an ointment, but they always heal much quicker and cleaner if you just leave them alone.


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## performanceknls

Yeah sometimes the ears will get large bloody scabs and Yes that really itches for the dog but that is why you should have a soft cone. Resist the urge to pick the scab and trust me when I say just to leave it alone.

Shoot back in the day they didn't even use stitches and the crops came out fine.
ear crops can be scary when they do not go as planned, my first APBT popped stitches out too and I spent an extra 400 dollars at the vet when all I had to do was leave them alone. When I talked to more experienced breeders at the time they told ,me the vets just took my money and he would have been fine


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## MrDeuce

I just got off work. Thanks to everyone for the comments. 
The guy who clipped them was the one that told me to use the peroxide, neosporin, etc. -- and now, of course, the Red Jel. He said that's what he used for his dogs. 
Now, sounds like I should just drop the peroxide, according to the replies. Is there any sort of cleaning to be done or use of for the Red Jel I just bought?
Is there no kind of swelling or lumping or scaring for leaving a gash like that open?
How long should this take to heal? Are there any other steps I should take?
Thanks again to all


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## Indigo Bully Connection

MrDeuce said:


> I just got off work. Thanks to everyone for the comments.
> The guy who clipped them was the one that told me to use the peroxide, neosporin, etc. -- and now, of course, the Red Jel. He said that's what he used for his dogs.
> Now, sounds like I should just drop the peroxide, according to the replies. Is there any sort of cleaning to be done or use of for the Red Jel I just bought?
> Is there no kind of swelling or lumping or scaring for leaving a gash like that open?
> How long should this take to heal? Are there any other steps I should take?
> Thanks again to all


The rest of the stitches are to come out 2 weeks from the initial crop. Nah, just leave it alone. Don't clean it, but don't let him get it dirty like rolling in the yard. Get some oral antibiotics and your dog will be fine the more you handle the ears it increases your chances for ugly scarring and infection.


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## performanceknls

MrDeuce said:


> I just got off work. Thanks to everyone for the comments.
> The guy who clipped them was the one that told me to use the peroxide, neosporin, etc. -- and now, of course, the Red Jel. He said that's what he used for his dogs.
> Now, sounds like I should just drop the peroxide, according to the replies. Is there any sort of cleaning to be done or use of for the Red Jel I just bought?
> Is there no kind of swelling or lumping or scaring for leaving a gash like that open?
> How long should this take to heal? Are there any other steps I should take?
> Thanks again to all


Yup I agree with shana leave them along put NOTHING on them! A vet told you to use peroxide? REALLY? find a new vet! Not all vets know what the hell they are talking about! I see many talk out of their a$$es find a good one from asking around.


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## Jblondie813

I just saw this post & my pups stitches toward the bottom of his ear ripped & I sent a pic to the emergency vet and $80 later they had to restitch him for proper healing. I would recommend paying to get them stitched back up if you want proper healing. My pup had about 1 inch of stitches that came undone & then the skin just opened up....It was BAD! He does have a very small scar underneath some of his fur but hardly noticable. I only see it cuz I looked for it.


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## justafatkid

same thing happened to my puppy, where can i find some of that red gel? her ear looks pretty bad. last thing i want is infection.


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## sampson

*im havig a problem with my dogs ears*

my dogs ears were cropped yesterday and i took an hour ride home when i got home and looked in his kennel blood was every place i freeked out i cleaned him up and i think he lost a stich are two but this morning i noticed one looks like it was cut a little more twards the back of his head than the other they are standing even but when you look at him from the back you can see it .can i goback when he heals and get it trimmed are should i leave it alone?


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## Jblondie813

This is what we had to restitch...it was pretty bad!









If it looks anything like this, you need to take him to get restitched.


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