Avascular necrosis of the ears

[Squirt's Mom]

I have a new "foster" :rolleyes::D who we thought had frost bitten ears but Doc says it is Avascular necrosis. Redd was reportedly a Chihuahua but he is actually a Chiweenie. ;) Doc says this is a genetic condition seen in Doxies and his ears may start to slough off at the edges, leaving notches. He gave us some Betagen spray and I rub his ears with that several times a day.

Has anyone else dealt with this? If so, what did you do to help the ears live longer? (Redd is geriatric, not neutered, and hikes allllll over the place! So the rest of him may be at risk but I would like to preserve the ears for as long as possible. :p)

[Renee]

I've seen this condition in older doxies, but never treated it. Would rubbing it with coconut oil help?

[SasAndYunah]

The only thing I know about Avascular necrosis is that it is a different name for Calve-Perthes disease, a disease of the hip joint (actually the ball). At least in Dutch it is but since I assume Redd's ears are nowhere near his hips, it's a different condition :p

In Dutch there's a desease (if I translate it) called Necrotic Ear Syndrome...could this be the same? If it is, my understanding is that it is important to find the underlaying cause for example high bloodpressure, long term steroid treatment (or...and there it is again...Cushing's), auto immune disease, etc.

Is all I can tell you...and not even sure if it's the same thing. But aside from the ears, seems like Redd is quite the character :D

Sas and Quincy :)

ps, are Doxies Dachshunds?

[Squirt's Mom]

Oh, yes...a Doxie is a Dachshund. Sorry! So is a Dashie and Weinerdog! :D

Doc said this was a genetic thing in Dachshunds so that is what he is calling the reason - his Doxie blood. Otherwise, he is pretty darn healthy. Got some cataracts, a heart murmur (grade 3-4), and has a hunched back but liver and kidney functions look good! Doc says he has a very high sex drive as evidenced by the erection he offers if you touch his back or belly so his danglies are working fine, too. :D He's very thin but I am working on that to his utter delight! ;)

[SasAndYunah]

Oh dear, Quins is part Dachshund too, hope she didn't inherit the necrotic ears thing from her Dachshund ancestors :eek: Yep, a charachter, that Redd :D Glad he's in your care and I'm sure he'll fill out nicely pretty soon ;)

Good luck with his ears, hope you can find something for it...

Hugs,

Sas and Quincy :)

[molly muffin]

Holy cow, I have been missing if I didn't realize you had a new character in your home. We'll want a picture you know. (you can skip the erection part though) LOL

We had someone on the forum I think whose doxie had this. I'm want to say it was JoAnn (infoviewer). She has deleted her thread it looks like so I wasn't able to go back and look for it.