Ear with crease

[Jeni D]

I know that there are lots of other threads about ears, but I couldn't find anything about this in particular. One of Dudley's ears is up completely (almost 12 weeks old), the other, is showing no signs of coming up and actually has a crease where it is bent on the inside. Does this mean it will not come up ever or will the taping work? Has anyone actually ever had to do the taping; I know that there are many articles about the procedure, but I was hoping for actual experience. And, do I just tape the one ear? Why is 14 weeks the suggested age? I know this is alot of questions, but I'm getting a little anxious.
Jeni

[Michael Romanos]

I wouldn't panic. A lot can happen between now and 14 weeks. If at 14-16 weeks the ear is still down, then taping is the only answer - and that may not be successful either. In the meantime there was some mention of massaging the muscles around the ear. Make sure Dudley is getting extra calcium. We have easy access to calcium supplements for dogs in NZ - but apparantly it is a little harder to procure in the USA.

[glencorgi]

Guess who has actually done the taping? Done it on both Pems and Cardis. Still somewhat early to panic, could be the one ear just needs a little extra support right now. Go to the drug store and pick up some mole skin with adhesive on one side. Take a piece of paper and trace Dudley's ear to make yourself a template. Cut out a piece of the mole skin to fit inside the ear. Clean his ear and make sure it is dry and then stick the mole skin inside his ear. This will help give the ear some extra support and hopefully will do the trick and you won't have to go to the next step of taping. Change the moleskin every 2-3 days and watch for signs of irritation. Give it about a week and see if there is any progress. IF not, then we'll move to the next step in taping.

Debbie

[jprechel]

We went through something similar. Check out the thread "One ear up, one ear down." Our puppy didn't have a crease exactly, but his ear was just soft on the outer low to mid part of his ear. This caused his ear to fold out sideways. I ended up just taping the one ear with moleskin and duct tape for a few days and as of this morning we have two ears up. By the way we distracted our pup with lots of peanut butter during the taping process.

Good luck!

Jim and Bethany

[Michael Romanos]

Well done So glad it is working

[Jeni D]

Jim and Bethany
Ace looks absolutely adorable! and the pictures were a lot of help. My only question is how do you get the tape off afterwards?
Jeni

[jprechel]

Jeni,

Very Gently!! We used the peanut butter idea again. While he was licking the pb we worked slowly to remove the tape. Little by little it came off. If you go the duct tape route make sure to get the lowest adhesive kind you can find. We got ours at Wal-Mart and made sure it wasn't the industrial strength. Good luck! We are 3 days without tape and still holding!!!

[corgimom]

Jprechel,

I have never had to tape ears on a Corgi, but wouldn't that John & Johnson
First Aid Hurt -Free tape work? The one that sticks to itself, not to skin -
it comes in different widths and you would just wrap it around the moleskin and the end of the tape would just stick to the tape itself. Maybe that sounds like a dumb idea.

Linda

[Jeni D]

Linda
That seems like a valid idea to me, and worth a shot if nothing else. Maybe we'll try that on Dudley before using the duct tape. I want to make this as painless and easy as possible
Jeni

[corgimom]

Jeni,

I had thought of that because my daugter had broke her finger and was using
that tape recently. Duct tape just sounds like something I would not want to
use. I would think you would have to use mineral oil or baby oil to help get
the duct tape off. I would think this Johnson tape would work if applied over
the moleskin; it may be worth a try - Deb would probably have an opinion on
this.

[jprechel]

We used the duct tape because the article that was referred to us on another thread told us to. We thought about the hurt-free bandage too but the problem is the mole skin doesn't stick too well and the hurt-free bandage would slide off the ear. The duct tape came off without major difficulty, but then again we only had it on for three days. If you try the hurt-free bandage let us know. We might need to tape again. Hopefully not but you never know!

Jeni - Dudley is so cute! Are you planning on posting more pictures soon?

[Jeni D]

And we have two ears up!!! Granted, the one is not completely up, but it's pretty close so I am super excited! We didn't even have to end up using the tape (even though I went all over trying to find mole skin and no one knew what I was talking about). Apparently the yogurt works wonders and Dudley has been scarfing his food down much more than usual. Also, just as a side note, we went to the vet on Monday and he is now worm-free as well, so it's been a good week
Just wanted to let you all know!
Jeni

[Michael Romanos]

Well done Jeni
I'm sure extra calcuim in its purest form would have done the trick with Dudley's ears. It's good to know that foreign invaders are now not feasting on the good food you are giving Dudley.