An old Maltese has ear ulcerations now - scabies?

An unusual case of ear scabies as this dog had anti-mite ear ointment applied inside the ear canals. In theory, there should be no ear mites. Then why is the dog scratching her ears till they bleed?

Quite a rounded active Maltese, F, 9 years. She came 3 months after spay for closed pyometra. Owner had been advised on dental scaling but she did not follow up as we did not do dental scaling and spay on the same day. The closed pyometra spay takes a long time and this dog could die from prolonged anesthesia.

The owner's mum remarked: "She has put on weight since the surgery for her infected womb!". The dog looks much more active and younger. Snow white coat.  But  both ears had wounds from scratching. On closer examination, the ear edges of both ears were crusted and had hair loss. So, was this scabies?

Skin scraping was negative for sarcoptic mites. But the owner had used an anti-mite ear ointment prescribed by us for the ear infections. There was no more pain on both ears. Yet, you can see the ear flap having skin ulcers and balding edges.

I treated for scabies although 2 skin scrapings were negative . Did the dental scaling. Plucked out ear hairs. Irrigated ears. Will wait 1 month to follow up. Should recover.