Petunia is a little French Bulldog who arrived at the shelter with horribly infected and scarred ears. (They looked like cauliflower.) She was completely deaf, and by the amount of swelling and scarring, she had been like this for a long, long time. Seeing how she shook her head and kept batting at her ears, she was in pain and very uncomfortable. 🙁
Petunia after surgery #1 on her right ear.
Petunia needed a Total Ear Canal Ablation and Bulla Osteotomy (TECA-BO) in both ears. In a nutshell, the entire ear canal and middle ear would be removed and the ear flap would be stitched closed. These were major surgeries, but they were the right thing to do. Petunia was a good candidate and chances were high that afterwards she would have a pain-free life.
The surgeries were spaced a couple of weeks apart, and Petunia is now recovering in a foster home. She’s doing great, and for the first time in a very long time, her ears no longer hurt.
Her foster mom reports that she loves to explore and waddle around when going for walks. She can’t hear anything but she catches every bit of movement with her eyes and loves to sniff *everything*. She’s also a fan of sunbaths.
When at home, “She literally follows you from place to place. If she wakes up and doesn’t see you she’ll find you. And then she’ll want to be on your lap and get loving. Or on the bed and get a massage. She’s high maintenance and delightful.”
Petunia still needs some time to recover, but she will be available for adoption soon.
The Volunteers of the Burbank Animal Shelter would like to say a big thank you to VCA Animal Specialty Group in Glendale for the amazing work they did on Petunia’s ears. We’d also like to say a *tremendous* thank you to our donors who made Petunia’s surgeries possible. Her surgeries were very expensive, and we could not have done them without you. Thank you so much for saving Petunia and giving her a second chance!
