Mancat Monday with Evan and His Adorably Weird Ear

I've mentioned multiple times over the past few weeks how, 2 years ago, my boy Evan developed an ear hematoma. At the time he had an upper respiratory infection, and so the hematoma likely resulted from excess sneezing or shaking and rubbing his ear. Google Photos keeps giving me notifications with memories from that time. As in, it keeps reminding me of sad photos like this:

That was when Evan's hematoma was fresh and at its biggest. He was miserable, and his vet and I were trying to make a game plan. Of all the myriad health issues Evan has had over the years, I think this ear hematoma somehow made him the most miserable. This was the only time I ever witnessed him genuinely hiding. I remember one day he went under my bed and didn't come out for over 12 hours. I wanted to cry for him. In fact, I probably did just that.

Thanks, Google Photos. It's so nice of you to remind me how sad that hematoma made my poor little guy.

Given the number of health issues he already has, at the time we were trying to keep Evan comfortable with meds while giving his ear time to heal on its own rather than jump right to surgery. I would certainly have gone the surgery route if absolutely necessary, but his vet and I were trying to avoid an anesthetic event for the poor little guy. After all, most ear hematomas will shrink and heal on their own over a few weeks. Evan's kind of shrunk, but for whatever reason it never fully healed. Instead, his ear was left permanently deformed. His vet doesn't know why that was the case for Evan, but my boy has always been an extra special medical case.

I genuinely do not care what Evan's ear looks like. My only concern was the slew of ear infections he was getting as a result of the deformed part of his ear blocking airflow to the ear canal. The ear infections were making him just as miserable as the hematoma itself had. As I mentioned a couple times over these past few weeks of re-sharing the history of Evan's ear, we finally found a solution to his infections with an ear cleaner our clinic's founding veterinarian invented. As soon as I started cleaning Evan's ear with that twice a day, the ear infections stopped and Evan was back to his happy self.

I still clean his ear twice daily with that ear cleaner. As long as I do that, Evan's weird little ear causes him no issues at all. He doesn't notice or care that it's different, and neither do I as long as it's not giving him any grief.

Warm wishes from Evan and his adorably weird little ear!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

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Tip of the Day

As part of our series of tips for National Pet Dental Health Month, today we'll be discussing some of the symptoms to look out for related to dental disease. First up, of course, is halitosis, or bad breath. This can signify any number of issues, including an infected tooth or gum disease. Of course, bad breath can also come with certain diseases, such as oral cancer or even kidney disease. For these reasons and more, never ignore abnormally rank breath in your cat or dog. Moving on from bad breath, though, if your kitty or pup is suffering from certain dental issues, they may also of course have a decreased appetite, or seem pained or have difficulties when eating. In some dental cases, you also might notice blood or excess drool coming from their mouth. There is also the chance you might visibly notice broken teeth, loose teeth, discolored teeth, or even tartar buildup. Also don't forget that the teeth are in close proximity to and therefore often linked to the eyes and nasal cavity, and so discharge from either of these can also potentially signify an oral concern. All in all, if you smell, see, or in any way notice concerns relating to your furbaby's mouth, or any part of their body, do be sure to have them examined by a veterinarian. Dental health can even be linked to heart health and other systems of the body, so this is again one of those cases in which it is always better to be safe than sorry.