Soon after we turned to Cambodia, Leena’s left ear swelled up like a balloon. This was easy to self-diagnose by googling “my dog’s ear is swelling up like a balloon.” I didn’t take a photo of her ear but it was dramatic, frightening, and painful. Apparently it’s a common condition for dogs with longer ears – usually when they scratch their ear – but it was still serious. The veterinarian told me that they had just had another dog with this condition and that it had died from blood poisoning. Leena had to have surgery at the veterinarian’s to drain the blood stuck in her ear and then to suture her ear to stop further bleeding.

She’s recovering quickly but has to wear a cone so that she doesn’t tear her sutures out. She’s already had one follow-up appointment and has another one coming up. So far so good. Hopefully she’ll be fully healed and released from the cone soon.