Khloe, a pitbull sharpei mix, came to the shelter in June 2023 as a stray. She was in poor condition with skin sores, open draining wounds over most of her body, hair loss, infected ears and eyes. As her time progressed at the shelter, with ongoing veterinary care, her overall skin improved while receiving antibiotics, medicated baths, and a hypoallergenic diet. Unfortunately, she developed a large abscess on her neck that did not respond to antibiotics. She had a surgical drain placed and more antibiotics to cover the resistant bacteria that she was fighting. Despite this treatment, the wound continued to drain and cultured positive for a resistant bacteria. She was on long-term antibiotics to help with the infection but developed significant side effects. She was then placed in a foster home with a Saratoga County Animal Shelter volunteer for further medical care in a home.
Friends of the Saratoga County Animal Shelter sponsored a consultation with a veterinary dermatologist at Upstate Veterinary Specialties. She developed a long-term plan of care to further treat her allergies and ear infections. She was then referred for further consultation to a veterinary surgeon. Khloe then had a CT scan that showed a ruptured infected ear canal and was referred for surgery. On December 14, 2023, Khloe underwent a left total ear canal ablation with bullae osteotomy. She healed well with the infection and wound finally closed. She has hearing loss in the left ear and developed facial paralysis, a rare complication due to the extensive disease and infection in her ear. She now has chronic drooling which somehow makes this dog even cuter!
In addition to her skin and ear problems, she also had chronic eye inflammation of unknown cause. Khloe required another specialist appointment with Ophthalmology who determined that she had an entropion (inward turning of the eyelids) of the upper and lower lids of the right eye. This condition results in the eyelashes scratching the eye, which causes pain, scarring, and vision loss. Khloe underwent surgery for this condition in April, 2024, and is doing much better.
Khloe continues to have skin irritations and continues to receive monthly injections of cytopoint to ease the itching and make her more comfortable. With all that Khloe has been through, she is thriving. Most of the medical concerns are stabilized and she does continue to receive medical follow up care at the shelter. She requires a strict allergy diet on prescription food, monthly injections, weekly medicated baths, and daily eye care to keep her free from infections.
Thanks to the funding from Friends of the Saratoga County Animal Shelter, Khloe is thriving in her foster home. She and her bestie Pancake, now deceased, were the best of friends. Pancake also dealt with ear issues and a very strict prescription diet. They were the perfect match. Khloe now has a new friend, Olive, and has remained a happy, sweet dog who is a joy to have for her foster mom.