Polo

Bulldog Polo was abandoned, while suffering from extensive medical issues, by his incredibly neglectful owner. Polo was dropped off at his dog sitter's home and never picked up again.

Polo's owner had been a client of this dog sitter before, but it had been almost a year since the sitter had seen Polo. When Polo was dropped off, he was wearing a sweater, but as soon as the sweater was removed, the sitter could see how dangerously thin Polo had become. This poor boy was skin and bones. Polo was also covered in hives, and suffering from some severe dermatitis. He even had a growth starting to emerge on his shoulder. The dog sitter immediately called Polo's owner, saying that Polo needed to see a vet right away. The owner agreed and said he would take Polo when he returned. The dog sitter never heard from Polo's owner again.

After a few days, the dog sitter also noticed a very putrid smell coming from inside Polo's mouth. Eventually, the sitter got Polo to let him look inside his mouth, only to discover that poor Polo was suffering from advanced dental disease. The dog sitter was horrified at the blatant neglect this sweet dog had been forced to endure. After several weeks of failed attempts to reach out to Polo's owner, the dog sitter contacted our team for help. Polo's dog sitter takes care of quite a few dogs, and while he didn't want to take Polo to a shelter, he couldn't afford to get Polo the care he needed. Of course, we agreed to take Polo in and got to the vet right away. 

Immediately, the vet was concerned that the growth on Polo's shoulder could be cancerous. Sadly, the vet discovered even more health problems that the dog sitter wasn't aware of. Polo had several lesions on his paws, some of which were leaking pus. He had severe ear infections in both ears that were causing him immense discomfort. The vet also thinks that Polo might have had an undescended testicle (cryptorchidism). Polo needed to be neutered, which we were told may include corrective surgery depending on the cryptorchidism diagnosis. We knew Polog would also need to have several teeth removed. Polo was given an injection to help with his allergies, antibiotics for his ears, and medicated shampoo for his skin before heading home.

In just the first few days at his foster home, Polo's foster found one of Polo's teeth in his water bowl! This just goes to show how severe his dental disease was. We have no idea how Polo's owner could have allowed this poor boy to deteriorate into such a sorry state. Polo returned to the vet for a follow-up appointment, but the doctor was concerned his body was not responding to the medication as it should have been. Because he had not improved as much as we had hoped, the vet felt we should wait until Polo's skin infection cleared up before moving forward with his teeth extraction. Any infection would make the dental surgery much more complicated, and we wanted to make sure we were giving Polo the best chance of success.

Fortunately, Polo's skin eventually started to clear up, and his ear infections were greatly improved. We were thrilled with Polo's bloodwork came back completely normal, as this meant we could get him scheduled for dental surgery. While waiting for surgery, Polo was able to celebrate our 1-year anniversary at the Long Beach Bulldog Meet-Up! The event was sponsored by CUDDLY and hosted by the Trademark Brewing Company. Polo was the man of the hour and loved meeting everyone who came out to support him. Finally, it was surgery day for Polo, and just like that, 22 of his teeth were gone! With his bad-breath days behind him, Polo was ready to give big wet kisses to everyone he met.

Polo was feeling so much better now that he was rid of his painfully rotten teeth, but the infection in his ears was still annoyingly persistent. We got him to our regular vet, who recommended he do a 30-day treatment to fully clear up any lingering infection. We also got Polo scheduled for surgery to be neutered. We knew that this surgery would be risky given his undescended testicle, but having it removed was our only option for giving Polo the chance at a long and healthy life. Polo still had some masses on his body, but the vet did not believe they were malignant. However, we sent samples out for testing just to confirm this boy was in the clear.

After enduring so much hardship and tragedy, we are thrilled to announce that Polo finally got his happy ending. This sweet boy has been adopted, and he and his new mama are a match made in heaven. We cannot say thank you enough to everyone who has helped Polo get to this point. Only happy days are ahead for sweet Polo.