This is Potato, the rescue cat who had to have his ears removed due to persistent tumours.
Potato had a rough start living as a stray in China with his ginger cat buddy Horlick.
After their rescue, Carl Leong and his wife adopted handsome Horlick and later returned for his pal Potato, who still had both his ears at the time.
‘Potato lived as a stray cat in China with Horlick and some other street cats. He was later taken in by an old lady from Hong Kong, but she unfortunately died in 2016,’ said Carl.
‘A local cat shelter then took care of them. Meanwhile, my wife and I adopted Horlick, our first cat, in 2018. After a few months, we decided to adopt another cat, so we visited the shelter again and chose Potato as he is an old friend of Horlick.
‘Unfortunately, the shelter found ceruminous adenoma in Potato’s ear canals and ear flaps. After discussion with the shelter, we brought Potato home as foster parents so as to more closely observe the adenoma as well as give him a chance to enjoy a life at home.’
Ceruminous adenoma is an ear tumour that can cause pain, hearing loss and tinnitus if left untreated.
Thankfully, the domestic mixed shorthair’s hearing was saved even though he ultimately had to undergo a three-hour operation to remove his ears.
‘Sadly it returned even worse at the end of November 2019, and after consulting the vet, it was decided that it would be best to remove the ear canals and ear flaps to avoid reoccurring and more suffering,’ explained Carl.
‘While luckily it was non-cancerous, we knew it was the right thing to do as he was in pain. He scratched his ears and head more frequently and sometimes even caused more external wounds and bleeding around his ears.
‘Inflammation was also seen in his ear canals. The surgery went smoothly in January 2020 and Potato recovered well. We officially adopted him after the surgery.’
It took just two weeks for Potato’s stitches to heal, and now he’s happy and healthy in his forever home.
His owners have also put him and his brother to work as influencers, with an Instagram account called @no_ear_meow_potato, which has 17,500 followers, full of adorable pictures of them both.
Carl said: ‘His hearing is less sensitive than before, like how we hear when covering our ears with our hands. But luckily he is still very responsive and noticeable side effects haven’t happened.
‘As a street cat his personality was like a gangster in the past, but actually, he is very adorable. He was shy in the beginning, but once adapted, he became very playful and interactive.
‘I think he is special and brings positive energy to others on Instagram. I believe social media should be a place for sharing happiness.
‘Me and my wife also hope more people will adopt instead of buying pets, especially as his breed is the most common type of stray cat in Hong Kong.’
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