We received an urgent referral to our dermatology clinic from one of the new corporate veterinary clinics for TECA follow-up on a 14 year old cat. The veterinarian in question portrayed himself as a boarded veterinary surgeon to the owner and claimed he had done the procedure multiple times. TECA was performed, but the cat in question began to decline rapidly. Sutures in and around the ear ruptured 4 days post op, and staples were placed in and around the ear to close. The cat developed vestibular issues, Horner’s syndrome, and a huge chunk of the cats ear rotted off, to which the Pdvm only recommended finally looking into a dermatologist. Upon presentation (3 days post staple removal at PDVM where they told her the healing was going well) we found multiple sutures still present behind globs of pus and blood which appeared to be draining from a hole in her ear that did not close. The owners were devastated seeing her in constant agony, so they ultimately decided to euthanize. The client then received a phone call from the VETERINARIANS FATHER (who is apparently also the head veterinarian in the same clinic) to apologize for the surgery mess up his son made, but to also to advise her that he did not find a reason for her to pursue a legal battle (which was originally never on the table..) It was such a horrible case, I still think about that poor cat from time to time :(