Meet Neville!
Isn't he PRECIOUS!?!? Neville is Dr. Polur's cat!
Neville is a 5 year old DSH (domestic short hair) who chose us when he walked out of our front bushes. He’s always kind of walked funny and we never thought anything of it. She brought him in for an annual visit and diagnosed him with luxating patella’s! That's a fancy way of saying his knees dislocate! Having a second set of hands to assist with a proper orthopedic exam, taking x-rays, watching him walk etc. all allowed us to come to this diagnosis that even a doctor was unable to do at home alone. Admittedly, all of our cats are also less cooperative when mommy is doing the exam at home in their safe place! Ya know!
Neville does not need surgery but now benefits from daily Cosequin for cats, a glucosamine and chondroitin joint supplement to better support his overall joint health. But she would not have known or had a reason to start this degree of support had she not brought him into the office!
The point is that we do not always know "what lies beneath" or what is brewing in the early stages of disease that we can get ahead of if we knew it was happening!
The next time you brush off your cat’s annual visit and think to yourself, "Oh, they're fine." Just remember it is easier, less stressful and often less expensive to catch things early. Cats are the "Masters of disguise" after all and without diagnostics we would often never know #whatliesbeneath
