Do you know what is under the hood?
Does Tonka look healthy to you?
Oftentimes, medical problems go undetected in our feline companions for far too long before they get the help that they need, which is why preventative care vet visits, annual examinations, routine lab work, regular intestinal deworming and sometimes even additional diagnostics like radiographs and ultrasounds are needed to ensure our feline friends are feeling their best. The goal is to catch disease early, before they hurt and feel badly.
Meet Tonka, a.k.a. Tonka Beans, or just Beans!!
Isn't he a handsome specimen!?!? Tonka is Ingrid’s cat (but most of you already knew that!)!
Tonka is a 9 year old Bengal (a questionable purebred 😉 but he is our little lemon!) Tonka had two homes by the time he was 9 months old, so when he came to be Ingrid and Jake’s cat, they were committing no matter what. He has been a behavioral challenge and does not get along with two cats in the home but gets along great with three others so he does have friends!
Tonka came in this spring for his routine annual visit. Ingrid had noticed two unhealthy teeth and wanted to do lab work prior to surgery. He also had a history of coughing that waxed and waned seasonally (but Ingrid has not missed a dose of heartworm prevention since 1999 on any animal in the home so the coughing was not from heartworm disease). Additionally, Tonka has a previous cruciate tear that she likes to keep an eye on.
Well, looks can be deceiving! Tonka had a heart murmur upon physical exam for the first time in his life. Between the heart murmur and the coughing, Ingrid decided she definitely wanted to do chest x-rays. Low and behold, he has asthma, which was not surprising. His lab work was gorgeous but with a heart murmur and asthma he needed further diagnostics (cardiac ultrasound) to see if he would be a good surgical candidate for a dental with extractions.
He was not! Tonka was also diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) a very common form of heart disease in cats (and common in Bengals) and early Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) in addition to his asthma, torn cruciate and bad tooth!
Tonka now takes medication for his heart disease and eats a gastrointestinal diet for his GI disease that he is not symptomatic for, so the GI diet is simply preventative and supportive care for now.
He is learning to use his asthma inhaler as some of you may know if you are following along on Fundamentally Feline and he takes joint support supplements to combat arthritis as well!
Needless to say, a bad tooth is the least of his worries right now and will likely fall out and resorb by the time he has his recheck ultrasound. No anesthesia for him, at least not unless his heart gets a rave review at internal medicine!
Tonka’s story is a glowing example 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
