Ben Affleck, the cat, breathes easy after cancer treatment

Bessie, a 2 year old Chihuahua mix, was unable to walk on her own and after a few tests by the Neurology team at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, they found a rare tumor on her spinal cord, a nephroblastoma.

With Compassionate Care funds, Bessie was able to have the tumor removed and is walking again.

Photo by Madison Brown for Virginia Tech.

Yes, before you ask, Ben Affleck, the cat, once had a feline housemate named Matt Damon.

Ben’s recent travails, and his successful treatment at Virginia Tech’s Animal Cancer Care and Research Center in Roanoke for an aggressive throat cancer that nearly shut off his breathing, might be worthy of a movie script from his namesake actor and filmmaker.

It started at the end of March, when Ben stopped eating and his breathing turned labored.

Daniel Muehlman, Ben’s owner, took his 14-year-old yellow short-haired cat to an emergency veterinary clinic near his home in Charleston, West Virginia, but X-rays turned up little.

An ultrasound at another animal hospital finally caught the problem: a mass in the throat, closing off his windpipe.

“When they went to put the intubation tube in before the ultrasound, they saw the tumor,” Muehlman said "He couldn't eat solid foods, went to wet foods, then had a lot of trouble breathing and wheezing, and couldn't cough.” Ben arrived in critical condition at Animal Cancer Care and Research Center, one of three teaching hospitals of the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.

His airway almost completely obstructed.

"There was very little room for the tumor to progress further before his ability to breathe could become completely compromised," said Beatrix Manning, the animal cancer center's chief medical officer and a clinical assistant professor of radiation oncology at the veterinary college.

The report adds to ongoing university-led research relevant to veterinary medicine, animal health, and clinical decision-making.

university website: Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine