Bubbles, a 10-year-old male boxer, was brought to the UC Davis veterinary hospital’s Emergency Room following an inability to maintain his coordination accompanied with weakness in his hind limbs. Critical care specialists in the ER referred him to the Neurology/Neurosurgery Service for further evaluation. Following examination and an MRI, a tumor on Bubbles’ spinal cord was discovered.
The Koret Shelter Medicine Program, a UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine program that works to improve the welfare of homeless animals and reduce euthanasia in animal shelters, is turning its attention to behavior and training.
When Teddy, a 12-year-old border terrier, was diagnosed with diabetes, his care team at the UC Davis veterinary hospital predicted he would eventually go blind. Within five months of the diagnosis, that prediction came true. Cataracts caused by the diabetes had formed in both of Teddy’s eyes completely clouding his vision. But UC Davis veterinary ophthalmologists offered hope, having performed many vision-restoring cataract surgeries over the years.
A newly released genetic study on dog coat colors sheds light on a subset of these patterns, unexpectedly leading to new questions about long-held tenets of dog evolution.
Sky, a 2-year-old female Siberian husky mix, was rescued nearly a year ago. Her owners Renee Gee and Brian Estill of San Francisco noticed some stiffness in her back right leg when walking. While doing a good job of masking any pain, Sky did yelp when her primary veterinarian palpated and extended the leg. X-rays confirmed a luxated right hip, and her veterinarians suggested a hip replacement might be necessary. A second opinion resulted in the same diagnosis and surgery suggestion. Being a thorough and detail-oriented dog owner, Gee decided a third opinion at the UC Davis veterinary hospital was the right thing to do.
UC Davis veterinarians have found that a cat’s DNA alters how it responds to a life-saving medication used to treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a heart disease that affects 1 in 7 cats.
Clutch, an 8-year-old pit bull terrier, was rescued five years ago from a shelter just before being euthanized. His new owner, Al Thielemann, noticed his ability to stay active so he started training Clutch in a variety of jobs – dock diving, nose work detection, and other types of working activities. But Clutch preferred to be off leash and be more active.
The UC Davis veterinary hospital’s Community Surgery Service is once again accepting small animal patients from the community, as opposed to its shelter-only policy of the past two years.
Thanks to corporate and private donations, the nation’s largest veterinary house officer (residents, interns, fellows) program at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine just got even larger. The advanced training programs for veterinarians range from one year (fellowships and internships) to two-four years (residencies). Following completion of residency programs, veterinarians are able to sit for rigorous testing procedures to seek board certification in a specialty area of veterinary medicine (internal medicine, surgery, dermatology, cardiology, etc.).
More than six months after being severely burned in California’s North Complex Fire, a cat treated at the UC Davis veterinary hospital has finally fully recovered and found his forever home. In the fall of 2020, thousands of animals were affected by the fire, and Jam, an approximately 2-year-old male cat, suffered some of the most horrific injuries of any of them.
