Professor Emeritus Frank Verstraete has set the benchmark for innovation and best practice in veterinary science, establishing standards that are now applied worldwide. An alumnus of the University of Pretoria (UP), he is recognized as a scholar whose research, clinical work and teaching laid the foundations for procedures that continue to guide the treatment of animals across species.
For this, the University of Pretoria conferred him with an honorary doctorate in Veterinary Science during the Faculty of Veterinary Science graduation ceremony on September 5, 2025.
Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco and the University of California, Davis have completed the first clinical trial of a new cancer drug in pet cats, offering hope for a disease that has long been nearly impossible to treat. The study found 35 percent of the cats with squamous cell carcinoma who received treatment had their disease controlled with minimal side effects. The drug will likely be effective for humans with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The study was published today in Cancer Cell.
Scramble, a Jack Russel terrier, was diagnosed with a brain tumor, most likely a meningioma, and treated at the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. He received a course of stereotactic radiotherapy which shrank the tumor and has helped him maintain a high quality of life for more than three years.
Darla, an 11-year-old Newfoundland/Labrador mix, underwent oral surgery at UC Davis to remove a canine acanthomatous ameloblastoma, a benign tumor affecting her lower jawbone.
The UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH) is pleased to announce that orthopedic surgeon Dr. Po-Yen Chou has achieved Fellow status in Joint Replacement Surgery (JRS) with the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS).
Feline infectious peritonitis, or FIP, is a serious and historically fatal disease in cats caused by a coronavirus. It behaves in many ways like severe coronavirus infections in humans, causing widespread inflammation, T cell exhaustion and chronic immune dysfunction. Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have found that mesenchymal stromal cells, or MSC therapy, in combination with antiviral drugs, helped cats’ immune systems recover and reduced systemic inflammation.
Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Ming Lu has joined the faculty at the UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH) as an assistant professor. Dr. Lu’s clinical duties will be with the VMTH’s Orthopedic Surgery Service as well as the hospital’s Advanced Veterinary Surgery Center.
Woodie, a 1-year-old pit bull mix, is now pain free and seeing better thanks to community-based veterinary programs that came together to care for him. Born with a dermoid mass in the corner of his left eye, Woodie recently underwent surgery at the UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH) to have the benign growth removed.
When Flynn, an approximately 1-year-old male neutered Great Pyrenees, arrived at the UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH), he had visible tire tracks across his back leg and abdomen. The City of Stockton Animal Services Center reported he was run over by a car and thrown into a ditch. Knowing Flynn needed specialty care, the Yolo County Spay and Neuter Group agreed to take him and immediately brought him to UC Davis.
