Two years ago, Brandon and Lisa Bacon were looking to purchase a horse for their 12-year-old son Jackson. Through their contacts as the owners of a horse supply company in Northern California, they discovered Ricky, a then 13-year-old American Quarter Horse gelding.
“Jackson has big ‘Gold Buckle’ dreams,” Lisa said. “We’re so proud of how hard he works at this, and we were thrilled to find Ricky, who was already an experienced roping horse.”
Newborn puppies will often wrestle and roughhouse with each other. More often than not, it all results in good fun. But one such incident with 6-week-old Kailana indicated to her owners John Hartmire and spouse Christine Pobanz-Stelter that there could be something seriously wrong with their golden retriever.
Two years ago, Kidogo, a 13-year-old male Dachshund, was diagnosed with Cushing’s disease. Kidogo, whose name means “small” in Swahili, is the beloved pet and cherished member of the Balatti family. Despite his tiny stature, he has an enormous personality, and his family would do anything to help him.
Four years ago, Joe Juice, a then 15-year-old American Quarter Horse gelding, had a sialolith removed from the right side of his face at the William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH). He recovered quickly and returned to his role as a member of the UC Davis Center for Equine Health’s (CEH) teaching herd.
Snickerdoodle, a 5-year-old chocolate English Labrador retriever, was diagnosed by her primary veterinarian with a mammary carcinoma following a litter in 2024. She underwent surgery with that veterinarian for mammary mass removal and a spay procedure. The histopathology report noted that the tumor was malignant, but there were no signs of metastasis at that time.
She was referred to the Medical Oncology Service at the UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH) for further evaluation and potential follow-up treatment.
At 5 weeks of age, kitten Ginger started regurgitating his food because a stricture was closing his esophagus to less than 1mm. The esophagus of a healthy kitten his age should be open 8 mm. He underwent a series of ballooning procedures at the UC Davis veterinary hospital to open his esophagus.
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.
At 9 months old, Onyx is already an experienced show animal. His family has been showing sheep as a hobby for nearly a decade, and Onyx is the latest addition to their flock. Unfortunately, the award-winning Natural colored Hampshire cross sheep became acutely ill at a recent show.
“After traveling to a show, I could tell Onyx wasn’t feeling well that evening, but I wasn’t terribly worried,” said his owner. “But on a walk the next morning, he went down abruptly and could not get back up.”
