When Lexi Parrish greeted her pet Tyler one morning this past November, she immediately knew something was wrong with her 3-year-old mixed breed rabbit. The experienced rabbit owner, having owned one before Tyler for 10 years, could tell he was in pain and needed medical attention.
After calling her primary veterinarian, she took Tyler to UC Davis right away, where he was seen by the Companion Exotic Animal Medicine and Surgery Service.
Bella, a 4-year-old female pit bull terrier mix, was diagnosed with an infiltrative lipoma in her right shoulder area in early 2025. Owners Paul and Kristy Lewis took her to two surgeons to discuss removal of the lipoma, a benign tumor of fatty tissue. Infiltrative lipomas can invade into local structures including the surrounding muscles. On Bella, the tumor was infiltrating the muscle down to the humerus bone and was continuing to grow. This made complete surgical excision nearly impossible.
By the time Wednesday, a now 9-year-old female German Shepherd mix, was rescued by Steve Napolitano in 2021, she had already been placed in a kill shelter and rejected by two families, only to be diagnosed with cancer after finally finding happiness in a safe home.
After seeing multiple specialists about the oral malignant melanoma diagnosed in her right jaw, Wednesday ultimately landed at the Oncology Service at the UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital in early 2025.
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.
