Mugsy, 12-year-old male pit bull terrier, was diagnosed with mast cell tumors in mid-2019. Owner Sarah Robinson—who adopted Mugsy 11 years prior while in nursing school—knew the prognosis wasn’t good, but wanted to seek the expertise of the cancer specialists at the UC Davis veterinary hospital, since oncology services were not available in her hometown of Reno.
Goldie, 14-year-old female spayed rat terrier, was living the good life on a horse farm with plenty of open land to run free. Her owner, Renee Johnson, describes her as full of vigor, rambunctious, and enthusiastic, with too much energy for city life in a small yard. Her duties as a barn dog kept her busy minding the 14 horses in her guard, not being afraid to bark orders when the horses were out of line or misbehaving. Unfortunately, that comfortableness around the horses got her in trouble, getting severely injured when one of them accidentally stepped on or kicked her.
Cooper, a 16-year-old quarter horse gelding, was brought to the UC Davis veterinary hospital after his owner, Robyn Armstrong, noticed spooking behavior over the past few months. Her normally friendly horse was not letting her near him. The hospital’s ophthalmologists noticed an obstruction in Cooper’s vision, but also noticed an unrelated abnormality on his face. The two separate conditions initially concerned Armstrong and set Cooper back a few months, but ultimately, he emerged a much healthier, happier horse.
Kaiya, a 4-year-old female bloodhound, was visiting the UC Davis veterinary hospital in early 2019 for a routine dermatology appointment. Upon physical examination, Kaiya’s veterinarians discovered several enlarged lymph nodes – beneath her jaw, at the front of her shoulders, in her right groin region, and at the back of her rear legs. Laboratory testing of the nodes came back positive for lymphoma.
Rex, a 5-year-old male bearded dragon, was brought to the UC Davis veterinary hospital following a period of inappetence, lethargy, and dehydration. His mouth appeared very unhealthy, and his owners were concerned that it was the primary cause of his lack of desire to eat and drink. They hoped that the veterinarians in the Companion Exotic Animal Medicine and Surgery Service could help.
Whoudini, a 14-year-old male Jack Russell terrier, has lived quite the life. With his owner Maia Bailey since he was 4 weeks old, the little escape artist was aptly named because he constantly found a way to separate himself from the rest of the litter. “Even though he was the runt, he was strong and fiercely independent,” said Bailey. “It was love at first sight, and we’ve been inseparable ever since.”
Dog owner Rob Beasom and his wife were out of town when they received a frantic call from their dog sitter. Barley, their 3-year-old male French bulldog, severely hurt himself while jumping off the couch, rendering him paralyzed in his back legs. Beasom immediately made plans to return home and called Barley’s primary veterinarian. After Beasom described the situation, the veterinarian told him to take Barley to the UC Davis veterinary hospital.
Fred, a 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding, had a successful 2019 show season in three-day eventing at the “preliminary” level. With the goal of moving up to the “intermediate” and then the “advanced” levels next season, Fred’s owner proactively sought to have him evaluated by the specialists in the Equine Integrative Sports Medicine Service at the UC Davis veterinary hospital.
When Martin and Elisa Edwards of Berkeley, California visited an animal shelter ten years ago looking for a cat to adopt, one eager kitten took it upon himself to speed up the process and jumped on Elisa’s lap to introduce himself. The Edwards had found their new cat, along with his sister, and adopted them both. Tilden and Tess, now 10 years old, have enjoyed good lives with the Edwards. That is until about a year ago when Tilden started to get picky about his food.
When Ernesto and Chelsea Torres received Riley as a young puppy, they had no idea she had a congenital heart defect. The 4-month-old German shepherd was getting her first immunizations when her veterinarian discovered she had a loud heart murmur. He immediately referred Riley to the Cardiology Service at the UC Davis veterinary hospital.
