Featured Pets
Ned
This is Ned, a 12-year-old Labrador who presented for recent onset of seizures. An MRI was performed, which revealed a contrast-enhancing mass in the right olfactory lobe of his brain.
A biopsy was performed, and Ned was found to have a meningioma, a tumor that arises from the meninges (the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord). Meningiomas are the most common brain tumors in dogs, and more common in large breed, older dogs.
Treatment options include palliative/symptomatic therapy (which usually involves medications such as anticonvulsants and steroids), surgical removal, or radiation therapy. Due to the location of the mass and potential benefit, Ned’s family elected for surgery.
Dr. Klopp of our Neurology & Neurosurgery Department performed the procedure on Ned and removed the mass using an array of delicate neurosurgical instruments and our latest technology – a CUSA (cavitronic ultrasonic surgical aspirator). CUSA is the same equipment used by human hospitals to perform delicate neurosurgery. It causes minimal effects on the brain, spinal cord, and surrounding tissues, helps reduce bleeding and anesthesia time, and improves patient outcomes
We are thrilled to report that Ned recovered very well from surgery and was up and around the next morning. After being discharged, he was served an extra special 'welcome home' meal!
The goal of all treatments offered at CVRC is to improve a patient’s quality of life and offer pets and their humans many more years together. Our team is very proud to be part of Ned's story!
Cole
This is Cole. As you can tell by his pictures he received so much love while he was at CVRC! Cole was on a leash with his mom, while out for a nice bike ride one morning, when he got hit by a car. Cole suffered a luxation (dislocation) in one of his elbows and one of his hips. He also had multiple abrasions and was in shock when he presented to the emergency department at CVRC. The emergency department doctors treated Cole’s immediate injuries and were able to stabilize him to allow for our surgery department to address his orthopedic injuries. Dr. Jennifer Au, CVRC’s surgeon, was able to reduce his elbow (put back into appropriate position) and apply a splint to make sure it stayed that way. His hip, however, was not as easy to fix. Cole's hip had to be surgically repaired by Dr. Au. She reduced it and used an implant to hold it correctly in position. Cole was a trooper through the whole ordeal and we quickly fell in love with him. His mom decorated his cage with photos of all of his friends who were waiting for him to get better! Three days after the accident he got to go home and two months later he was meeting up with his buddies at the dog park. No one expects their dog to get hit by a car while under direct supervision, but unfortunately accidents happen. Cole’s quick thinking mom got him to CVRC in time to allow him to make a full recovery!
Stella
This is beautiful Stella (on the right) with her awesome (and active!) family. Stella has a metastatic mast cell tumor that has spread to her lymph nodes but has achieved remission with radiation therapy and oral chemotherapy that her owner gives her at home every day. She has never skipped a beat. As you can see here, this is a little more than halfway through a 24 mile race on Valentine’s day.
We love you Stella!
Spike
Adorable Spike, the 10 pound Cavachoun (named by a child of the house in hopes he would grow larger), presented to Dr. Jennifer Au and the CVRC surgical team after his owners noticed he was limping on his back leg. Through physical examination and other tests, including arthroscopy, Spike was diagnosed with both a luxating patella and a partial tear of his cranial cruciate ligament. Poor little fella! He had surgical correction of both problems consisting of a procedure known as a tibial plateau leveling osteotomy, or TPLO for short, and is now doing great! You can see the surgical implants Dr. Au used in the pictures below. Hope he isn’t planning on going through any airport medical detectors soon! He was also able to benefit post-operatively from CVRC’s Animal Rehabilitation and Fitness Department…..he LOVED his underwater treadmill sessions. Spike is now doing great and is back to full activity!
Ziggy
Ziggy is the sweetest 11 year old cat who had an aggressive fibrosarcoma on her head. It was removed several times but because of the location, cancer free margins were never possible, and it kept returning. At the beginning of July, it returned and proved to be even more aggressive. This time, it had wrapped around her eye (in her eyelid and on the bridge of her nose, see picture) and surgery was not an option for Ziggy. Thus, we decided to treat Ziggy with Electrochemotherapy (ECT). This treatment delivers small electrical pulses to cancer cells to improve the ability of chemotherapy to enter the cells, resulting in a rapid and more thorough destruction of tumors. Because ECT allows us to limit chemotherapy only to the tumor itself and use a very low dose, side effects are minimal. On July 9th, Ziggy received a single treatment of electrochemotherapy. Within 2 weeks, the tumor had flattened, and by 4 weeks, only a scab remained (see pictures)!!! We are thrilled with Ziggy’s results and can’t wait to see more patients benefit from this therapy!
