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KIBBLES & BITS QUARTERLY
Volume 3, Edition 1 | April 2021

ACCC WELCOMES RADIATION
ONCOLOGIST DR. JARRED LYONS

After conducting a nationwide search, I am thrilled to announce the addition of Dr. Jarred Lyons, a board certified radiation oncologist, to our team of veterinary specialists. Dr. Lyons is joining us from Los Angeles where he served as the Head of Radiation Oncology for the Veterinary Cancer Group since 2007. I am excited to share Jarred’s innovative approach to treating animal patients with radiation therapy. Dr. Lyons is one of only a few veterinary radiation oncologists using stereotactic radiation therapy in a novel way to minimize treatments and side effects for our patients. 

Dr. Lyons has advanced the field of veterinary radiation oncology through published clinical trials, lectures, news articles and blogs, and along with being a very experienced radiation oncologist, he is also an inventor, backyard carpenter, and author of “Survivor: The Dog Days of Cancer”, a loving book about a dog going through cancer treatment. 

I am certain you will find Jarred a pleasure to get to know with his expertise, warmth, sense of purpose and commitment to ACCC’s Mission of providing Hope, Care and Optimal Outcomes for our Animal Patients with cancer. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Lyons and his family to our community as he makes his home in South Florida and begins treating patients across our State. 

With warm regards,
Dr. Stephanie Correa DVM, DACVIM (Oncology), Founder & President
Please Join Us!
Upcoming Complimentary Monthly WEBINARS!

Topic: “Mast Cell Tumors: An In-depth Review and New Horizons”
Speaker: Erin Roof-Wages, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology)
Date: Thursday, April 22nd, 7:00 p.m. 

Topic: “A Review of the Principles of Surgical Oncology”
Speaker: Tammi Ruddle, DVM, DACVS
Date: Thursday, May 20th, 7:00 p.m.

Topic: “Transitional Cell Carcinoma: To Pee or Not to Pee”
Speaker: Ashlyn Williams, DVM, Practice Limited to Oncology
Date: Thursday, June 24th, 7:00 p.m.

Topic: “Melanoma: Everything You Need to Know About Melanomas”
Speaker: Ricardo Fernandez, DVM, Practice Limited to Oncology
Date: Thursday, July 22nd, 7:00 p.m.

Topic: “Radiation Oncology in the 21st Century”
Speaker: Jarred Lyons, DVM, DACVR (Radiation Oncology)
Date: Thursday, August 26th, 7:00 p.m.
Staging and Treatment of
Chronic Renal Disease in Dogs and Cats
By Dr. Lisa Moore, Board Certified in Internal Medicine

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is commonly diagnosed in older dogs and cats, though can be seen in an animal of any age. It is generally an irreversible and progressive loss of kidney function. Staging is undertaken following a diagnosis of CKD to guide treatment and monitoring of the patient. The International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) has developed staging criteria to help standardize recommendations for treatment.

Staging is initially based on blood creatinine and/or SMDA (symmetric dimethylarginine) concentrations (preferably both) and performed on at least 2 occasions on a hydrated patient. The patient can then be placed into substages based on the presence or absence of proteinuria and blood pressure. Once the stage and substages are assigned, some empiric recommendations for treatments can be made.
Patients in Stage 1 and 2 usually have mild to absent clinical signs. As the condition progresses, the clinical signs become more obvious, such as polyuria, polydipsia, hyporexia, progressive vomiting, loss of muscle mass, halitosis. Once the patient is in Stage 4, uremia may develop. In general, treatments are of two broad categories: 1) those treatments that slow progression of the disease and, 2) those treatments that are meant to improve the quality of life of the patient by reducing the clinical signs of the disease.

The goal of substaging is to identify renal proteinuria. Standard urine dipsticks are often not sensitive or specific enough for this purpose, so the urine protein: creatinine ratio is preferred. Those patients with borderline proteinuria should be monitored closely. Those with overt proteinuria should be treated with antiproteinuric measures.

Substaging by blood pressure helps predict potential target organ damage (CNS, retina, cardiovascular) and the goal of treatment is to minimize the risk of damage to these organs. Persistence of an increase in systolic blood pressure should be determined on multiple measurements made over time. If evidence of target organ damage exists, the patient should be treated without the need to demonstrate persistently increased systolic pressure. Various treatments for hypertension are available.

Chronic renal disease is a multifactorial disease process in our Animal Patients and diagnostic testing to fully stage and substage this disease process provides the guidance for long term treatment of these patients.


Dr. Lisa Moore is available in our Orlando location
for a wide range of Internal Medicine needs like: 

Chronic Renal Disease •Infectious Diseases
•Non-Diagnosed Illness •Endoscopy/Colonoscopy •Inflammatory Bowel Disease
•Urinary Tract Disease with Cystoscopy •Ultrasound Guided Needle Biopsies
•Liver And Endocrine Diseases •Upper And Lower Respiratory Diseases