May 2023
Celebrating Pet Week . . . Again!
The UW School of Veterinary Medicine enjoyed celebrating Pet Week so much this year that we decided to turn one week of celebrations into two! If you haven’t yet posted a photo of your favorite pet to our online image gallery, you can do so now at the link below. While you're there, don’t forget to tell us what makes your pet such an important part of your life. Also, be sure to check out the series of brief videos we created to help you and your pets live healthier, happier lives together.
 
Another way you can celebrate or honor your pet this month is with a gift to the UW School of Veterinary Medicine. Gifts to the school help us provide compassionate care for patients, train world-class veterinarians and make discoveries that not only benefit pets, but their people as well. 
PET TIPS AND CLINICAL STUDIES
Nutrition Matters

Choosing food for your pet can be overwhelming. Pet food stores are lined with both name-brand foods and diets from smaller, boutique brands. Although artisanal, exotic and grain-free diets may seem healthier, these producers often lack the funding to do quality control testing and research nutritional benefits. Sandra Sawchuk, former clinical instructor at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, discussed this topic and more about pet food safety on a past episode of Wisconsin Public Radio’s The Larry Meiller Show.

Sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome (SARDS) causes rapid and irreversible blindness in dogs, and UW researchers need your help to find out why. We are currently recruiting dogs for a clinical study that will examine whether issues with their blood flow contributes to the devastating vision loss associated with the disease. Eligible dogs will have been diagnosed with SARDS and be able to travel to the UW Veterinary Hospital.

Your pet can save a life!

Sometimes our pets suffer emergencies and require critically needed blood products to aid in their recovery. Our furry friends can have anemia (low red blood cell count) and clotting problems that require transfusions of red blood cells and/or plasma containing clotting factors. Without these blood products, lives would be lost.

UW Veterinary Care is prepared to provide our patients with emergency or routine blood transfusions via our on-site blood bank, but this often lifesaving service requires the aid of donors to fill the blood bank with the resources patients may need.
SOCIAL ANIMALS
Highlights from your social media mentions of UW Veterinary Care
and the UW School of Veterinary Medicine
Sprite had her two week re-check today at UW Madison post liver shunt surgery and she is doing fantastic! 

-Critter Crusaders of Cedar Rapids
Full day for the crew in Madison! 1st stop UW Veterinary Care for Jaeger’s check-up in his VACCS clinical trial!

-Team Pointer Power
Cisco waiting for his foster brother to get his Cancer vaccine booster. The waiting is the hardest part.
-Liz Tripp
My little guy did great at the vet this afternoon! Could be the drugs, but also the awesome people at UW Veterinary Care! He was very excited about dinner when we got home and he’s been sleeping it off ever since.

-Karin Wrzesinski