DIRECT REFERRAL PHONE NUMBER
To contact the VMTH regarding referrals:
530-752-4050 (direct referral line)
or
The VMTH now has eight referral coordinators that you can reach directly, rather than using the main VMTH phone line. As valued referring veterinarians, you now have direct access to a team of dedicated client service representatives at the VMTH – rather than using the main telephone number that is used for the general public. We strongly recommend that you utilize these highly trained contacts to enable a faster and more efficient referral process. Our referral coordinators have intimate knowledge of their services and can facilitate your needs and also connect you with a veterinarian should you need consultation on a case.
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Michael Lairmore to Step Down as Dean of UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
At the end of June, Dr. Michael Lairmore will complete his second 5-year term as dean of the school. As he steps down, the school's Synergy magazine looks back at his career and legacy in academic veterinary medicine. Dr. John Pascoe will serve as interim dean while the search for Lairmore's replacement continues.
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Jane Sykes to Step Down as Chief Veterinary Medical Officer
Dr. Jane Sykes, chief veterinary medical officer, will step down from her leadership role at the UC Davis veterinary hospital following the completion of her 5-year term. Under her leadership, set to expire June 30, the hospital reached new heights of success and continued to grow its reputation as one of the preeminent clinical facilities in the country.
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UC Davis Veterinary Student Elected President of National Board Focused on Diversity
Ruth Goins, a second year DVM student at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, was recently elected president of the Veterinarians as One Inclusive Community for Empowerment (VOICE), a student-led organization promoting diversity. With diversity-building experience from a previous position, as well as her current presidency of a local VOICE chapter, Goins looks to continue that leadership as she transitions to the national level this fall.
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Standing Equine PET Now in Clinical Use at UC Davis
UC Davis has welcomed the latest standing equine PET scanner, the MILEPET, into clinical use. Thanks to funding support from the UC Davis Center for Equine Health and the Stronach Group, the UC Davis veterinary hospital recently installed the most recent MILEPET. After the installation of the first scanner at Santa Anita Park racetrack, a second scanner was set up on the East Coast at the University of Pennsylvania. This newest instrument at UC Davis will provide the most innovative equine imaging technique using only standing sedation to the Northern California horse population.
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Equine Specialists Host EHM Webinar for Veterinarians
On March 26, 2021, equine specialists from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine's Center for Equine Health, Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, and the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory joined with the California Department of Food and Agriculture to present “Update on Equine Herpes Myeloencephalopathy for Equine Practitioners.” Full webinar available for viewing.
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Hospital to Increase ER/ICU Space
With the pandemic forcing many Northern California ERs to initially close, admissions to the UC Davis ER increased 25% since early 2020. Historically, the ER caseload has steadily increased since 2013, to an average of 520 cases per month in 2020 (860 in July 2020 alone), as compared to 200 per month in 2013. The hospital’s current ER has only two treatment tables. Built in 1970, it was designed to see only a fraction of the current 7,000 patients per year seen by the Emergency and Critical Care Service. While successfully rising to the challenge of continuing to provide high quality care, the ER team is starting to feel the effects of working in such a small space. To that end, the ER/ICU space is being renovated thanks to an anonymous donor, which will nearly double its current treatment space from 861 square feet to 1,611 square feet.
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Vaccination Against Canine Cancer Study
Dr. Jennifer Willcox is recruiting healthy dogs for a vaccine study to prevent cancer. The Vaccination Against Canine Cancer Study aims to determine whether vaccination with these novel tumor antigens is capable of reducing the likelihood of cancer in dogs. Dogs being sought must meet the following criteria:
- Healthy, with no history of previous cancer
- Between 5.5 and 11.5 years old
- Weigh at least 11 pounds (5kg)
- Live within 150 miles of UC Davis
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Be mixed breeds or certain pure breeds only (see complete list).
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Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in Cats
UC Davis cardiologists are investigating a new drug therapy (rapamycin) in cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a disease that affects 1 in 7 cats. This is the first novel drug study developed in many years specifically for cats with HCM. We are looking for adult cats that have been diagnosed with HCM but are currently asymptomatic. The study covers many screening costs. Rapamycin has been shown to reverse HCM in rodents and in people. This study will be the first study to evaluate its potential in cats.
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Immunotherapy Combined with Standard of Care Treatment in Dogs with Osteosarcoma
Dr. Robert Rebhun is conducting a trial assessing the addition of immunotherapy with an inhaled IL-15 (an immune stimulatory molecule called a cytokine) to the standard of care treatment in dogs with osteosarcoma to see if it improves outcome. Because the lungs are most often the first site for these tumors to spread, we are hoping that treating earlier when fewer cells are in the lungs could improve the outcomes seen with chemotherapy alone. Dogs diagnosed with osteosarcoma who have been recommended to treat with amputation and chemotherapy may be eligible to join this clinical trial.
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Immunologic Signature of Chronic Pain in Dogs with Cranial Cruciate Ligament Rupture
Dr. Denis Marcellin-Little is conducting a clinical trial assessing whether the B cell lymphocyte (a white blood cell) plays a role in the development of chronic pain in dogs with an injury to their cranial cruciate ligament. Dogs will be able to take part in the study if they have ruptured their cranial cruciate ligament, are a candidate for a surgical procedure named TPLO (tibial plateau leveling osteotomy), and plan to have the TPLO surgery performed at the UC Davis veterinary hospital.
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Seeking Fecal Samples from Dogs Before and After Antibiotic Treatment
Dr. Krystle Reagan is conducting a clinical trial assessing how the normal flora of the intestine changes when dogs take antibiotics. Information learned from this trial may guide methods to keep the gut healthy when animals need to take antibiotics to help prevent antibiotic resistant infections. Dogs prescribed with antibiotics whose owners who can collect a fecal sample from their dog once before antibiotic use and once 5 - 7 days after starting antibiotics are eligible to participate.
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Seeking Dogs with Cancer to Assess the Safety and Tolerability of a Novel Product Designed to Aid in the Early Detection of Cancer
Dr. Michael Kent is recruiting dogs with confirmed locally advanced or metastatic cancer who have not undergone treatment within the past 30 days. The investigatory drug in this trial, EARLI-001, is designed to make cancer cells produce synthetic biomarkers which could be more easily detected than natural cancer biomarkers. Detecting natural cancer biomarkers is challenging due to the small amount of cancer DNA circulating in the bloodstream.
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Upcoming Continuing Education Events |
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Due to developing circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, including adhering to physical distancing and limiting public gatherings, the UC Davis Center for Continuing Professional Education is currently altering its course offerings to webinar only.
We look forward to welcoming you to these CE events moved online:
Please contact us with any suggestions or questions you might have regarding our programs.
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Latest Research Achievements |
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One Health Collaboration Spotlights Disparities in Knee and Jaw Joint Treatments
There are many similarities between the usage, and consequent injury, in knee joints and the jaw’s temporomandibular joint. However, knee orthopedics are better researched and funded, resulting in tissue-engineered products and other ways to improve the lives of those affected. Dr. Boaz Arzi, professor and dentist/maxillofacial surgeon with the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, joined biomedical engineers and orthopedic surgeons from UC Irvine, orthopedic surgeons from Harvard University, oral/maxillofacial surgeons from the University of Texas, and oral/maxillofacial radiologists to research the subject further.
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Where Coronavirus Variants Emerge, Surges Follow
Genomic surveillance programs have let scientists track the coronavirus over the course of the pandemic. By testing patient samples, researchers are able to diagnose COVID-19. But they’re also able to use genetic changes in the virus to recreate its travel routes and identify the emergence of new viral variants.
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Research Impacts: From Lab to Clinics
Nearly 20 years ago when Professor Monica Aleman was a graduate student working on her PhD, she was assisting in research on healthy horses under general anesthesia. To her surprise, one of the horses under anesthesia had some odd reactions. First, she noticed his ears pulled completely back and within a few minutes of administering halothane (a commonly used anesthesia), the horse exhibited sweating, a rapid heart rate, high body temperature and muscle rigidity – all signs of a malignant hyperthermic episode. Despite the clinicians’ best efforts to cool the horse and reverse the anesthesia, it died on the table.
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Hospital Hosts Online Version of Veterinary Intern and Resident Research Day for 2021
The UC Davis veterinary hospital virtually hosted its annual Gerald V. Ling Veterinary Intern and Resident Research Day. The day-long event featured short presentations of research findings from house officers (resident, fellow, intern) to fellow house officers, faculty, staff, students, and guests.
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Following Six Months of Recovery at UC Davis, Severely Burned Cat Gets Adopted
More than six months after being severely burned in California’s North Complex Fire, a cat treated at the UC Davis veterinary hospital has finally fully recovered and found his forever home. In the fall of 2020, thousands of animals were affected by the fire, and Jam, an approximately 2-year-old male cat, suffered some of the most horrific injuries of any of them.
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UC Davis Performs First 3D Laparoscopic Adrenalectomy in Veterinary Medicine
Louie, an 8-year-old male Boston terrier, was diagnosed with Cushing’s disease by his primary veterinarian and was referred to the Soft Tissue Surgery Service at the UC Davis veterinary hospital for surgical removal of his right adrenal gland. As a pioneer in minimally invasive procedures, UC Davis has been performing laparoscopic surgeries for many years, including adrenalectomies. Normally, these surgeries produce an on-screen two-dimensional (2D) image from a camera in the scope. Surgeons are able to navigate the animal’s body proficiently after a learning curve, however they lose depth perception with a 2D image which may lead to surgical errors or prolong surgical time. Recently, UC Davis acquired a three-dimensional (3D) scope that greatly improves on the 2D shortcomings.
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Getting Bella Back on Her Feet
Bella, a 20-year-old miniature donkey jenny, was brought to the UC Davis veterinary hospital for severe lameness and abnormally shaped hooves on all four feet. An otherwise healthy donkey, Bella had severely overgrown hooves that made it hard for her to balance. To stabilize herself while walking, she had to rock back onto her heels and lift her toes. Over time, this led to thick soles and long toes, which were not even in contact with the ground on some of her feet. Radiographs showed abnormalities indicative of chronic laminitis, an inflammation of the sensitive tissue underneath the hard outer wall of the hoof.
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Unique Surgical Solutions Help Heal Dog’s Injured Wrists
Starlit Sky, 7-year-old female golden retriever, has not had it easy over the past three years since an initial injury to her front left carpus (wrist). Suspected of slipping on a tile floor, she hyperextended the carpal joint which caused her paw to collapse under her leg. The injury was so severe that one veterinarian suggested amputation. Several failed surgeries and a similar injury to her right leg for overcompensation left Starlit Sky in a constant state of pain – wearing braces and enduring rigorous rehabilitation activities, none of which seemed to ultimately solve the problems. Determined to not have this be her fate in life, Starlit Sky’s owner Patricia Chiara took their physical therapist’s advice and brought her to the UC Davis veterinary hospital for an evaluation.
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The UC Davis Center for Equine Health offers layup boarding with individualized care for horses recovering from illness, injury, surgery, or other procedures requiring time for healing or continued medical treatment. Located within minutes of the UC Davis veterinary hospital, the Center for Equine Health is an ideal place where horses can receive individualized care and convenient follow-up visits at the hospital. The layup facility consists of a dedicated barn overseen by trained equine health technicians. We operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year-round. Promotional pricing of level 1 rates for most levels of care are being offered through June 30, 2021. |
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Donations Allow UC Davis To Increase Nation’s Largest House Officer Program
Thanks to corporate and private donations, the nation’s largest veterinary house officer (residents, interns, fellows) program at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine just got even larger. The advanced training programs for veterinarians range from one year (fellowships and internships) to two-four years (residencies).
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A Beer Named Floyd
Floyd was a ball fanatic with the heart of a retriever. The muscular black and white Boston terrier would play fetch for hours with Ananda and Chuck Nettnins before collapsing in his water trough to cool off. A few months after his death in April 2016 from hemangiosarcoma, a cancer of the vascular endothelium or the blood vessel walls, the Nettnins discovered a secret stash of more than 20 balls hidden under their couch. To honor Floyd and all the fun memories he gave them, the Nettnins wanted to do something special. They had recently opened a brewery called Three Stacks and a Rock, so they created a new American strong ale, A Beer Named Floyd. For each pint sold, the Nettnins generously donate $1 to the UC Davis Companion Animal Memorial Fund in his memory.
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Honor Your Patients and Make a Difference |
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The Center of Companion Animal Health and the Center for Equine Health are grateful to the veterinary clinics for their donations to the Companion Animal Memorial Fund and the Equine Tribute and Memorial Fund. Participating veterinary clinics and practitioners honor their patients and clients who have recently lost an animal. Each year, hundreds of clinics contribute through memorial gifts for clinical health research to improve treatment for diseases affecting their clients’ animals. If you’d like to learn how to become a participant, call our Office of Advancement at 530-752-7024. Thank you.
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Is your clinic looking to hire? Our 4th year students and recent graduates would love to hear from you. We have resources on our Career, Leadership and Wellness Center website to will help you post jobs and connect with us about advancing your clinic. Please discover the website’s job board. Center Director Janel Lang can help you navigate it. Contact her at jalang@ucdavis.edu or 530-752-5130.
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