News

This week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a bold step to enhance public-health preparedness for diseases transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks in the nation’s southwest. With an $8 million grant from the CDC, University of California, Davis and Riverside researchers will launch the Pacific Southwest Regional Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases later this month. 

Animal rescue in Napa County is now about more than just cats and dogs, but large farm animals as well.

The academic world continues to study the human-animal bond and gathers annually for a conference through the International Society for Anthrozoology. This year’s gathering was held at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine over four days in June.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has named Dr. Patricia Ann Conrad recipient of its 2017 Lifetime Excellence in Research Award. The award is given annually in recognition of outstanding contribution to the veterinary or biomedical professions through basic, applied, or clinical research.

Two interns from the SeaDoc Society respond to a call about a harbor seal pup on Orcas Island.

To many of us, pets are family — only furrier, slimier and sometimes cuddlier than our human relatives. Naturally the nearly 85 million pet parents in the U.S. today seek out the places where their beloved companions can enjoy the highest standard of living — hopefully at the most reasonable cost. UC Davis' Dr. Jane Sykes discusses what make a great pet-friendly city.

Dr. Rebecca Bellone shares her experiences in working with high school students this summer through the Pre-College Program offered through UC Davis Extension. 

Dr. Michelle Hawkins, VMD, DABVP (Avian Practice), professor in the Department of Medicine & Epidemiology, recently completed her leadership of the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV). She served as the organization’s president for the past year. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Dr. Hawkins is also a clinician in the veterinary hospital’s Companion Exotic Animal Medicine & Surgery Service and director of the California Raptor Center.

As the academic year comes to a close, we present the annual highlights of the UC Davis veterinary hospital. The hospital’s more than 120 board-certified faculty and staff veterinarians, along with a team of 350 highly-trained staff members, saw approximately 50,000 patients for the year. Training in each of these patient visits were our 109 house officer veterinarians (residents, fellows, interns) and the 134 members of the Class of 2017. Our clinicians are innovators of some of the most cutting-edge procedures in veterinary medicine. The hospital has more specialty services than any teaching hospital in the country. Many services saw double-digit percentage increases in caseload: neurology, equine ophthalmology, behavior, zoological medicine, cardiology, nutrition, equine reproduction, community surgery, and radiation oncology.

Highlights of the year include:

Does the thought of leaving your pet behind in an evacuation keep you up at night? If so, you’re not alone. A recent paper in the American Journal of Public Health highlights how neglecting steps for evacuating animals, thereby forcing people to leave their pets behind, can have serious public health consequences for the pet owners—and for everybody else.

Makana, a 7-year-old female yellow Labrador retriever, was diagnosed with bilateral adrenal tumors so her owners brought her to the UC Davis veterinary hospital. Working together with the Internal Medicine Service, who were managing Makana’s case, surgeons with the Soft Tissue Surgery Service developed a plan to address her complicated condition. Surgeons at UC Davis are pioneering laparoscopic procedures for small animals, and have extensive experience in dealing with adrenal tumors.

Tucked into a picturesque mountain range 175 northwest of campus sits the Eden Valley Ranch, where a menagerie of animals benefit from visits by UC Davis veterinarians and students.

While there is still much to be known about equine coronavirus, researchers at UC Davis are discovering many commonalities among horses infected with the disease and are hopeful to someday find the root cause. Their research is helping veterinarians better diagnose and treat the disease, as well as helping horse owners manage or even prevent an outbreak.