![[patient story-mayzie]](https://vetmed.illinois.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/ps-mayzie1-260x157.jpg)
‘Teaching Moment’ Has Happy Ending Most experts agree that implanting a microchip in your dog is one of the safest and most responsible decisions a pet owner can make, ensuring you can be found if your best friend is lost. However, when a one-in-a-million mishap caused David and Sharon Shafer’s puppy, Mayzie, to nearly become...
![[Toby laryngeal web]](https://vetmed.illinois.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/patient-toby-feature-260x157.jpg)
First, Toby DaCosta lost his voice. Then the five-year-old Finnish Lapphund lost his energy, and seemingly, his will to enjoy life. Toby’s veterinarian placed his symptoms into VIN (Veterinary Information Network), a worldwide online medical forum, and asked for a consultation. Dr. Brendan McKiernan, a retired faculty member from the University of Illinois College of...
When Jan Jannusch noticed that her 13-year-old cat, BJ, was having trouble breathing, she took him to see a veterinarian. The cause of BJ’s problem turned out to be “idiopathic chylothorax,” a disease so rare that many veterinarians won’t encounter a single case of it in their entire career. That’s why BJ’s doctor recommended seeing...
![[ozzie today]](https://vetmed.illinois.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/patient-ozzie-260x157.jpg)
This story about my dog Ozzie starts when I inherited my father’s boat, which was about five years before Ozzie was even born. My father’s boat and I were made in the same year: 1963. For sentimental reasons, my family wanted to keep the old boat even though the motor it had was not really...
Update January 20, 2017: Sadly, Miss Millie passed away on January 10. Her owner, Karen Lee Keefe, shared this poem with us: It is with the Heaviest of Hearts that I share with you… After a Courageous Battle with Cancer, Miss Millie is doing “Her Strut” across The Rainbow Bridge Runway. Having been Blessed with...
What’s in a name? Angel, an eight-year-old hound mix from Georgetown, Ill., recovering from a severe leg fracture thanks to the surgical team at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital, is more than the family pet to the three Nichols siblings, Brhyleigh, Kenneth III, and Branden. Infinitely more. Angel was the last gift their...
This young ruby-throated hummingbird was brought to the Wildlife Medical Clinic this week after she was found in the parking lot of a Menard’s, unable to fly. On examination, the students noted that she had a wing droop, but due to her incredibly small size (a whopping 3 grams!), they were unable to determine if...
At just nine months old, Oz appeared to have the crippled walk of an old man. Oz the goat was intended for a life as a stud to pass along his favorable genetics, but because of his mysterious lameness, Oz’s owners decided it would be best not to breed him. Instead, they donated the animal...
Is it true blondes have more fun? For Miss Clairol—better known by her pet name, “Blondie”—an 11-year-old Palomino show horse that recovered from a devastating leg injury to compete again at a championship level thanks to surgeons at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital, every day is a playful celebration of life. “Ninety-five times...
In late April, a Standardbred race horse was brought to the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital showing signs of lameness. A couple of x-rays revealed a simple incomplete fracture of a bone just above the hoof on the left hind leg. Treatment options included surgery or conservative treatment, where the leg would be placed into...