Most animal patients seen by the specialists at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital are brought to the Urbana facility by their owners. However, clinicians and veterinary students also make “house calls” for animals on farms—and at local zoos.
Dr. Sam Sander, who leads the hospital’s zoo ambulatory service, oversees the care of animals ranging from cockroaches, spiders, and scorpions to rhinos, giraffes, and tigers in three central Illinois zoos.
“These facilities are diverse and eclectic,” says Dr. Sander, “so our students gain exposure to animals in a variety of situations and get to help provide care to those animals, too.”
Pathway to Being a Zoo Veterinarian
Dr. Sander credits the University of Illinois for providing a strong foundation for a career in zoological medicine. Her career path includes earning undergraduate and veterinary degrees at Illinois as well as completing a zoo specialty internship here after first doing a small animal internship in Connecticut.
“All of veterinary medicine comes down to the basics,” she says. “What I learned in veterinary school was mostly on domestic animals – dogs, cats, horses, and cows. Luckily, the University of Illinois has a long-standing strength in zoo and exotic animal medicine, and so I got exposure to this field and learned my passion very early on.”
While still in veterinary school, she was able to apply the lessons she learned in domestic animal medicine to patients in the college’s student-run Wildlife Medical Clinic. She also pursued electives and extracurricular activities related to zoo medicine.
After her zoo internship at Illinois, Dr. Sander entered a three-year residency program in zoo medicine at the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C. She served as an associate veterinarian at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore before returning to the University of Illinois as a faculty member in 2018. She started as director of the Wildlife Medical Clinic before taking on the zoo ambulatory service full time.
A Day in the Life
For a zoo veterinarian just like a veterinarian to dogs and cats, routine care that prevents illness and injury takes top priority
“Ideally, we do a lot of routine exams, vaccinations, and health checks. We want to take what is already healthy and keep it healthy,” says Dr. Sander. “We go to zoos on a regular schedule and stay alert for signs of illness or trauma so we can catch situations early enough to intervene and prevent bigger problems.”
However, emergencies do occur, and the veterinarians at Illinois are always on call.
When an emergency arises, Dr. Sander may handle a case over the phone if time is of the essence. She may also travel to the facility herself or have the animal brought to her at the hospital’s Veterinary Medicine South Clinic in Urbana.
“Our team is always ready to be able to help, whether that means traveling to the animal or having the animal brought to us,” she says.
Be Prepared—and Communicate
A big challenge for the zoo ambulatory service lies in managing the needs and supplies at so many different locations.
“I don’t have one hospital; I have four locations I work from every week, with different equipment at each. I’m continually rotating among these facilities, so keeping track of who has what in stock and what medication is expiring, for example, can be a bit of a challenge,” Dr. Sander says.
Additionally, each species has different needs, as does each individual animal.
“It requires a lot of anticipating how we think a procedure is going to go and what different supplies we think we should have on hand so we don’t get caught in a situation we can’t manage,” says Dr. Sander. “We talk to the zoo facilities about having the animals’ appropriate diet on hand as well as a carrier or cage to enable safe and stress-free handling of the patient.”
She says the best outcomes for the animals depend on clear communication with the zoos so that the veterinary care team and zoo staff work well together.
“We’re all on the same team and we’re all fighting to make sure these animals stay happy and healthy and have great welfare,” continues Dr. Sander. “I am a firm believer that you cannot over-communicate. We spend a lot of time on communication because that makes a huge impact on the success of our procedures.
Zoo Medicine Constantly Evolving
According to Dr. Sander, one of the great things about the zoo veterinary profession is that it’s constantly learning and evolving. Throughout her career, Dr. Sander has observed a shift in the type of care needed by her patients.
Previously, veterinarians frequently saw nutrition-related diseases because animals were not fed appropriate diets. Today, as these animals live longer, it’s common to encounter diseases related to old age, such as arthritis, chronic pain management, and dental disease.
“Over my career, I’ve seen the focus expand beyond basic husbandry and dietary issues as we’ve learned, grown, and disseminated information on better care for these animals,” says Dr. Sander.
“It’s really fun to be a part of a program that is so willing to be better and evolve what we know.”
By Cassidy Kelly
