April 2022
gray tabby and white cat licks paw
Lick Hairball Problems With Veterinarian Advice
Though famous felines from Garfield to Puss in Boots get them, hairballs are no joke. Hairballs may be a symptom of more significant illnesses or cause issues themselves. National Hairball Awareness Day (yes, that's a thing), on April 29, aims to educate pet parents on how to prevent hairballs and ensure their animal’s health. Juliet Caviness DVM’17, a Primary Care clinician with UW Veterinary Care, answers questions to clear up misconceptions and share helpful tips.
PET TIPS AND CLINICAL STUDIES
Insect Prevention Primer

April is Prevent Lyme Disease in Dogs Month and National Heartworm Awareness Month – an important time, as the weather warms, to ensure adequate protection for pets. Amy Nichelason, a veterinarian with UW Veterinary Care’s Primary Care service, shares insights into how to best protect animal companions from mosquitoes, ticks and the diseases they can carry. Pro tip: The Companion Animal Parasite Council publishes parasite prevalence maps with infection risk by state and county for dogs and cats.
woman and dog look at computer screen
Canine TV Preferences

Here’s a fun one! A new citizen-science study led by assistant professor Freya Mowat asks dog owners to help shed light on how dogs engage with TV and videos and what kind of content most appeals to them. It’s no trivial business, as the results could lay the groundwork for developing better ways of assessing vision in dogs. Individuals from around the globe and their canine companions can participate in the questionnaire. Participants can also take the optional step of showing their pup four short videos and rate their dog’s interest.
Featured Service
Large Animal Surgery
The UW School of Veterinary Medicine has welcomed four new surgeons to the Morrie Waud Large Animal Hospital. Joseph Davis, Jordan Kirkpatrick, Kayla Le and Paul Merkatoris expand a dedicated, expert team of veterinarians offering specialty services to a wide range of species, including horses, cattle and more. These surgeons grow the hospital’s extensive capabilities in providing routine, specialized and emergency surgical procedures for primary and referral clients.

Referring veterinarians: You are invited to a meet and greet event for veterinarians with our Large Animal Internal Medicine and Large Animal Surgery clinicians at UW Veterinary Care the evening of May 13. For more information, please contact Ruthanne Chun, chief of Large Animal Services.
SOCIAL ANIMALS
Highlights from your social media mentions of UW Veterinary Care
and the UW School of Veterinary Medicine
cooljoycestudio
HUGE SMILES ALL AROUND! Not only has her cancer not spread... the largest tumor (the one that is pressing on her colon and the big concern) actually *shrunk* a bit! Realistically, that's the best news we could have hoped to get today. ❤ I have to add... the staff we have been working with throughout all of this has been absolutely exceptional. I can't recommend them highly enough. Now, back home and nap time for Princess Anya and I.

mad_doge_toby
I’m a proud #sciencedog and participant in the Vaccination Against Canine Cancer Study (VACCS) being run by @uwvetmed! This vaccine trial is based on a new cancer prevention strategy and is the largest clinical trial to date on canine cancer. We are grateful for the opportunity to participate and all the hard work by the researchers and vet team. I was apparently such a good and chill dog during the ultrasound screening that the vet team did it on me twice for training! We hope that this study will be useful for cancer prevention in dog people and human people. ❤️
pugluvr1968
My sweet baby had oral surgery and dental cleaning at the University of Wisconsin yesterday. She did great! Now we both have to recover! Amazing staff and care at the U! 🧡
 
laura6_d
So very grateful for the amazing care Romeo got the past two weeks @uwvetmed. Absolutely everyone was so kind to him and patiently answered my thousands of questions. Just another reason why I’m a proud #uwalumni 😻 🦡