University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital

08/08/2025

Rehab patient, Bing, is celebrating a big Birthday. This Border Collie “pup” is 17 years young today, and we were thrilled to see him for water therapy on his big day! 🥳

08/06/2025

A three-month-old swan came to see Drs. Sosa and Elliott at the Zoological Medicine service after her owners noticed that she got tangled in fishing line while swimming in their pond. The owners were able to cut the line off the swan's legs, but they then saw she was eating it as well. They thought quickly and tied a bobber around the end coming from her mouth to ensure she wouldn't swallow the entire line.

Once she got to the clinic, a "bird-in-a-box" x-ray was performed. The metal in the bobber is visible, but the good news was that there wasn't a hook farther down the line. If a hook was present, endoscopic or surgical removal would need to be performed, as these cause tearing of the GI tract.

Luckily for Swan, the team was able to perform a sedated procedure to carefully and successfully manually remove the line from her stomach! She recovered well and is being closely monitored at home for any signs of complications.

With summer and fishing season in full swing, this is a good reminder for anyone fishing to clean up after themselves (bobbers, lines, and hooks!) to prevent further entanglements for both pet birds and wildlife alike! 🎣

08/04/2025

Do you know the signs of feline idiopathic cystitis, one of the most common causes of lower urinary tract disease in cats?

Follow Jelly's journey to learn more about what to lookout for. 🐱

08/01/2025

🌟

Meet Laura Russman, a farrier at .

"I have always wanted to work with horses for my career. I tried a few different paths, but being a farrier was the one I really seemed to enjoy the most. I liked the challenge and the ability to help make horses better on a daily basis."

👇 Learn more about Laura
https://bit.ly/4ofEruH

07/30/2025

A team from , including anesthesiologist Danielle Strahl-Heldreth, was able to assist Shedd Aquarium during a surgery on a 12-year-old beluga whale named Kimalu. The surgery was the first to successfully anesthetize a beluga.

“Not only did we succeed in helping Kimalu, but we also made history for beluga whales along the way," said Dr. Karisa Tang, vice president of animal health at Shedd Aquarium and adjunct clinical assistant professor for the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine.

We are thankful for our partnerships that help us expand the health and wellbeing of animals in need.

07/24/2025

Lethargy, vomiting, lack of appetite, vaginal discharge, and increased thirst and urination, could it be pyometra?

Learn more about this common bacterial infection in dogs or cats from Dr. Alyssa Baratta-Martin, a primary care veterinarian at , and find out what can be done as a preventative.

👇 https://bit.ly/46rWeZ9

Dr. Alyssa Baratta-Martin, University of Illinois veterinarian, says spaying female pets prevents a serious uterine infection called pyometra.

07/23/2025

Happy belated birthday to Oreo! He visited yesterday for chemotherapy, and it was his 9th birthday! 🥳

Oreo is such a good boy and has been coming to see us since January. He loves his 'girlfriends' and they love him!! 🧡

07/22/2025

Stop right now and LOOK at this Old English Sheepdog as a puppy! It is the BEST THING.🤩🐶

This is Panda, a 6-year-old Old English Sheepdog. This handsome guy is currently being treated for multicentric lymphoma here at the University of Illinois Cancer Care Clinic. Panda participated in our Daunomustine trial, evaluating a novel therapy for lymphoma treatment. He then moved on to traditional chemotherapy.

Panda’s family has been a wonderful supporter of our efforts. They write, “Panda is the youngest pet of our family, and it is beyond devastating for us to confront the reality of his T cell lymphoma diagnosis and prognosis. No dogs ever deserve this horrible, so far incurable disease. But it’s also somewhat comforting to know that by participating in such a clinical trial in the setting of a renowned university vet teaching hospital, Panda hopefully has made a little contribution to the advancement of canine lymphoma treatment.

“We encourage more dog parents who have come upon this clinical trial and/or whose dogs are diagnosed with lymphoma to pass the message of the availability of this trial and even enroll their own possibly eligible dogs in this trial. It has been a comforting and hopeful experience for us and for our dog Panda.“

07/18/2025

6-year old ball python, Sunny visited for retention of one large egg after laying four others in a clutch.

Under anesthesia, the team was unable to manually express the egg, so they had to perform an ovocentesis to extract the egg contents (totaling 66 ml) followed by medical induction and supportive calcium and fluids.

Sunny successfully passed the egg remnants at home and is doing well!

07/17/2025

When the sirens start going off, you want to have a plan. And, that includes for your livestock. 🐖🚨

From up-to-date vaccinations to records of ownerships, get tips from Dr. Yvette Johnson-Walker, a faculty member at , about what to consider when constructing your plan of action.

https://bit.ly/4mlcJLt

Livestock owners need a disaster preparedness plan. Keep animals up-to-date on vaccines, have an evacuation plan, and anticipate stresses.

07/15/2025

Register for next client educational event offered by Midwest Equine at Illinois on Tuesday, July 22 at 6 p.m.

👉 Register by July 18!

**MEETING CANCELLED**

We are excited to announce our next Client Education Meeting with Dechra Veterinary Products! Join us July 22nd at 6pm for a fun and informational night. Light dinner will be provided!

Dr. Amy Peoples will present on Osteoarthritis and Chondroprotective Therapies. Arthritis is a very common disease in all horses, especially performance horses. Come learn about how chondroprotective therapies treat and maintain the health of the cartilage within your horse's joints!

07/14/2025

Hank sees Small Animal Internal Medicine regularly for Addison's. At his recent recheck, his humans were excited to show us that they finally found a University of Illinois collar and bow tie to fit him!

Hank has 2 different colored eyes (heterochromia), which makes him even more handsome! 😍