Superior Veterinary Surgical Solutions

23/04/2025

https://www.torigen.com/scc-blog-article

I use Torigen Pharmaceuticals a lot. They create vaccines from a pet's cancerous tumors designed to stimulate the pet's immune system to recognize the tumor as foreign and to fight against regrowth and spread.

It can be an adjunct to surgery +/- chemotherapy, etc., but for those not wanting to pursue chemotherapy or radiation therapy, it is a very nice option.

Most pets have no side effects or perhaps something mild and resolving without further treatment in a day or so.

Check out this article on the vaccine's use in squamous cell carcinoma in pets!

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is one of the most common cancers affecting dogs, cats, and horses.

12/12/2024

Circe is feeling very well after heart surgery to correct a congenital defect (PDA). She's only four months old and 3.3 pounds.

As a fetus (in utero), cats, dogs and people have a blood vessel called the ductus arteriosus that connects the aorta and the pulmonary artery, as the lungs are not filling with filling with air and delivering oxygen to the bloodstream (they get that from maternal blood).

At birth, that vessel is supposed to close. When it does not close, it is called a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), and blood from the high pressure aorta continues to pump through the pulmonary artery, causing progressive heart failure...most animals would die within a year or so.

They have a heart murmur that sounds like a washing machine, and can be felt as a heavy vibration with a hand on the chest. Such a murmur is called a "palpable thrill" (I didn't invent that name, so don't ask me).

Yesterday I went into her chest and tied off the vessel. If it would have torn, she would have died on the spot. The close-up image (which may be blurred out because it is to graphic; you can click on it to see it) shows the silk suture surrounding the PDA. The other image shows how small the heart is in relation to my hands.
The procedure was a success, and as soon as I tied off the vessel, the murmur stopped. We recovered her from surgery, and then I played B.B. King's "The Thrill is Gone" (I'll add that a link to that song in the comments for your listening pleasure).

Today, we pulled the chest tube, and Circe is eating and feeling like a kitten again. She should have a normal life.

Thanks to my great surgery and anesthesia team Animal Specialty & Emergency Hospital for keeping this little kitty warm and healthy while I did the surgery.

05/12/2024

Maui recovered without complications and went home today!

The ER/ICU staff at Animal Specialty & Emergency Hospital kept Maui alive until I could do surgery Monday morning. The bullet tore apart four of his tracheal rings 270 degrees around his trachea (windpipe). I was able to pass an endotracheal tube beyond the damaged region to stabilize him for surgery, at which point I removed the damaged portions and put the healthy trachea back together. He was up and walking by the following morning. We kept him for another day to monitor for problems, but he started eating and feeling great. He trotted outside to go to the bathroom and then went home this afternoon.
Jeff Christiansen

A Florida community is left in outrage after one of their own 'senselessly and intentionally' shot a one-year-old Goldendoodle puppy, named Maui, leaving the animal in critical condition.

26/07/2024

VetStem recently launched two FDA-reviewed platelet-rich plasma (PRP) products: PrecisePRP™ Canine and PrecisePRP™ Equine. PrecisePRP™ is a freeze-dried off-the-shelf PRP unlike any platelet-rich plasma currently on the market. The primary benefits of PrecisePRP™ include ease of use and cons...

17/07/2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFkacDcaKCw

Dr. Jeff Christiansen is a board-certified veterinary surgeon who has been providing regenerative medicine services for over two decades. He has extensive ex...