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College of Veterinary Medicine Advance Newsletter

Sugar: The Horse that Never Gives Up

Jillian Connolly riding Sugar in a barrel race. Photo with permission by WT Bruce .
Jillian Connolly sits astride Sugar, a chestnut colored American Quarter Horse with a blond mane and tail and a white patch stretching down the length of her nose. Connolly quickly scans the barrel racing track and they are off for what she describes as the most thrilling 17 seconds. » More ...

Melle: The true story of a miraculous rescue, a helping hand, an extraordinary surgery, and the love for one dog

A few days after the New Year in 2014, Laurie Boukas of Richland, Washington, was walking her two Border Collies, Lucy and Connor, when she saw a Pontiac Trans Am drive by. Laurie, who had just moved to Richland a few weeks before with her husband, Nick, saw the car turn around and drive by again. » More ...

One of a Kind Medicine for One of a Kind Patients

Nicolas Villarino with a chocolate lab, Katrina Mealey with a black lab, Michael Court with a yellow lab
Carlee, a 7-year-old yellow lab, is a mutant. Like many of her human redheaded counterparts, Carlee has a mutation in the MC1-R gene, or melanocortin 1 receptor. The gene is responsible for producing melanin, a pigment that determines hair, or in this case, coat color. » More ...

The Disease Detectors

A new bird flu is discovered half way around the world. Thousands of wild birds have been affected, and it is only a matter of time before it begins to spread globally. Scientists at the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Washington State University immediately begin developing tests to identify the disease, so if it appears in our region, they can detect it before an outbreak. » More ...

Antibiotic Resistance: What the Allen School is doing to help solve this global health crisis

Doug Call and Beatus Lyimo in lab
Bacteria can do something remarkable. They can share genes. So, if one bacterium is resistant to a particular antibiotic, such as tetracycline, it can pass that resistant gene to another bacterium. That bacterium will become resistant and can pass its resistant gene to another bacterium. » More ...

Meet Mr. Bear: One of thousands of patients that has been helped because of MRI

Beryl Swanson veterinary student with Mr. Bear
After noticing an odd lump on his dog’s head in the spring of 2013, Joel Greenhalgh of British Columbia, Canada, took Mr. Bear, a then 11-year-old Australian Sheppard-Rottweiler mix, to his local veterinarian. At first the advice was to watch and see, but when it didn’t go away, his veterinarian took a biopsy. Mr. Bear had cancer. » More ...

The WSU Clinical Simulation Center

Veterinarian Julie Cary with veterinary student Amy Berry
In a large room filled with a half dozen tables, groups of students are following what might appear to be sewing instructions with stich names such as “cruciate” and “simple interrupted.” At the top of the sheet it reads: Practice Made Perfect. For the WSU veterinary students who are actually learning basic surgical suturing skills, this kind of practice gives them the confidence they need to perform surgeries later in the program. » More ...