His name is Teetle. He is an 80-year-old California desert tortoise, and last year he came to UC Davis with a large mass growing into his shell. The mass turned out to be an osteosarcoma. Treating it required removing a portion of his upper shell while carefully preserving the supportive muscles of his lower back, vertebral column, and hind limbs — a novel surgical approach developed collaboratively by exotic animal specialists and soft tissue surgeons who, between them, had probably never operated on a case quite like this one.
Teetle recovered well. His owners report he has more energy now than before the surgery.
This is a fairly typical week for the Companion Exotic Animal Medicine and Surgery Service at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, which is among the most comprehensive exotics services of any veterinary hospital in the world. Dr. Krista Keller works alongside five other exotics specialists, and together they see a caseload that most veterinarians would spend a career never encountering: rabbits, ferrets, koi, guinea pigs, chinchillas, rats, hamsters, snakes, lizards, chickens, toucans, parrots, tortoises, and whatever else walks, slithers, or is carried through the door.
The Bond That Drives the Work
Ask Dr. Keller what draws her to exotics medicine and she does not lead with the clinical complexity, though the complexity is undeniable. She leads with the clients…