Kitty is a 2 year old sweet girl who is an indoor/outdoor cat. One morning, her mom found her with an increased respiratory rate and effort. She was very concerned and took her to the emergency clinic. At the emergency clinic, they diagnosed her with a diaphragmatic hernia. She had sustained unknown trauma and her diaphragm had torn and her chest cavity had her spleen, liver, small intestines, stomach, and colon. She needed urgent surgery to help her breathe, but was unable to receive care from the emergency clinic. Kitty’s mom reached out to us and we scheduled her to surgery the next day. With a team of 4, we were able to repair the torn diaphragm and replace her abdominal organs back to their normal anatomical location. We also spayed her at the same time. Her anesthesia was risky and difficult, but she pulled through and recovered well! She was discharged back to her mom and we’re so happy that she was able to receive the care that she needed. Good luck Kitty! #veterinarysocialwork #veterinariansofinstagram #veterinarianlife #bipoc #dogsofinstagram #catsofinstagram #diaphragmatichernia #veterinarysurgery

Jacqueline is a pre-veterinary student who came to volunteer with us during her summer break. She was such a great asset to our team and we’re so happy we were able to show her the importance of accessible veterinary medicine. She became a rockstar recovery volunteer and we would welcome her back with open arms any time! If you’re interested in volunteering, please email us at info@vetsinvans.org. #veterinarysocialwork #veterinariansofinstagram #veterinarianlife #bipoc #dogsofinstagram #veterinarysurgery

Today marks our one year anniversary of Vets in Vans! We launched on October 5th, 2022 and we hit the ground running…more like sprinting. We want to take the time to thank our wonderful staff, volunteers, community members, partners, and donors for supporting our vision and mission to provide accessible veterinary medicine to everyone. We strive to keep families together by breaking down the financial, transportation, and language barriers in veterinary care. We still have a lot of growing to do, but we are overwhelmed with the support we’ve received the past year. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you all for making this dream come true ❤️. #veterinarymedicine #spayneuter #veterinarian #veterinariansofinstagram #bipoc #dogsofinstagram #puppiesofinstagram #catsofinstagram #veterinarysurgeon #veterinarysocialwork

Queen is a beautiful, sweet 3 year old chihuahua who was hit by a car. She sustained severe life threatening injuries. She had a broken back leg and a diaphragmatic hernia. This means her diaphragm had torn and many of her abdominal organs were now in her chest. This made it very hard for her to breathe and it was not an acceptable quality of life. Her surgery was very high risk, so we carefully planned her anesthesia and performed her surgery. We had a dedicated team of 4. Dr. Huang carefully manually ventilated, Alex closely monitored her vitals throughout surgery with emergency drugs in hand, Klaude assisted in surgery so that Dr. Park could have better visualization of the defect, and Dr. Park performed the diaphragmatic hernia surgery. In surgery, we found that her entire liver, spleen, small intestines, stomach, and colon had entered her chest through the diaphragmatic hernia. We replaced the organs back to her abdomen and closed the tear. @animalfixclinic helped us with her anesthesia plan and @sfanimalcareandcontrol let us borrow their oxygen cage post surgery. Queen’s owner qualified for @sagecompassionforanimals grant. It takes a village to make the biggest impact and we’re so thankful for all our partners. Queen has made a full recovery and will be back in one month to get her spay and pelvic limb amputation. We’re so proud of you for being such a fighter Queen! #veterinarysocialwork #veterinariansofinstagram #veterinarianlife #bipoc #dogsofinstagram #chihuahuasofinstagram #diaphragmatichernia #hitbycar #veterinarysurgery

Shie is an 11month old sweetheart who came to us for waxing and waning appetite, lethargy, waxing and waning fever, and diarrhea. She was worked up at a specialty hospital and was started on supportive care, but didn’t improve. Her owner loves her so much and couldn’t stand seeing her suffer. They came to see us through urgent walk in several times and on their last visit, we discovered two very large abscesses by her throat. Her owner stated that she likes to play in “long grass” and sometimes eats them. We suspect she had foxtails. We were able to surgically treat her abscesses and sent her home with pain medications and antibiotics. She came back 5 days later for drain removal and she’s doing great! Her owner is so grateful and so happy to have their Shie back. At their last visit, they mentioned that they were prepared to “leave without Shie because she was doing so poorly” but is now thrilled to have her back to her old self. We love you Shie! #veterinarian #veterinarysocialwork #veterinarianlife #veterinariansofinstagram #bipocbusiness #pitbullsofinstagram #abscess #veterinarysurgeon

Cody is a 12 year old sweet boy who needed a dental badly. His dad reached out to us because he was starting to have trouble eating. Through our @greymuzzleorg grant, we were able to subsidize a portion of the dental cost to help Cody’s quality of life. We removed almost all his teeth as they were very infected and his dad was very thankful that we could help! Good Luck Cody! We’re happy you can eat all the delicious foods without any pain! #veterinarysocialwork #veterinariansofinstagram #veterinarianlife #bipoc #dogsofinstagram #chihuahuasofinstagram #seniordog #dentalcare #dentalsurgery