Tuskegee University News November 26, 2014 Veterinary hospital takes on large tiger as a patient The home of the Golden Tigers has welcomed one of its fellow exotic cousins to campus for some life-saving care. "Sophia," a seven-year old, approximately 300-pound female tiger with a unique eye cancer is one of the newest patients at the Tuskegee University School of Veterinary Medicine's (TUSVM) Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. Sophia is from the McClelland Critter Zoo in Banks, Ala. and was brought to Tuskegee by her owner, Mike McClelland, after she started experiencing complications with her right eye. Sophia was born on the facility and never had a normal right eye, but it never gave her any problems until this past summer. "After Sophia's initial visit with us, testing was done on her eye and removal of eye tissue to determine her diagnosis," said Dr. Shannon Boveland, associate professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences and a board certified ophthalmologist who specializes in small and large animal ophthalmology. Sophia returned to campus for more treatment and testing today. The large tiger was sedated and spent hours with professors and students at the teaching hospital. "We will do radiographs, ultrasound and subsequently chemotherapy in which the placing of cisplatin beads [a chemotherapy drug] will be done inside the orbit, which is the bone that the eye sits in, to destroy any more cancerous tissues in the surrounding area of the orbit," Boveland said. Learning from Sophia Doctors at Tuskegee have had to treat Sophia's visit very carefully because of her size and exotic nature. In addition to her being sedated, she was closely monitored for any movement that may indicate consciousness. Students and doctors were advised to be as quiet as possible so that Sophia would not have any external stimuli to focus on that would bring her out of sedation. Radiographs and ultrasounds also took longer because several people were needed to maneuver the large tiger for viewing. In addition to getting treatment, Sophia is helping Tuskegee students and researchers learn more about "big cats" and their health. Boveland said Sophia's diagnosis is unique because her tumor, conjunctiva, is the most common eyelid tumor in domestic cats, but it has not been widely documented in their larger relations. The tiger's cancer is being treated locally with the chemotherapy drug beads instead of intravenous drug therapy because it is more cost-efficient for the owners and more beneficial for Sophia's overall health and quality of life. Dr. Karen Copedge, assistant professor of large animal internal medicine, said treating Sophia is really dependent on the "nature of the beast" and what information is available. "We've got more studies being done now to determine what drugs we can use," Copedge said. "Because [these tigers] have never been handled and they are not domesticated, coming up with drugs that we can use on them is a challenge." Treating aggressive cancer Dr. Howard King, an associate professor also in the Department of Clinical Sciences with interest in small animal surgery and exotics and wild life medicine, assisted in Sophia's previous treatment and fourth-year veterinary student Sam Rodriguez, a former licensed veterinary technician, performed the anesthesia for the previous procedure. During Sophia's return visit, Dr. Pamela Martin, a small animal clinician with a special interest in small animal internal medicine, performed ultrasounds on the tiger's abdomen and chest. "This is an aggressive tumor by nature so we need to do further testing on Sophia to see if there are signs of tumor anywhere else in her body," Boveland said. The tiger is the second exotic animal patient at Tuskegee. Last year, TUSVM treated "Thor," a lion who suffered from lameness. To learn more about the Tuskegee University College of Veterinary Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health, visit www.onemedicine.tuskegee.edu<http://www.onemedicine.tuskegee.edu>. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.