From pygmy goats to equine athletes, the range of patients seen by the Large Animal Surgery Service at the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center means its team members must be ready for just about anything. 

Horses, cows, goats, sheep, llamas, and alpacas are brought to Large Animal Surgery (LAS) for both elective and emergency surgeries. Seeing such a wide variety of patients means collaboration among the team’s 11 members is key to providing outstanding care. 

“Large animal and equine surgery truly demands a unique combination of dedication, resilience, and passion. What makes it so rewarding, however, is the deep commitment our team shares—not only to the animals in our care, but to each other,” says Jenna Young, veterinary surgeon and assistant professor in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine. “We take great pride in the level of effort, expertise, and compassion we bring to every case, and it’s that shared sense of purpose that makes this work so meaningful to all of us.”

As its name implies, surgeries are a significant portion of the LAS team’s workload. Common case types across several species include colic/abdominal exploratory surgeries, treating and repairing wounds, sinus and other upper airway surgeries, fracture repair, caesarean sections, and minimally invasive procedures such as arthroscopy and laparoscopy. 

The team also has services focused on horses, often conducting equine lameness and sports medicine performance evaluations, joint injections, and using advanced imaging as a diagnostic tool. Unlike human and small animal patients, who are scanned while lying down, horses are scanned while standing by a specialized CT machine. 

Specialized equipment, such as hoists, is also needed to get large patients—the average horse weighs around 1,000 pounds—to the operating table, which can create some interesting sights. 

“For anyone that hasn't seen it before, hoisting a horse upside down by their legs and onto a surgery table is a bit unique,” says veterinary technician Shannon Vesledahl. 

In addition to the physical aspects of the job, another defining characteristic of the work is around-the-clock availability. Surgery team members are at the ready to receive patients at any time of day to provide life-saving emergency care. Adaptability is also key as the nature of the work—and its patients—can be unpredictable. 

The long hours are worth it to see critical patients heal and walk out the door—often after living in the hospital for months on end. Having a great team to rely on makes caring for patients a special experience. 

“We are like family, and we like to have fun and enjoy coming to work every day,” says Nicolas Ernst, veterinary surgeon and professor in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine. “We go through hard times and challenging cases together and also get to celebrate the wins and patients recovering and going home.”

Meet the Service is a monthly feature spotlighting the people and work of the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center's care services across its hospitals and clinics.