Eloise Cucui, class of 2017

As a student involved with shelter medicine at Cornell, I am constantly given the chance to apply what I am learning in the classroom to real-life shelter situations. Weekly rounds help solidify lecture material by putting it in the context of real patients and cases; weekend clinics allow me to develop my clinical skills by performing intake and physical examinations; community outreach programs enable students to practice providing care to cats and dogs in need while communicating with and educating pet owners. These hands-on experiences are helping me become a better veterinarian and they benefit more than just the animals whose lives we're improving, as, ultimately, through spay/neuter, vaccination, and deworming, we are also enhancing human public health.

Thank you so much for your support; I am extremely grateful for the opportunities Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program has offered me, and your contributions will allow future students to experience these same valuable opportunities and many more.

Kira Purdon, Class 2017

Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell has been an unbelievable experience for me as a veterinary student. The amount of time and dedication that each animal receives is incredible. Not only is it a place of education, it is a place of research that has produced rapid advances at the forefront of shelter medicine. I have witnessed so many inspiring stories, from starving and sick animals being nursed back to health, to reuniting animals with long lost owners. The daily actions of shelters truly make an impact on multiple animals’ lives. As students we get to participate in everything from rounds on Mondays about interesting medical cases, to Saturday clinics where we get to act as clinicians and work up cases with the highly knowledgeable vets on staff. While all these things have changed so many lives, the only way it is possible is because of donations like yours. We thank you greatly for all that you have done! Keep up the momentum and we can meet our goal and help so many animals in need find their furrrrever homes!

Kira Purdon, Cornell Veterinary Class of 2017

Meet Béla, she is a gorgeous 4 year old cat that came to us after her owner passed away. When she entered the shelter our vets had to run to her aid because she was having trouble breathing. Because of the amazing quality of care at our shelter and the fantastic veterinary team, Béla was able to be stabilized and have radiographs to confirm that she was suffering from asthma. Like humans it can be managed, but she requires some special attention and a very specific home. Donations like yours are the reason this beautiful girl has been afforded the opportunity to find her forever home. She has found a special place in many of our hearts and is such an extraordinary little girl. Béla thanks you so much for your donations that keep her new temporary home nice and warm and filled with yummy kibble and petting hands while she waits for her new owner. Check out her beautiful purrrfect self below!

Kira Purdon, Cornell Veterinary Class of 2017

 Ripley is an approximately 5-month-old female kitten. When she originally presented to the shelter she was about 3 months old, in poor body condition, and on her intake physical a hard, large mass was noted in the area of her stomach. Before going to surgery, the mass was still present. After spaying her, one of our great doctors, Dr. Putnam decided to perform an exploratory to investigate the mass. Her left kidney had severe hydronephrosis and as such was full of fluid and completely non-functional. She had multiple adhesions to the kidney. Dr. Putnam was successful in removing her broken kidney after which she went to foster with Dr. Delgado. In foster, she started to gain weight and got a big bounce in her step. She is now growing fast as can be and chancing her new best cat friend around the house. Her blood work has improved so with any luck, Ripley will get to live a happy and healthy life. Ripley decided Dr. Delgado was alright so she's going to keep her. Thanks, to your donations, Ripley is able to live a long and full life in her comfy, warm new home.

Kyra Marsigliano, Class of 2017

At just about two weeks into our campaign, we are right on track toward meeting our goal, with over $5,000 raised so far!

Shelter medicine involves more than just the art of mixing individualized veterinary care with population management. As our wonderful Dr. Holly Putnam recently taught my peers and me, it also requires a self-awareness and resiliency to allow us to remain inspired and focused on our goal of saving animals. The unfortunate fact remains that six to eight million pets are surrendered to shelters annually, and only half of them find new homes.

But thanks to progressive shelters like the SPCA of Tompkins County and strong educational programs like Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell, which support research and innovation to train the very best shelter veterinarians, the sheltering community is able to save more and more animals each year. Shelter medicine has come so far even within the past decade, and thanks to donors like you, we will continue to redefine sheltering and improve the lives of our companion animals.

Thank you to everyone who has already donated to this fundraiser. We could not have gotten this far without you. Now, as we enter the second half of our campaign, we need your help to keep up the momentum so we can reach our goal! Please share our message with friends and colleagues. As with our campaign, shelter medicine has come a long way, but there is still much progress to be made. Stay resilient and march forward with Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell!

Kyra Marsigliano, Class of 2017

Thanks to all our truly wonderful donors, Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell is now over two-thirds of our way to our campaign goal of $10,000. Despite the cliché, this campaign is actually one of those causes for which a donation of any size is greatly appreciated because each donation has a snowball effect that will continue to grow for years to come, infinitely increasing the value of every single dollar offered by inspiring, passionate supporters like you. Some of our most recent donations reflect this notion perfectly, so we want to thank everyone again for supporting our campaign. Every dollar donated enables the shelter medicine faculty and staff to do that much more, to save more pets’ lives, to better train the next generation of shelter vets who in turn will touch that many more lives. Each donation, whether it’s enough to buy a hundred SNAP tests or just a part of one, represents support for the progress made in shelter medicine over the years as well as confidence in the great progress yet to come. Thank you again for your support as we continue toward our goal.

Kyra Marsigliano, Class of 2017

The benefits of Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program extend beyond just the Shelter Medicine Club and other students directly interested in shelter medicine. Open to all vet students from all years, weekly interactive shelter med rounds provide a clinical application of relevant material from the curriculum. This supplementation is helpful for learning to adapt private practice treatments for the shelter (such as fluid therapy for shelter cats a couple weeks ago), or for topics that have been covered more didactically and were not initially presented alongside a case. Earlier today, the rounds involved the latter.

Veterinary medicine requires a lot of repetition, especially refreshing and expanding on previously covered material. I know that I learn best when I am able to apply my knowledge to a case, essentially giving a disease a cute little puppy’s face. At today’s shelter med rounds, we reviewed canine endo- and ectoparasites, using a puppy with fleas, mites, lice, and intestinal worms as our case. Having learned parasitology in the fall alongside all the other infectious diseases and subsequently burying that information under fluid therapy protocols, clinical pathology test interpretations, and all the other information from our other elective classes during this current distribution period, my peers and I struggled to identify the organisms on the slides in the powerpoint presentation today. The information was there, however, and now that we had this extra review session, it will be much easier for us to recall and apply our parasitology knowledge when we head into clinics.

Shelter med rounds are completely optional but they have been so important to my veterinary education by reinforcing certain concepts as well as bringing new ones to light. Thank you for supporting Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell so we can continue to hold these sessions.

Jack, a black cocker spaniel, is a successful alumnus of Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell. Jack's owner passed away and, shortly thereafter, he was taken in at a local shelter. He looked to be in rough shape when he arrived. So this sweet older dog was examined thoroughly by Maddie's students and faculty, and had a much-needed bath and haircut. Jack was suffeirng from terrible dental disease and a significant case of dry eye. Cornell provided the dentistry and ophthalmic care Jack needed so he could be adopted out, and that's exactly what happened. Jack wanted to share his story with you, and to thank you for your support of Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell. 

With your help, we're closing in on our goal. Thank you! We have thoroughly enjoyed sharing a few stories about the impact of your support. Please continue to share these heartwarming tales like the one below.

Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell enables the SPCA of Tompkins County in its mission to save companion animals. Some of the animals the veterinary staff have helped recently include the super affectionate Cat Benatar, who was found as a stray and treated for fleas and other parasites. She also has a deformed leg, possibly from an old injury, but it has healed and doesn’t seem to bother her or prevent her from getting around, so the vets have decided not to amputate it. She is heading to surgery to be spayed today, and will then be put up for adoption.

There’s also sleepy Ranger here, and playful Crede, both transferred from another shelter in Alabama. The SPCA is great at transferring pets from higher volume shelters, expanding our reach across borders to alleviate the strain on other shelters and help more animals get adopted. These boys came to the SPCA of Tompkins County with bellies full of worms and other intestinal parasites, but they have been treated and neutered and are now awaiting adoption.

Video by Kyra Marsigliano '17

Thank you to the many generous people (and pets) who helped Gimme Shelter reach our $10,000 goal. We knew we could count on you! Like our polydactyl friend, Zoe, a loving cat with extra toes, you exceeded our expectations! A few other friends wanted to thank you with a special video below. We hope you will stay up-to-date with Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell. Many, many thanks!