DELICATE O-PURR-ATION ...

In April 2003, the Ark 2000 exotic-animal sanctuary in San Andreas unexpectedly was asked to care for 39 neglected tigers. Since then, the sanctuary's private veterinarian, Jackie Gai, a 2001 alumna of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, has been immersed in treating the animals' many varied medical problems. When imaging specialists at the school found a large tumor in one tiger's neck, Gai and one of the school's zoological medicine specialists, Scott Larsen, made plans to have the tumor removed at the vet school's Medical Teaching Hospital. Here, as the anesthetized "Meguire" is transferred from a trailer to a gurney at the hospital, she is cared for by hospital staff, including anesthesiologist Maria Glowaski, center, and first-year anesthesiology resident Marlis Rezende, on left. Two weeks later, Ark 2000 director Pat Derby reports that Meguire is recovering well from the complicated operation, in which the surgical team removed 5 pounds of tumor from around the tiger's jugular vein. For more about Ark 2000, see http://www.pawsweb.org.

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