By Shanley Stern
Tuesday, April 2, 2002

WALTHAM - Five-month-old husky-mix Brandy lay quietly on her fleece blanket hooked to an IV, bruised, tired and frightened after a car smacked into her only hours before.

"We're reducing invasive procedures as much as possible with the new equipment," Dr. Brian Huss said. "It's better for the animal if we don't open them up, it's a quicker recovery and its less painful for them. Veterinary medicine is starting to follow human medicine."

The center, located at 180 Bear Hill Road, is entirely a referral service and does not include primary care veterinarians, but provides a 24-hour emergency service for small animals as wells as dermatology, surgery, internal medicine, cardiology departments and an agreement with an adjacent veterinary oncology practice.

VESCONE, which was opened by Huss and partner Dr. Amy Shroff in January 2001, boasts three major "toys" unique to the New England area responsible for helping small animals make a speedier recovery from infections, trauma and disease.

In the surgery department, Huss said the moving x-ray machine, the only one in New England, takes an instantaneous digital picture while the animal is in surgery, allowing the surgeon to pinpoint the problem without having to transport the patient to the x-ray room and wait for a hard copy. In addition, the digital screen can show where a screw needs to be placed, if an animal fractures a bone, without opening the animal up to find it. A tiny video camera is inserted into the joint by way of a pin prick puncture.

"Everything is digital, so we can e-mail or fax a picture of the problem to an owner's vet," said Dr. Sybilie Miller, the internal medicine veterinarian for the center. "That's why we're here, to share our resources with primary care vets."

The ultrasound machine in the internal medicine department is another of Miller's toys. Also the only one in New England for animals, it will show a tumor or other problem on a screen, which can then be sent via e-mail to a primary care vet or another department, instead of having to open the animal up to find the problem. Miller said she also utilizes a long tube, called an endoscope, with a small camera on the end to look around inside an animal.

While the state-of-the-art equipment makes Miller's patients more comfortable and cuts down diagnosis time, she said the hardest part of her job cannot be erased with any kind of fancy machinery.

"We see ourselves as counselors also because owners have to make a decision at some point as to how far they want to go to save their pet. It's hard to balance a commitment to a pet and a commitment to family, finances and the pet's quality of life. We have to sit down and do a lot of talking with them," Miller said.

Located adjacent to VESCONE, the New England Veterinary Oncology Group works closely with the surgical unit of the center, Huss said. Housing the most advanced equipment for radiation and chemotherapy, Dr. Sheri Siegel said they see 10 to 15 animals a day for cancer treatment. At a cost of between $500 to $3,000 for treatment, Huss said owners come to the cancer center expecting the best, and in New England he said there is no better treatment.

"Cancer treatment is something we can't take back once it's done, so we want to make sure we get it right," Huss said.

Huss said cancer is the leading killer of dogs and cats.

The 17,000-square-foot VESCONE center is not only unique in practice, but also in architectural design. Shroff said each boarding area for the animals, which lines the emergency unit, is equipped with a power outlet, drainage system, intravenous hook-up and heated padding.

VESCONE is the only strictly referral veterinary service in New England and pulls referrals from as far as New Hampshire and New York City, Huss said.

"We chose Waltham because this is the only part of the country that didn't have a referral service. I think we can do a better job than most because we aren't seeing 100 animals a day like the primary care hospitals," Huss said.