Veterinary Specialty Services of St. Louis

📢Update📢: Power has been restored and our Manchester hospital is operating normally once again.

Our Manchester hospital is currently experiencing a power outage. We have limited generator power so all patients currently hospitalized are safe. Until further notice, we will be extremely limited on what cases we will be able to see. If at all possible, please seek care elsewhere.

We (quite literally) would not be here were it not for Dr. Gorse's drive and years of dedication. Her progressive vision has led to VSS providing gold-standard specialty and emergency care to the pet families of the greater St. Louis area for more than 30 years.

Your VSS Family is so proud of and grateful for you!

First veterinary class: Class of 1984 alum Mary Jean Gorse journeys from childhood dreams to pioneering success In the St. Louis area, Gorse founded Veterinary Specialty Services, which today includes nearly 50 veterinarians.

We're so pleased to have been able to help K9 Officer Theo after his recent on-the-job emergency. Thankfully, Theo has made a full recovery and is back to work!

St. Louis County K9 back on job after overdosing K9 Theo is back on patrol after experiencing an overdose in June.

Miss Cami, a 9 month old lab puppy, had a stomachache on Saturday, so her family brought her to VSS-West to visit our Emergency team. Dr. Joseph quickly identified the problem: Cami had snuck into the chicken coop and ate ALL the chicken feed! Cami's nurses induced vomiting to relieve her of that overloaded belly and she was back to normal in no time. Despite her puppy dog eyes of regret, Cami was an absolute doll to care for!

Hi! My name is Buck. Thank you VSS West Surgery team for helping me when I had an accident chasing my cat friend. Dr. Coletti says, when I jumped and landed wrong, I fractured my foot bones! He and his team surgically corrected 2 of my bones with pins which allowed all my bones to heal. Today I am celebrating...Dr. Coletti says my new x-rays look great and he's pleased with how my bones look! THANK YOU to my veterinary technician friends, especially Abbie and Tiffany, for helping me and giving me extra love and kisses.

Cooper ingested a metal skewer with a tasty bit of ham on Sunday. His family brought his to the Emergency Center at our Manchester hospital where x-rays confirmed the entire skewer was in his stomach. The ER and Internal Medicine team performed an emergency endoscopy and safely retrieved the skewer! Cooper was temporarily placed on the naughty list for swallowing the skewer, but quickly regained his status as "goodest boy".

Raven was adopted from a local shelter at 5 months old. She had discharge from her nose and eyes that would improve for a short while with antibiotics, but always return. Her mom took her to see Dr. Howard, one of the Internal Medicine Specialists at VSS. Dr. Howard quickly diagnosed her with cryptococcus, a fungal infection that can flourish in the sinus passages of immunocompromised cats. Raven was started on an antifungal medication. A few weeks into treatment, Raven had no symptoms. After a few months of treatment, Raven is now negative for cryptococcus and thriving!

"Brownie" is a little Chihuahua who suffered major internal injuries after being attacked by an 80-pound dog. Brownie's family brought him to our West hospital for advanced medical care after being seen at another local urgent care center. He needed a major surgery to reconstruct his abdominal muscle wall, followed by lots of care in our ICU. The Emergency & Critical Care team at VSS-West, along with surgeon Dr. Gabriel, saved this boy through a combination of team work and medical/surgical expertise! Brownie's family is pleased to report he is recovering well at home💗 Well done Superheroes!

Oakley was rushed to our West hospital after suffering a traumatic dog attack which caused serious internal injuries, including an abdominal wall hernia and a diaphragmatic tear. Our ER team stabilized her and Dr. Daugherty came in after hours for immediate surgery. Through cooperative medicine, we were able to save Oakley's life. An absolute fan-favorite who received of MANY kisses, Oakley spent 3 days recovering in our ICU and then was able to go home with her family!

Handsome best boy Duke recently graduated from his lymphoma chemo protocol! To celebrate, he came to his appointment with his very own bell to ring 🎊 We're so proud of you, Duke!

On Sept 13 members of partnered with The Pet Doctor and O'Fallon Missouri Police Department to provide emergency medical continuing education to neighboring K9 handlers, SWAT and EMS teams. 55 handlers from all over the area joined us for a full day of lectures and live demos, including: CPR, chest/abdominal wound management, heat injury awareness, GDV care, narcotics exposure, basic physical exam, IV catheter placement, proper bandage techniques and more!

It was an amazing day paying it forward to our first responders. THANK YOU to everyone involved!