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CARES is a mid-sized referral and specialty practice made up of a select group of highly trained specialists supported by an excellently run, 24-hour per day emergency service. The specialists at CARES take a team approach and round together daily to discuss cases as a group. We are small enough to allow for a team approach that includes personalized interaction among specialists and inclusion of you and your veterinarian in the decision making process. We are big enough to offer access to the most important specialties required to ensure your pet receives the most timely and highest quality care. Regardless of whether your pet needs outpatient, inpatient, or intensive care, we have veterinarians with the qualifications and experience to handle your pet’s needs.

The Cancer Center at CARES is run by Drs. Baez and Overley, oncology specialists certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM). Drs. Baez and Overley provide the latest and highest quality of care, treatment, and support for patients who have been diagnosed with cancer. Both are members of the Veterinary Cancer Society (VCS) and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), which provides opportunities for their patients to participate in ongoing clinical trials. In addition, this ensures the service is able to use the most recent treatments and diagnostics available.

The Cancer Center at CARES nursing staff is experienced and exceptionally well qualified to administer treatments and provide compassionate care to ensure each patient’s safety and comfort. The radiology, internal medicine, surgery, and clinical pathology services also play integral roles in our patients’ management, and treatment.

Our goal is to make treatment as stress-free and pleasant as possible for the patient and family. We aim to not only improve survival but optimize our patients’ quality of life. Open and continued communication among the patients’ family members, the referring veterinarian, and our oncology staff is key, and it helps us target our care to the best interests of each patient and family.

The Cancer Center at CARES is open to treat patients 5 days per week, with early morning drop off and evening pick up available for patients undergoing treatments.

Veterinary oncologists are veterinarians with additional training and certification in the specialized field of cancer meVeterinary oncologists are licensed veterinarians who have trained an extra 4 or more years in the specialized field of cancer medicine. In addition to 4 years of undergraduate training and 4 years of veterinary school, veterinary oncologists have performed 4 years of post-graduate training specifically in cancer medicine regulated by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Veterinary oncologists have also passed two additional sets of qualifying and certifying examinations in internal medicine and veterinary oncology to ensure competence and knowledge. At CARES, our oncologists are not only board certified, but both were academically trained at the University of Pennsylvania and stayed on for additional years at Penn to teach students, interns, and residents and to treat patients and further the field of veterinary oncology with clinical research.

We work hand-in-hand with your primary care veterinarian to provide the best possible care for patients diagnosed with cancer. We prefer to keep your veterinarian in the loop and work as a team.

As specialists, we treat patients, but we are also here to educate. We are here to explain how to achieve a diagnosis and explain what the diagnosis means for you and your pet. We are here to recommend appropriate staging diagnostics, explain why they are important, and formulate the best plan for both treatment and maintenance of quality of life for you and your pet. We are veterinarians, and thus we are advocates for the patient. We also feel it is our job to help you know if your pet is suffering and to help you palliate suffering and know when, sadly enough, it’s time to let go. We know cancer and cancer treatment is frightening, but we try our best to let you know the options and let you make the best possible decisions for the pet you love.

In veterinary medicine, we often deal with middle aged to older pets, and we understand that we are not trying to give them another 30 years. Therefore, we don’t treat as aggressively as they do in human medicine, and we don’t take as many risks. We minimize visits and stays in the hospital as much as possible without sacrificing quality medical principles of treatment.

While many veterinary cancers are cured - most particularly with early detection and treatment - in patients with more advanced or aggressive diseases, our goal is to provide a great quality of life for an extended period of time, even if it means that we are not going to achieve a cure. We want our patients at home with their families, not in the hospital. We want them playing, eating, running, and enjoying life. We work hard to achieve these goals while keeping their diseases from compromising their lives.

At CARES, we are fortunate to have a highly qualified staff trained in all aspects of cancer treatment. Both of our oncologists have worked and taught at the University of Pennsylvania and use state-of-the-art approaches to treatment. They provide a wealth of experience to you and your cherished pet to help with diagnosis and evaluation, treatment planning, and improving quality of life. They are here to help you and your veterinarian understand different therapeutic options and learn about possible state-of-the-art therapies. They perform research and collaborate with other researchers in the oncology community at large and provide personalized cancer treatment for your pet.

Our oncologists lecture at conferences, participate in research, and are active members and collaborators with a variety of organizations, including the Veterinary Cancer Society (VCS), American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM), Veterinary Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (VECOG), and the Veterinary Clinical Investigations Center (VCIC) at the University of Pennsylvania, among others. We also support and donate to a variety of organizations dedicated to finding better treatments for and improving the lives of veterinary cancer patients everywhere.

Making your pet's life as good as it can be is our primary concern. We too are pet owners, and at CARES, your pet becomes part of our family. We treat and make recommendations for you and your pet with the utmost consideration, compassion, and care.