Advanced Urinary Care

The Penn Vet Advanced Urinary Care service is tailored specifically for patients with both upper and lower urinary tract disease. We provide an integrated experience for patients that suffer from conditions related to kidneys, the bladder, and related organ systems.

Our board-certified internists, surgeons, criticalists, and staff work together to specialize in the medical management of both acute and chronic kidney disease, surgery of the upper and lower urinary tract, renal transplantation, extracorporeal therapies, including hemodialysis, cytapheresis, and plasmapheresis, and minimally invasive, endourological procedures.

What We Offer at Ryan Hospital

Getting an accurate diagnosis is critical in successful treatment planning. At Penn Vet's Ryan Hospital for companion animals we offer the best in diagnostic testing, including radiological services such as radiographs, ultrasound, computed tomography (CT)-scans, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Unique among specialty hospitals, Penn Vet offers the following:

Ureterotomy
Ureteral reimplantation
Minimally Invasive Procedures
Placement of stents within the urinary tract
Laser ablation of ectopic ureters
Extracorporeal therapy
Renal transplantation

As one of the nation's top academic diagnostic laboratories, we can process tissue, urine, and blood samples quickly and on-site.

Urological Diseases and Conditions

There are many conditions that can affect the upper and lower urinary tract of animals, including congenital abnormalities, incontinence, infection, stone disease, toxicities, renal failure, and cancer. Learn about common urinary tract ailments of cats, dogs, and other companion animals as well as how our team of experts can help.

Read about common ailments and some of their causes...

Diagnosis and Treatment

Getting the right diagnosis leads to the most successful treatment for your companion animal. At Penn Vet's Ryan Hospital, we offer a collaborative team approach to all of our patients, combining the latest diagnostic tools and resources with the expertise of highly skilled clinicians across many disciplines.

Our Care Team

At Penn Vet, we have a clinical team of veterinary specialists to take care of all urologic and kidney-related (nephrologic) diseases and disorders. We offer a team-based approach, comprising board-certified clinicians and nurses.

Lillian Aronson, VMD, DACVS
Professor, Surgery; Director, Advanced Urinary Care
Soft-tissue surgery, renal transplantation, microvascular surgery, urinary tract surgery

Jennifer Huck, Penn Vet
Assistant Professor, Clinical Surgery
Soft-tissue surgery, surgical oncology, renal transplantation

Susan Volk, VMD, PhD, DACVS
Corinne R. and Henry Bower Professor of Surgery,
Soft-tissue surgery, cutaneous wounds and reconstruction, regenerative medical therapies

Megan McClosky, DVM, DACVIM
Assistant Professor, Clinical Internal Medicine & Extracorporeal Therapies
Extracorporeal therapies, hemodialysis, plasma exchange

Dana Clarke, VMD, DACVECC
Assistant Professor, Emergency & Critical Care
Interventional radiology

Nicola Mason, BVetMed, PhD, DACVIM
Paul A. James and Charles A. Gilmore Endowed Chair Professor
Professor of Medicine & Pathobiology
Immunotherapy research

Raimon Duran-Struuk, DVM, PhD, DACLAM
Assistant Professor, Pathobiology
Director of Veterinary Clinical Care and Resident Training, ULAR
Transplantation Immunology within Advanced Urinary Care

Research

Our clinical research team within Penn Vet's Advanced Urinary Care service includes translational immunologists, transplant immunologists and surgeons, and extracorporeal therapy criticalists who are exploring the adoptive transfer of immune regulatory cell types such as regulatory T cells (Tregs) and iNKT cells to promote immune tolerance.

Our goal is to apply our combined expertise to develop canine immune regulatory cellular therapies that can be used either alone or in combination with other immunomodulatory platforms to enable successful allogeneic renal transfer in canines with chronic renal failure.

Clinical Trials
Find out more about the Untargeted plasma metabolomics and biomarker, DNA, and microbiome assessments in cats with and without chronic kidney disease clinical trial.