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For Veterinarians - FAQs

This section contains information most relevant to primary veterinarians and their staff. Information most relevant to pet owners will be found in our pet owners FAQ.

How can I learn more about SAGE?

We enjoy getting to know our primary doctors! Please call to arrange a visit to tour any of our facilities and meet our doctors and staff.

Please call one of our hospitals to be placed on the mailing list. Look at our News/Events page for upcoming events.

Your doctors often work at different SAGE facilities. How do I keep track of them?

We support our SAGE doctors when they request to attend required continuing education or need some time off while balancing the needs of the community to ensure adequate coverage of services.

Rest assured, if you are looking for one of our specialists, give us a call at any location and our Client Service Coordinators will make sure your message arrives in a timely manner to the location where the doctor is that day.

How may I receive SAGE informational materials to share with clients?

We have informational brochures for SAGE’s variety of services, window clings to direct clients to the closest SAGE facility for after-hours emergencies, magnets with our contact information, etc.

Please contact our Marketing department with your specific request and we will either deliver the items in person to your clinic or mail them to you.

Do you offer RACE approved CE?

Yes, at various times of the year, our doctors will provide RACE-approved continuing education lectures at our hospital locations.

Our annual Symposium also offers a variety of RACE-approved lectures and workshops.

For more information, please click here.

Will SAGE take my client away from me?

No, SAGE wants to partner and team up with our primary veterinarians, not take away their business. SAGE supports our primary vets by ensuring our communication with you and your client is clear in that we are an extension of care and services.

We purposely do not offer standard wellness plans, vaccination appointments, flea preventatives, straight forward spays or neuters, etc. Our focus is on specialized and emergency care.

How to Facilitate the Treatment of Injection Site Sarcomas (ISS) in Cats

What is a feline injection site sarcoma?

Feline injection site sarcomas are tumors that can develop at sites of injections. Certain vaccines have been implicated as being more likely to cause this cancer, but various non-vaccine injections have been implicated as well. It has been estimated that about 1 in 10,000 vaccinations results in the development of these tumors in cats.

What is the biological behavior of ISS?

ISS are locally invasive tumors that penetrate through surrounding tissue with tumor “roots”. These “roots” can extend further out than what can be seen or felt on palpation. These tumors have about a 20-25% chance for metastasis in general, but the metastatic potential for each individual tumor will vary depending on its grade.

How is ISS treated?

The treatment of each ISS will depend on the size and location of the tumor, and the health of the patient. It is common that a combination of treatments such as surgery, radiation therapy, electrochemotherapy, or chemotherapy may be recommended for patients with this disease.

What is the prognosis for cats with ISS?

The prognosis for cats with ISS varies depending on many factors, including the size, location, grade of the tumor, and the treatment modalities chosen to treat it. An oncologist can help better assess the prognosis of an individual depending on these factors.

How can the risk for developing ISS be reduced? 

Vaccinations are extremely important in preventing certain infectious diseases, some of which can be deadly. The answer is not to stop administering vaccinations since that would potentially allow for outbreaks of infectious diseases in cats and can be a public health concern for deadly diseases like rabies. Instead, you should consult with your primary veterinarian about which vaccinations are indicated for your cat and which are less likely necessary.

Besides only administering vaccines that are thought to be necessary for each individual, cat owners should monitor vaccination sites for the development of lumps and nodules. Nodules that form at injection sites may be an inflammatory reaction that may resolve on their own, but they should all be evaluated by a veterinarian to rule out an ISS.

What are indications for radiation therapy?

Indications for radiation therapy (RT) include the primary treatment of specific tumor types, such as nasal tumors and brain tumors, adjuvant treatment of incompletely excised tumors, and palliation to improve quality of life for patients with non-resectable or advanced cancers.

Uses for Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) 

In August 2017, SAGE Centers will become the first veterinary hospital in the United States to use The Halcyon™ system, Varian’s newest cancer treatment device, to deliver stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) along with the more traditional forms of radiation therapy. We will provide this advanced form of cancer treatment at our Campbell facility through our collaboration with PetCure Oncology.

Primary treatment for specific tumor types 

Indications for the use of external beam radiation therapy for the primary treatment of tumors has expanded significantly with the emergence of SRS for pets. Stereotactic radiation, delivered with VMAT technology and on-board imaging, offers an unprecedented ability to manipulate dose distribution. With advanced treatment-planning software and a board-certified radiation oncologist, our cancer patients benefit from customized treatment plans and sub-millimeter precision that enable the delivery of high-dose radiation directly to the tumor with minimum radiation exposure to the surrounding healthy anatomy. This technology allows us to safely and effectively use radiation to treat tumors in complex anatomic localizations, some of which used to be considered poor candidates for radiation.

Other RT Options

When SRS is not an option, other forms of RT can be considered.

Conventionally Fractionated Radiation Therapy (CFRT), or Definitive Radiation Therapy 

CFRT (has also been called Definitive Radiation Therapy) entails 16 to 21 daily treatments given at lower doses per fraction. This form of therapy is often used for incompletely or narrowly excised tumors that have a high chance for recurrence if left untreated. Common incompletely excised tumors treated with CFRT include feline injection site sarcomas, mast cell tumors, and canine soft tissue sarcomas. CFRT can also be used to primarily treat some tumors such as nasal tumors and brain tumors. Local tumor recurrence or tumor progression can be delayed by months to years with CFRT, and a local cure may be obtained in many instances.

Palliation 

Palliative RT is most frequently recommended for patients with advanced cancers or tumors that cannot be resected. The aim of palliative RT is to shrink the tumor temporarily and provide relief of pain and discomfort associated with the tumor. Typically, between 2 to 6 fractions are administered, as opposed to the 16 to 21 fractions given for CFRT. This allows for milder side effects while still treating the tumor. Tumors that are commonly palliated include oral tumors, large soft tissue sarcomas, and osteosarcomas, but may include tumors of nearly any histology where surgery or SRS are not options.

Side Effects 

The side effects of RT are typically divided into acute effects and late effects. Acute effects are the effects seen with rapidly dividing tissues such as skin and mucosa and include dry or moist desquamation, mucositis, and inflammation of tissues within the treatment field. These effects can be expected to occur to some degree usually about 2 weeks after starting radiation, and can last up to a few weeks after radiation is completed. Acute effects are usually considered mild with a course of palliative radiation. Late effects occur with slowly dividing tissue such as bone, nervous tissue, and other connective tissues and can occur anywhere from 6 months to several years later and include fibrosis, necrosis, and secondary tumor formation. These more clinically relevant late effects generally considered rare and have a less than 5% incidence rate.

Is SAGE a corporation?

SAGE Veterinary Centers is owned locally by DVMs who practice in each of our facilities, in partnership with Chicago Pacific Founders. Though we are large in size and offerings, we are cognizant of remaining local and community-based.

Our management team has corporate experience, and we have benefited from their experience with growing the organization and streamlining our processes, however by design, our culture is such that we are flat-management based with little to no hierarchies. Everyone at SAGE has an important role to fill regardless of their title.

What does SAGE stand for?

The SAGE name is not an acronym and was chosen due to a variety of reasons.

First, the definition of the word “sage” is someone who is wise and venerated for their possession of wisdom, judgment, and experience. We feel our team exemplifies this description and shares their knowledge for the greater good.

Second, a sage plant is an aromatic herb plant native to California which identifies our presence in the San Francisco Bay area.

What does your Logo stand for?

The SAGE logo is comprised of a shield to stand for protection, a paw print to identify our commitment to small companion animals, a leaf to illustrate the sage plant (and our name), and the colors of sage green and brown to represent our ‘down to earth’ CA presence.

Want to partner with SAGE?

An amazing partnership is within reach, to learn more please visit our partner with us page here.