Steve Volstad

Apr 10, 2018

Courageous Guinea Pig Fights Cancer

There’s no question who the alpha is in Neil Horman’s family. It’s Muffin, the family’s 5-year-old guinea pig who shares a pen with her adoptive sister, Bunny, and keeps her in line. Muffin also manages to let her humans know what she wants and where she wants it. When she reached a certain age, she…

Apr 2, 2018

A New Treatment Approach for Jenna

Jenna is a friendly 9-year-old mixed breed dog who helps her owner, Paul Rosenberg, run a small business, in Chapel Hill. Every day, she’s with Rosenberg in their shop, playing a key role in maintaining good customer relations — through tail wags and enthusiasm. After more than eight years on the job, though, Jenna began…

Mar 16, 2018

A Once-Neglected Stray Receives an Unforgettable Memorial

She was dangerously thin, fleeing in fear at even the sound of a falling leaf. The leather collar around her neck was so tight it was clear she had grown out of it some time ago. Vicki Webb first spotted the reddish-blond Labrador-shepherd mix stray when she began stealing cat food from bowls in the…

Mar 7, 2018

A Study in Gratitude

Everyone who meets Bella the Labrador retriever describes her as always sweet. Her owner, Valerie Maitre of Wilmington, would add another description: always hungry. So it was alarming two years ago when Bella’s appetite suddenly wasn’t as robust as it always had been. Her energy level waned; she just wasn’t herself. Then it got worse.…

Mar 5, 2018

A Tireless Athlete, an Unforgettable Friend

When Stephanie Jones got married, her photographer got a shot you don’t see in every wedding album. There, smiling out of the frame, is Stephanie in her wedding gown standing with Four Irons Lighter, a horse everybody just called “Socks.” Stephanie got Socks, a registered paint, in high school. She had shown and ridden horses…

Jan 17, 2018

CVM Alum Finds Calling, Gives Back

When Nancy Rathbun-Ramsey was a kindergartener in Buffalo, N.Y., she scrawled in crayon what she wanted to be when she grew up. “I put down ‘animal doctor’ because I didn’t know how to spell ‘veterinarian,’” she says. It’s a goal that she realized in 1994, when she graduated from the NC State College of Veterinary…

Jan 8, 2018

From Seattle With Love

How did someone who has never visited the CVM or had her pet treated in the NC State Veterinary hospital become a faithful patron of the CVM? It turns out that it’s a matter of the heart...

Nov 29, 2017

Behavior Training Gives Rescue Dog a Fresh Start

Jim and Kathy Nelson of Morehead City, N.C., are retired educators, but that doesn’t mean they’ve stopped teaching. It’s just that now their students are of the canine persuasion. It all started with their dog, Shadow. The Nelsons are advocates for rescue dogs, so it’s not surprising that when they decided to get a dog…

Nov 6, 2017

Courageous Canine Fights Cancer

The Bullmastiff is an imposing breed. Developed by 19th-century English gamekeepers to stand guard over country estates and typically weighing between 110 to 130 pounds, they give any intruder second thoughts. However, as everyone knows, looks can be deceiving. Bullmastiffs are also notably quiet, mild-mannered and, if properly socialized, affectionate, gentle and calm. That is…

Oct 19, 2017

National Veterinary Technician Week: Meet April Chappelle

We conclude our series of profiles honoring the veterinary technicians who play such a vital role in providing excellent care for the animals we see here at the NC State by introducing you to April Chappelle, of the Veterinary Hospital’s medical oncology service. She comes to NC State after 16 years in general veterinary practice…