At Animal Eye Care we enjoy working with a variety of species and will happily examine any species from a mouse to an elephant. All of the ophthalmologists in our practice have, on occasion, been called to assist with cases at local zoos and wildlife rehabilitation centers. Animal Eye Care has an ongoing relationship with local wildlife rescue groups such as Ohlone Humane Society Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, WildCare, Lindsay Wildlife and Silicon Valley Wildlife Rescue to name a few.
Our most common wildlife patients are raptors that have suffered trauma from cars or gunshot wounds. Dr. Friedman worked on 3 different giraffes in Wisconsin. One was a newborn, with a corneal ulceration. A newborn giraffe weighs about 350 pounds and is not a cooperative patient! Recently she did eye surgery on a Screech Owl and removed a corneal mass from a young opossum from WildCare in San Rafael. Dr. Smith has worked on endangered sea turtles with papilloma virus, cheetahs, elephants, alligators and Florida panthers.
Working with wildlife and zoo animals requires a lot of patience, but because we learn so much with each new case we do this work pro bono in order to expand our own knowledge about all the mysterious and beautiful eyes out there in the world that are so different and so similar to our own.