A tale of two surgeries Penn Vet is known for pioneering veterinary surgical procedures. Two recent, complex cases put that expertise on display, with joyful results. Surgeon Chiara Curcillo and colleagues evaluate the healing of Daisy, an American Staffordshire Terrier who had an unfortunate run-in with a porcupine. Painstaking surgical procedures and rigorous follow-up care have put Daisy on the path to good health. Some advice is best ignored. Like the warning Kyla Ortved received while volunteering in a small animal clinic as a teenager. One of the clinicians told her vet school was too hard to get into. The woman recommended Ortved do something else.