Education & Training

Dr. Cassandra Prpich was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, where she earned her Bachelor of Veterinary Science from the University of Melbourne, graduating on the Dean’s Honors List in 2008. She completed a small animal surgery internship at Southpaws Specialty Surgery, followed by a rotating internship at a busy Melbourne referral hospital, and then a three-year small animal surgery residency at Southpaws in 2013.

During her residency, Dr. Prpich pursued an additional credential that few surgeons seek — Membership to the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists — Internal Medicine Chapter, achieved in 2012. She is one of only three Australian surgeons to hold this distinction. She became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in February 2014, passing on her first attempt.

Specialty Expertise

Trained alongside an exceptional oncologic surgeon during her residency, Dr. Prpich developed a lasting passion for cancer surgery. She was accepted into the highly competitive Surgical Oncology Fellowship at Colorado State University’s Flint Animal Cancer Center, completing it in June 2015. Fewer than 50 veterinary surgeons worldwide hold this credential.

Her published research shares a consistent thread: challenging what is conventionally considered possible. Her landmark work on soft tissue sarcomas of the distal limb disproved long-held surgical limits — demonstrating that second intention healing could be achieved far beyond what the field believed, allowing local cure in dogs previously considered inoperable. Her subsequent research produced the lowest recurrence rates ever reported for anal sac adenocarcinoma through a refined surgical technique, and her most recent work replaced the standard 7–10 day post-operative hospitalization following parathyroidectomy with a novel outpatient protocol. She does not accept convention as a ceiling.

Dr. Prpich also brings deep expertise in advanced soft tissue surgery, including laryngeal lateralization, brachycephalic airway correction, total ear canal ablation, liver shunt attenuation, and perineal hernia repair — cases where her internal medicine background gives her a meaningful advantage.

Philosophy of Care

Dr. Prpich’s philosophy begins not with what she can do, but with what she should do. When she meets with a family, she walks through every available option — surgical and non-surgical alike, including chemotherapy and radiation therapy that a surgeon without her broader clinical background might never raise. Surgery is not always the right path, and having that honest conversation is not a failure. It is the job.

But when surgery is the right answer — especially when it is difficult — Dr. Prpich is who the surgical community calls. She regularly receives referrals from medical and radiation oncologists seeking second opinions on cases other surgeons have deemed inoperable, and she routinely finds a path forward. Board-certified surgeons — including those without oncology fellowship training — regularly contact Dr. Prpich for guidance on complex case management, or refer cases they are unable to treat themselves. It is a quiet measure of the trust the surgical community places in her judgment.

Her measure is straightforward: she will not recommend or perform a surgery on someone else’s animal that she would not perform on her own. The families who come to Dr. Prpich are not presenting a case to be solved — they are entrusting her with a beloved member of their family, and she treats that accordingly.

Why Summit

For Dr. Prpich, Summit is about the people. She wanted to be part of a team that genuinely loves coming to work every day — where every member feels seen, valued, and heard. She believes deeply that a happy, supported team doesn’t just make for a better workplace. It makes for better medicine. When the people caring for your pet are fulfilled in what they do, the patients and their families feel it in every interaction.