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 alongside her surgical training — 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.

Specialty Expertise

Trained alongside an exceptional oncologic surgeon during her residency, Dr. Prpich developed a lasting passion for cancer surgery. She completed the ACVS Surgical Oncology Fellowship at Colorado State University’s Flint Animal Cancer Center in June 2015. The fellowship is a one-year immersion in a multidisciplinary cancer center — combining deep grounding in cancer biology, structured time working alongside medical and radiation oncologists, and required case minimums across complex oncologic surgery. It’s the year that teaches a surgeon how to think about every dimension of a cancer case at once — surgical, medical, radiation, prognostic — and how to know when another specialist should lead. Fewer than 50 Fellows are currently in active clinical practice worldwide.

Dr. Prpich’s research career began during her surgical residency, when she first-authored a paper documenting outcomes of a novel approach to distal limb soft tissue sarcomas pioneered by her mentor Dr. Charles Kuntz — work that demonstrated second intention healing could be achieved beyond what had previously been described, expanding surgical options for dogs that would otherwise have faced amputation. Her subsequent research has consistently asked what’s possible beyond what’s been demonstrated. Her work on anal sac adenocarcinoma demonstrated a 2.2% local recurrence rate across 45 dogs — the lowest published for the disease — through a surgical technique she developed in practice. Her most recent study replaced the standard 7–10 day post-operative hospitalization following parathyroidectomy with a novel outpatient protocol. Each project asks the same question: what else is possible here?

Outside oncology, Dr. Prpich practices a wide range of advanced soft tissue surgery — laryngeal lateralization, brachycephalic airway correction, total ear canal ablation, liver shunt attenuation, perineal hernia repair. Her internal medicine training shapes how she approaches these cases: she’s often thinking about medical management alongside the surgical plan.

Philosophy of Care

Dr. Prpich’s philosophy begins not with what she can do, but with what she should do. Cancer treatment usually involves more than surgery. Her role in a consultation is to walk through every available option — surgical and non-surgical alike. Sometimes that means discussing chemotherapy or radiation as part of the plan. Sometimes it means recommending a medical or radiation oncologist as the right person to lead the case. The goal is for each family to leave knowing exactly what they’re deciding between. Surgery is not always the right path. Having that honest conversation is not a failure. It is the job. When surgery is the right answer, Dr. Prpich does the work surgical oncologists train to do: review the imaging, plan the approach, have honest conversations with the family about risks and recovery, and coordinate with medical and radiation oncologists where their input matters. Some cases are technically complex. Some are routine. The approach is the same regardless. Collaboration runs through everything. Dr. Prpich is happy to be consulted on complex oncology cases — by a primary care veterinarian thinking through a referral, a medical oncologist working on a multidisciplinary plan, or a surgical colleague wanting another set of eyes. Surgical oncology works best when the perspectives are in the room together.

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 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.