Dr. Julius Liptak

BVSc, MVetClinStud, FANZCVSc, DACVS-SA, DECVS
ACVS Founding Fellow in Surgical Oncology
ACVS Founding Fellow in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
RCVS Specialist in Surgical Oncology

Veterinary Surgeon and Surgical Oncologist

Professional Experience:

  • Graduated from the University of Melbourne (BVSc)
  • Residency in Small Animal Surgery at the University of Sydney
  • Master of Veterinary Clinical Studies at the University of Sydney (MVetClinStud)
  • Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists (FANZCVSc)
  • Clinical Fellowship in Surgical Oncology at Colorado State University
  • Research Fellowship in Surgical Oncology at Colorado State University
  • Assistant Professor in Small Animal Surgery at Ontario Veterinary College
  • Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (DACVS-SA)
  • Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons (DECVS)
  • Veterinary surgeon at VCA Canada Alta Vista Animal Hospital
  • ACVS Founding Fellow, Surgical Oncology
  • ACVS Founding Fellow, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
  • RCVS Specialist in Surgical Oncology
  • Veterinary surgeon and director at Capital City Small Animal Mobile Surgery
Dr. Julius Liptak

Dr. Julius Liptak is from Melbourne, Australia. He graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1992. After obtaining his BVSc, he worked in general practice for five years and then completed a 3-year residency in minor animal surgery at the University of Sydney. Following this, he completed 1-year clinical and research fellowship at Colorado State University in surgical oncology. Dr. Liptak was an Assistant Professor in Small Animal Surgery at Ontario Veterinary College for three years before moving to Ottawa.

Dr. Liptak obtained his board certification in Australia as a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in 2002, in North America with the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2005, and in Europe with the European College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2006. In 2012, Dr. Liptak became an ACVS Founding Fellow in Surgical Oncology, one of three in Ontario; in 2020, he was accepted as a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Specialist in Surgical Oncology, one of only six in the world; and in 2021, Dr. Liptak became an ACVS Founding Fellow in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, one of only 10 in the world.

Dr. Julius Liptak was the founding president of the Veterinary Society of Surgical Oncology. He was awarded the Stephen J. Withrow Award for Advancing the Art and Science of Surgical Oncology in 2010. He is a co-editor of Withrow and MacEwen’s Small Animal Clinical Oncology, widely considered the bible of veterinary oncology. He is the first non-academic editor in the long history of this textbook. He is also finishing a new textbook, A Color Atlas of Surgical Oncology of Dogs and Cats, which he and his co-authors hope will improve the surgical treatment of animals with cancer.

Dr. Liptak actively gives back to the veterinary community as a Veterinary Information Network (VIN) consultant, frequently lecturing at national and international meetings and publishing over 100 peer-reviewed papers and textbook chapters. His main professional interests include interpretation of surgical and histologic margins, oral and maxillofacial surgery for oral tumors, chest wall resection and reconstruction for rib tumors, musculoskeletal oncology (including treatment of appendicular bone tumors and management of soft tissue sarcomas), and treatment of apocrine gland anal sac adenocarcinomas. Dr. Liptak is one of the pioneers of sentinel lymph node mapping for staging dogs and cats with cancer and using patient-specific 3-D-printed titanium implants for oncologic reconstructions. Dr. Liptak looks forward to Capital City Specialty & Emergency Animal Hospital being a center of excellence for the specialized care and treatment of animals in the eastern Ontario and western Quebec Region and for mentoring and teaching our staff and interns.

Julius enjoys spending time with his wife, Allison, and son, Ollie, along with their dog, Morley, and two cats, Ruby and Oscar. His interests include gravel cycling, photography, fishing, reading, watching movies, and SCUBA diving. He wishes he had more time to draw and learn to play the guitar and saxophone.

Recent Publications

Lapsley JM, Wavreille V, Barry S, Dornbusch JA, Chen C, Leeper H, Bertran J, Scavelli D, Liptak JM, et al. Risk factors and outcome in dogs with recurrent massive hepatocellular carcinoma: A Veterinary Society of Surgical Oncology case-control study. Vet Comp Oncol. 2022;20:697-709.
Paulos PE, Boston S, Skinner OT, Liptak JM, et al. Outcome with surgical treatment of canine soft tissue sarcoma in the Region of the ischiatic tuberosity: A Veterinary Society of Surgical Oncology retrospective study. Vet Comp Oncol. 2022;20:669-678.
Grossman RM, Sumner JP, Lopez Grossman RM, Sumner JP, Lopez DJ, Dornbusch JA, Singh A, Lux CN, Sample SJ, Liptak JM, et al. Evaluation of outcomes following subtotal colectomy for the treatment of idiopathic megacolon in cats. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2021;259:1292-1299.
Wood CJ, Chu ML, Selmic LE, Mayhew PD, Holt DE, Martano M, Séguin B, Singh A, Boston SE, Lux C, Liptak JM. Effect of perioperative desmopressin in cats with mammary carcinoma treated with bilateral mastectomy. Vet Comp Oncol. 2021;19:724-734.
Liptak JM, Thatcher GP, Mestrinho LA, et al. Outcomes of cats treated with maxillectomy: 60 cases. A Veterinary Society of Surgical Oncology retrospective study. Vet Comp Oncol. 2021;19:641-650.

Recent Presentations

Liptak JM. Canine Apocrine Gland Anal Sac Adenocarcinoma: A Clinical Staged Approach for Optimizing Treatment Options and Prognosis. VSSO-VCS Collaborative Conference, Cancun, Mexico, 2022.
Liptak JM. 1. When Should We Proceed with Aggressive Oncologic Surgery and What Should We Consider? 2. Tumors of the Thoracic and Abdominal Wall: How Far Can We Go? 3. Mediastinal Tumors: An Overview. 4. Reconstruction in Surgical Oncology (with Bacon NJ). SCIVAC Congress, Arezzo, Italy, 2022.
Liptak JM. Partial Amputation and Limb-Sparing Surgery. European College of Veterinary Surgeons Annual Meeting, Porto, Portugal, 2022.
Liptak JM. Sternal Reconstruction: When, Why, and How? European College of Veterinary Surgeons Annual Meeting, Porto, Portugal, 2022.
Liptak JM, Powers BE, Whitley D. Margins Panel. ACVIM Forum, Austin, Texas, 2022.