Referring Veterinarians

Emergency Services

Dr. Sarah Boston

DVM, DVSc, Dipl ACVS
ACVS Founding Fellow of Surgical Oncology
ACVS Founding Fellow of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery

Veterinary Surgeon and Surgical Oncologist

Professional Experience:

  • Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), University of Saskatchewan

  • Rotating internship at the Ontario Veterinary College

  • Three years in primary care practice

  • Residency in Small Animal Surgery at the Ontario Veterinary College

  • Doctor of Veterinary Science (DVSc), University of Guelph

  • One-year faculty position at University of Guelph

  • Postdoctoral  Fellowship in Surgical Oncology, Colorado State University

  • One-year faculty position at Massey University

  • Staff Surgeon at Western Veterinary Specialist Centre, Calgary, AB

  • Tenured Associate Professor of Small Animal Surgery, Ontario Veterinary College

  • Tenured Associate Professor of Surgical Oncology, University of Florida

  • Staff Surgeon/Surgical Oncologist, VCA Canada, Toronto area

  • Staff Surgeon/Surgical Oncologist, Capital City Veterinary Specialist and Emergency Hospital

  • Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons

  • ACVS Founding Fellow, Surgical Oncology

  • ACVS Founding Fellow, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

Dr. Julius Liptak

Dr Sarah Boston is a surgeon and surgical oncologist. She graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 1996. She spent three years as a primary care veterinarian before completing a surgery residency and DVSc in small animal surgery. She became board-certified with the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2004. She completed a Fellowship in Surgical Oncology at Colorado State University in 2005. She is an ACVS Founding Fellow of both Surgical Oncology and Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery. Her clinical focus is surgical oncology and reconstructive surgery, but she enjoys many areas of surgery. Dr Boston spent the first half of her career in academia as a tenured faculty member at both the University of Guelph and the University of Florida. She was in private practice in the Toronto area for seven years before joining the Capital City Surgery Team in October 2024. She lectures nationally and internationally on veterinary surgical oncology and has published numerous scientific articles and textbook chapters.

When she is not working as a veterinarian, Dr Boston is an author, professional stand up comedian and a podcaster. She is the best-selling author of the book, Lucky Dog, How Being a Veterinarian Saved my Life. She completed the Humber College Comedy Performance and Writing Program in 2023, where she won the Award for Academic Excellence in her program and the Tim Sims Encouragement Award for emerging comedic performers.

Recent Publications

Paulos PE, Boston S, Skinner OT, 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 Sep;20(30:669-678. PMID: 35420253.

Sharma S, Boston SE, Kotlowski J, Boylan M. Preoperative Autologous Blood Donation (PABD) and Transfusion in Dogs Undergoing Elective Surgical Oncology Procedures with High Risk of Hemorrhage. Vet Surg. 2021 Feb 26. Doi:10.1111/vsu.13598.

Sharma S, Boston SE, Mosley C, Boylan M. Internal hemipelvectomy with ischiectomy, partial acetabulectomy and femoral head and neck excision in a cat with osteochondroma. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2021 Aug 15;259(4):401-405. doi: 10.2460/javma.259.4.401. PMID: 34337962.

Sharma S, Boston SE, Skinner O, Perry J, Verstraete F, Lee D, van Stee LL, Thomson C, Boylan M, McKee T, Bergman P. Survival time of juvenile dogs with oral squamous cell carcinoma treated with surgery alone: A Veterinary Society of Surgical Oncology retrospective study. Vet Surg. 2021 May;50(4):740-747. doi: 10.1111/vsu.13625. Epub 2021 Mar 27. PMID: 33772819.

Dornbusch J, Boston S, Colee J. Noise levels in an academic veterinary intensive care unit. J Vet Emerg Crit Care (San Antonio). 2020 Nov;30(6):632-637. doi: 10.1111/vec.12997. Epub 2020 Sep 23. PMID: 32965081.

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. 2020 Jul 3. doi: 10.1111/vco.12636. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32619339.

Dornbusch, J; Boston, S; Colee, J. Noise levels in an academic veterinary intensive care unit. J Vet Emerg Crit Care. 2020; 1-6. (early view) https://doi.org/10.1111/vec.12997

Boston SE, Hayes G, Colopy S, Kennedy K, Skinner OT, Boylan MT, Sumner J, Kirpensteijn J, James FM. Influence of speaker’s gender on speaker introductions at the 2018 ACVS Surgical Summit. Vet Surg. 2020 May 11. doi:10.1111/vsu.13437. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 32394507.

Cavalcanti JVJ, Skinner OT, Mayhew PD, Colee JC, Boston SE. Outcome in dogs undergoing adrenalectomy for small adrenal gland tumours without vascular invasion. Vet Comp Oncol. 2020 Mar 5. doi:10.1111/vco.12587. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 32141158.

Boston SE, van Stee LL, Bacon NJ, Szentimrey D, Kirby BM, van Nimwegen S, Wavreille VA. Outcomes of eight cats with oral neoplasia treated with radical mandibulectomy. Vet Surg. 2020 Jan;49(1):222-232. doi: 10.1111/vsu.13341. Epub 2019 Nov 18. PubMed PMID: 31738456.

Oramas A, Boston SE, Skinner OT. Iliectomy with limb preservation for a dog with ilial osteosarcoma: Surgical description and case report. Vet Surg. 2019 Oct 12. doi: 10.1111/vsu.13329. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31605496

Skinner OT, Boston SE, Maxwell PL. Interventions and experience after complicated total cystectomy in a dog with transitional cell carcinoma. Vet Surg. 2019 Oct 10. doi: 10.1111/vsu.13330. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31602683.

Boylan MT, Boston SE, Townsend S, Cavalcanti JVJ. Limb-shortening limb salvage (LSLS) in a cat with metatarsal osteosarcoma. Can Vet J. 2019 Jul;60(7):757-761. PubMed PMID: 31281194; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6563893.

Mayhew PD, Boston SE, Zwingenberger AL, Giuffrida MA, Runge JJ, Holt DE, Raleigh JS, Singh A, Culp WTN, Case JB, Steffey MA, Balsa IM. Perioperative morbidity and mortality in dogs with invasive adrenal neoplasms treated by adrenalectomy and cavotomy. Vet Surg. 2019 Jul;48(5):742-750. doi: 10.1111/vsu.13221. Epub 2019 Apr 29. PubMed PMID: 31034643.

Oramas A, Case JB, Toskich BB, Fox-Alvarez WA, Boston SE, Giglio RF, Dark MJ. Laparoscopic access to the liver and application of laparoscopic microwave ablation in 2 dogs with liver neoplasia. Vet Surg. 2019 Jun;48(S1):O91-O98. doi: 10.1111/vsu.13153. Epub 2019 Jan 21. PubMed PMID: 30666685.

Mejia S, Boston SE, Skinner OT. Sartorius muscle flap for body wall reconstruction: Surgical technique description and retrospective case series. Can Vet J. 2018 Nov;59(11):1187-1194. PubMed PMID: 30410175; PubMed Central PMCID:PMC6190146.

Skinner OT, Boston SE, Giglio RF, Whitley EM, Colee JC, Porter EG. Diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced computed tomography for assessment of mandibular and medial retropharyngeal lymph node metastasis in dogs with oral and nasal cancer. Vet Comp Oncol. 2018 Jul 10.

Dornbusch J, Boston S, Colee J. Noise levels in veterinary operating rooms and factors that contribute to their variations. Vet Surg. 2018 Jul;47(5):678-682. doi: 10.1111/vsu.12922. PMID: 30129066.

Gemignani F, Mayhew PD, Giuffrida MA, Palaigos J, Runge JJ, Holt DE, Robertson NA, Seguin B, Walker M, Singh A, Liptak JM, Romanelli G, Martano M, Boston SE, Lux CN, Busetto R, Culp WTN,Skorupski KA, Burton JH. Association of surgical approach with complication rate, progression-free survival time and disease specific survival time in cats with mammary adenocarcinoma: 107 cases (1991-2014).  JAVMA June 1, 2018, Vol. 252, No. 11, Pages 1393-1402.

Boston SE and Skinner O. Limb Shortening Limb Salvage for Canine Appendicular Osteosarcoma of the Distal Radius: Case Report and Description of Novel Surgical Technique. Vet Surg 2017 Oct 9. doi: 10.1111/vsu.12726. [Epub ahead of print]

van Stee LL, Boston SE, Teske E, Meij BP. Compartmental resection of peripheral nerve sheath tumours with limb preservation in 16 dogs (1995-2011). Vet J. 2017 Aug;226:40-45. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2017.07.002. Epub 2017 Jul 25