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Internal Medicine

About Our Internal Medicine Department

The Internal Medicine (IM) Department at Madison Veterinary Specialists is composed of Dr. Kristen McDaniel and Dr. Kaylyn McDaniel (board certified small animal internists), certified veterinary technicians and veterinary assistants. A board certified veterinary internal medicine specialist is a licensed veterinarian who has obtained intensive, additional training in understanding how your pet’s internal body systems function and in diagnosing and treating the many serious diseases that can affect the health of those systems. An internal medicine specialist has advanced training in the following disciplines:

  • Cardiology
  • Hematology
  • Immunology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Nephrology/Urology
  • Neurology
  • Respiratory Diseases

While your general practitioner veterinarian can diagnose and treat many health problems, certain diseases and conditions require the care of a doctor who has had specialized, intensive training in internal medicine in order to provide the very best outcome for your pet.  Internists focus on diagnosing and treating diseases of the internal systems. Where the diagnosis is known, an Internist may confirm the diagnosis and treatment, providing peace of mind. If a diagnosis is proving elusive or therapy is not proving effective, the Internist can use advanced diagnostics to find the diagnosis or adjust treatment plans to get patients back to health.

*Within the discipline of veterinary internal medicine, there are also veterinarians who specialize further in Small Animal Medicine, Cardiology, Neurology, and Oncology

The Benefits of Utilizing a Small Animal Veterinary Internist

Just as your own primary care physician may feel the need to refer you to the care of a specialist from time to time, your general practitioner veterinarian may feel your pet needs a specialist to help diagnose or treat a particularly complicated medical problem. While your general practitioner veterinarian can handle many aspects of your pet’s care, just as in human medicine, there is sometimes a need for the attention of a specialist. You can be assured that a veterinarian who knows when to refer you and your pet for more specialized diagnostic work or treatment is one that is caring and committed to ensuring that your pet receives the highest standard of medical care for his or her problem.

While in some cases, your veterinarian may be able to simply consult with a specialist about your pet’s care, in other cases it is necessary to actually refer you and your pet to the specialist for more advanced diagnostics and treatment. Board certified veterinary internists may also have access to specialized diagnostic or treatment tools that a general practitioner veterinarian may not have.

FAQ’s

What health problems do veterinary internists treat?

Board certified internal medicine specialists are trained to treat the most serious diseases and health problems that affect pets. They are also especially prepared to care for pets that may be facing multiple health problems. Thanks to better health care, more and more pets are living longer lives. As a result, an increasing number of older pets, just like older people, are coping with multiple disease states that can be very difficult to manage. For example, a cat with diabetes may also be suffering from kidney failure, or a dog in heart failure may also be diagnosed with cancer. Internal medicine specialists are uniquely prepared to oversee the care of these complicated cases. In other situations, a younger animal may develop a problem that used to be considered untreatable but is now manageable and perhaps even curable. Some common diseases that frequently lead general practitioner veterinarians and concerned pet owners to seek the expertise of a specialist: Cancer, Heart Disease, Gastrointestinal Diseases, Diabetes Mellitus, Immune Related Disorders, Kidney Dysfunction

Will my family veterinarian still be involved in my pet’s care?

YES! Seeing a veterinary specialist never replaces the long-term relationship every pet and pet owner should have with their family veterinarian. In many cases, your veterinarian will play and active role in your pet’s veterinary care, especially if your pet is coping with multiple disease states or conditions. In some cases, your specialty veterinarian will take over the majority of your pet’s medical care. It all depends on your pet’s particular disease and health problem.

Dr. Kaylyn McDaniel graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelors in Nursing. A few years later, she made the switch to veterinary medicine and attended the University of Illinois where she obtained her DVM in 2017. After, she completed a Small Animal Rotating Internship and Small Animal Internal Medicine Internship at the University of Missouri from 2017-2019. She then went on to Washington State University where she completed her Masters of Science during her Small Animal Internal Medicine Residency. She joined the MVS team in August of 2022.

When she’s not working on complex medical cases at MVS, you can find Dr. McDaniel biking, kayaking and traveling. She shares her home in Fitchburg with her wife and their four dogs; Ella the Yorkie, Otis the Pomeranian mix, Comet the Goldendoodle and Nova the Husky.

Kristen McDaniel received her doctorate from Iowa State University in 2016, and continued her training in Iowa with a one year internship in small animal medicine and surgery. Kristen completed her residency in small animal internal medicine at the University of Missouri in 2020. Her current areas of interest include gastrointestinal/hepatobiliary disease, and respiratory diseases.

During her spare time, Kristen enjoys spending time with her dogs and wife Kaylyn, travel, watch movies, and outdoor activities.

Advanced Training

-Internal Medicine
-RECOVER CPR Certified

Becky attended Moraine Park Technical College’s veterinary technology program before working in general practice for 7 years. She joined the internal medicine team at MVS in June 2016. She enjoys working in internal medicine because she’s able to help our clients and patients get answers for their ailments, as well as help to manager their diseases long term so they can live their best possible lives. She loves a good foreign body endoscopy that saves a pet from requiring surgery.

Becky and her fiancé live in DeForest with their Rat Terrier mix Zoey, Labrador Nova and have an Appaloosa horse named Rio. In her free time, she loves camping, golfing, hunting and horseback riding.

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