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Boston West Veterinary Emergency & Specialty
  • Our Services
    • Compounding Pharmacy
    • Diagnostic Imaging
    • Emergency Care
    • Orthopedic Surgery
  • For Your Pet
    • Client Registration Form
    • Emergencies + Appointments
    • When Your Pet is a Patient
    • Client Portal
    • Pet Insurance
    • Payment Options
    • End of Life Arrangements
    • Clinical Studies
    • Refill a Compounded Medication
  • For Veterinary Teams
    • Submit Referrals
    • At a Glance
    • Ethos Materials for Clinics
    • Continuing Education
    • VetBloom CE
    • Clinical Studies
    • Compounding Pharmacy
  • About Us
    • Our Hospital
    • Our Team
    • Why Ethos
    • Ethos Discovery
    • Contact Us
  • Blogs & Videos
    • Our Blogs
    • PAWEDcasts
  • Careers + Development
    • Boston West is Hiring
    • Positions Across Ethos
    • Living and Working Near Here
    • Benefits and Perks
    • Veterinary Training Programs
  • Phone: 508-319-2117

Our Blogs

Spinal Cord Disease

October 28, 2020

Written by: Izumi Toyoda, DVM, Residency Trained in Neurology, Ph.D.

In neurology service, we see many patients with spinal cord disease. The spinal cord is like an electric cable, connecting the brain and the rest of the body via electric signals! When transmission of electric information is interrupted due to spinal cord disease, it results in clinical signs such as back pain, difficulty walking/standing, or lack of sensation to the limbs.

There are many diseases that affect spinal cords, such as trauma, infection, immune-mediated inflammation, tumors, intervertebral disc herniation, degenerative, congenital, or developmental disease, just to name a few. A patient’s age, breed, history, and clinical exam findings would allow us to narrow down our list of differentials. However, we would need further diagnostics such as MRI, CT, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis, biopsy, or sometimes electrophysiological studies to understand the underlying cause of the clinical signs and to decide on the best course of therapy for each patient.

Examples

Let’s look at three examples.
All three patients (age 2-6 years old) were presented to the Neurology Service at Vista Veterinary Specialists for clinical signs of spinal cord issues, ranging from difficulty walking on pelvic limbs with no pain (patient #1), neck pain and difficulty walking (patient #2), or only back pain (patient #3). They all had normal bloodwork and thoracic radiographs.

Finn
Daisy
Abby

Finn, a 2-year-old Biewer Terrier

Diagnosis: Meningomyelitis (immune-mediated inflammatory disease of spinal cord and meninges)

Treatment: Immunosuppressive therapy with steroid

 

 

 

Abby, a 6-year-old Dachshund

Diagnosis: Type I Intervertebral Disc Disease at C3-C4

Treatment: Ventral decompression surgery (“ventral slot”)

Spinal cord is compressed by herniated disc (left). Normal spinal cord without compression (right).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daisy, a 4-year-old Pit Bull mix

Diagnosis: Bacterial discospondylitis at T12-T13

Treatment: Long-term antibiotics and pain medications

Affected intervertebral disc and surrounding tissue show evidence of inflammation and marked reaction (left). Normal vertebra (right).

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Boston West Veterinary Emergency & Specialty
508-319-2117 | 5 Strathmore Road Natick, MA 01760
  • Phone: 508-319-2117
  • Our Services
    • Compounding Pharmacy
    • Diagnostic Imaging
    • Emergency Care
    • Orthopedic Surgery
  • For Your Pet
    • Client Registration Form
    • Emergencies + Appointments
    • When Your Pet is a Patient
    • Client Portal
    • Pet Insurance
    • Payment Options
    • End of Life Arrangements
    • Clinical Studies
    • Refill a Compounded Medication
  • For Veterinary Teams
    • Submit Referrals
    • At a Glance
    • Ethos Materials for Clinics
    • Continuing Education
    • VetBloom CE
    • Clinical Studies
    • Compounding Pharmacy
  • About Us
    • Our Hospital
    • Our Team
    • Why Ethos
    • Ethos Discovery
    • Contact Us
  • Blogs & Videos
    • Our Blogs
    • PAWEDcasts
  • Careers + Development
    • Boston West is Hiring
    • Positions Across Ethos
    • Living and Working Near Here
    • Benefits and Perks
    • Veterinary Training Programs
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