Disk disease

An 8-year-old male border collie presented at West Midlands Veterinary Referrals with ever-worsening use of his back legs. This had progressed over a few weeks. A needle was inserted into the fluid sac surrounding his spinal cord just before his pelvis.

Gizmo presented to us suffering from an acute paralysis of the hind limbs. He was completely off his back legs and the referring vet suspected that one of the intervertebral discs, the soft tissue spacers that sit between the bones of the spinal column, had ruptured. One of our nurses recognised this dog and its owners. She had actually been at his birth (by caesarean) five years before in a previous employment!

Rusty, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier presented to us “off his back legs”, with total loss of sensation of his hind feet. An intervertebral disc had ruptured in his spine.

A 10-year-old Dalmatian presented with mobility issues affecting the hind legs. These had progressed in the previous weeks and months, and at presentation to us the patient was knuckling on both back legs and looked “drunk”.

Disc disease occurs when pathology affects the intervertebral discs – the soft tissue spacers found between vertebrae of the spinal column. The intervertebral discs are a bit like doughnuts with a fibrous surround (the annulus fibrosus) and a gel centre (the nucleus pulposus).

A 9kg, Sealyham Terrier presented with acute paraplegia (paralysis of the hind limbs). The condition was painful, and there was still enough nerve connection between drain and feet to allow some response when the toes were pinched.