The Neurology and Neurosurgery Service at RVC Small Animal Referrals sees a wide variety of cases each week. Below we take you through the past week in the life of the service, through a selection of cases:

Monday: Our week started with a French bulldog called Lillibet, who arrived with some unusual muscle twitches on the left side of her face. An MRI scan of Lillibet’s head revealed that the cause was a nasty infection of her left inner ear, extending around part of her brain.

She was therefore transferred to our Soft Tissue Surgery Service, where she underwent surgery to resect her infected ear canal, along with the infectious material. Following this, Lillibet was prescribed a course of antibiotics to continue to battle the infection. We are hopeful she will make a good recovery!

Tuesday: A sweet West Highland white terrier, Mortimer, presented having suddenly lost the use of his back legs whilst in the garden. Following an urgent MRI scan, he was diagnosed with a fibrocartilaginous embolism (FCE), a stroke-like lesion causing damage to the spinal cord.

Given the severity of his signs, he was given a guarded prognosis for a full recovery. However, Mortimer is a determined character, and we have our fingers crossed that he will show improvement as he embarks on a process of rehabilitation, including hydrotherapy, supervised by our dedicated physiotherapist and nursing team.

Wednesday: Today was a big one for Jeremy, a 13-year-old male cat undergoing transsphenoidal hypophysectomy – surgery to remove a tumour in his pituitary gland close to his brain. Jeremy’s tumour had been producing excessive amounts of growth hormone, causing the condition acromegaly and uncontrollable diabetes mellitus. Fortunately, with our expert multidisciplinary team, the RVC is one of the few veterinary services worldwide where this complex surgery can be offered.

Jeremy’s surgery took most of the day, with a team of vets and nurses from multiple specialist services involved in his care, from the Anaesthesia and Analgesia team in theatre, to our Internal Medicine and ECC colleagues after surgery. Jeremy recovered smoothly from his procedure and he will be observed closely in the coming days as he adapts to life without his pituitary tumour!

Thursday: Lovely Reg, a nine-year-old dachshund, presented following several days of back pain and hind limb weakness. In chondrodystrophic dog breeds, such as dachshunds, this is very characteristic for an intervertebral disc extrusion.

Unfortunately, his ability to walk deteriorated further and a CT scan of his spine revealed a large intervertebral disc extrusion in his lower back.

To relieve the compression of Reg’s spinal cord, he was taken to theatre where our skilled neurosurgeons performed a decompressive hemilaminectomy to remove the extruded disc.

Reg recovered very well from his surgery and was already attempting to walk the following day. Next up comes a period of rest and physical therapy, starting under the watchful eyes of our nursing team and physiotherapist before he can continue his rehabilitation at home.

Friday: A seven-year-old male Border collie, Alf, was referred following a sudden onset of a head tilt and being unable to stand. On examination, it was clear to our neurologists that Alf had suffered a very sudden insult to a part of his nervous system involved in controlling balance.

MRI confirmed that Alf had suffered a small stroke to the thalamus. In dogs, whilst most strokes have a good prognosis, improvement can take time, with physical therapy key to helping him to walk again. Luckily, our fantastic nurses and physiotherapist were on hand to help Alf begin the road to recovery!

Finally, it is time for the weekend, when members of our Neurology and Neurosurgery service will be on call, dealing with a range of neurological emergencies from the local and wider area. For the remaining team members, it is a welcome chance to rest and recuperate to be ready for the interesting cases of next week!