Jeter the Paralyzed Dog Makes a Complete Recovery

Jeter is a 5-year-old terrier mix who presented on emergency for a sudden inability to walk following a traumatic event with his furry sibling. He was evaluated at an emergency hospital overnight and transferred to SEVN the following morning.

On examination, Jeter was unable to walk in all four limbs. He was able to move his right pelvic (rear) limb but unable to move the other three limbs. He was alert, with normal cranial nerve evaluation and normal spinal reflexes. He did not seem painful. He had postural reaction deficits (knuckling over of the limbs) in all four limbs. This told us there was a problem affecting the cervical spinal cord. Possible causes for an adult, medium-sized dog with a problem affecting the neck include a slipped disk, fibrocartilagenous embolism, tumor, meningitis or acute non-compressive nucleus pulposus extrusion (ANNPE).

An MRI was performed, which showed an ANNPE. ANNPE is when a small amount of the nucleus pulposus (the inner jelly-like part of the intervertebral disk) shoots out of the disk at high speed and strikes the spinal cord. This can cause symptoms of wobbly walking, inability to walk, or even paralysis.

Surgery is not necessary for dogs with ANNPE. The treatment for Jeter involved time, rest, and physical rehabilitation. Jeter underwent physical rehabilitation with our team and has regained the ability to walk!

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