Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat with back leg weakness treated by spinal surgery for spinal cord
By Böttcher, Peter et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2008·Department of Small Animal Medicine, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Partial lateral corpectomy for ventral extradural thoracic spinal cord compression in a cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 7-year-old female domestic shorthair cat was brought in because she was having trouble walking and was weak in her back legs. After imaging tests, the vet found that her spinal cord was being compressed by issues related to her intervertebral discs. The vet performed a surgery called a partial lateral corpectomy to relieve the pressure on her spine. Thankfully, the surgery went well with no complications, and the cat showed steady improvement over the next eight weeks. At her one-year check-up, she only had a slight issue with her right hind leg, but overall, she was doing much better.
People also search for: cat back leg weakness · cat spinal surgery recovery · intervertebral disc disease in cats
Abstract
A 7-year-old, female spayed, domestic shorthair cat was presented for ambulatory paraparesis. No trauma history was reported. Myelography and subsequent computed tomography revealed multiple ventrally located extradural spinal cord compressive lesions possibly due to intervertebral disc disease. Compression at the level of Th3-Th4 intervertebral disc space was considered responsible for the paraparesis. The lesion was approached via a right-sided lateral partial corpectomy as described for dogs. Complete spinal decompression was achieved, as documented intraoperatively by visual inspection and palpation of the spinal canal. No surgery related complications were encountered and the cat improved gradually within 8 weeks after the procedure. At 1 year follow-up only a slight proprioceptive deficit in the right hind limb could be noted. This is the first report of partial lateral corpectomy in a cat and should encourage the use of this technique even in small patients.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18455460/