Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Pit bull puppy with hind leg weakness from spinal worm infection
By Snook, Eric R et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc·2009·Department of Pathobiological Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Verminous myelitis in a pit bull puppy.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 10-week-old male pit bull puppy was brought to the vet because he was having trouble using his back legs and had noticeable muscle wasting along his spine. After examining him, the vet found that he had a serious spinal cord infection caused by a type of roundworm. The infection was linked to larvae from Strongyloides, a parasite that can affect dogs. Unfortunately, the puppy's condition was severe, and treatment options were limited due to the extent of the damage.
People also search for: puppy hind leg weakness · pit bull spinal cord infection · Strongyloides treatment in dogs
Abstract
A 10-week-old, male pit bull dog presented to the referring veterinarian with hind limb paresis and epaxial muscle atrophy. No spinal lesions were identified at gross necropsy; however, histologically there was marked granulomatous myelitis in the spinal cord between T13 and L2 with occasional, intralesional nematode larvae. Based on morphologic characteristics, the nematode larvae were identified as Strongyloides spp., possibly Strongyloides stercoralis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19407100/