Neuropathic pain in cats: Mechanisms and multimodal management.

Chronic pain is a significant welfare concern in cats, and neuropathic pain, which arises from aberrant processing of sensory signals within the nervous system, is a subcategory of this type of pain. To comprehend this condition and how multimodal pharmacotherapy plays a central role in alleviating discomfort, it is crucial to delve into the anatomy of nociception and pain perception. In addition, there is an intricate interplay between emotional health and chronic pain in cats, and understanding and addressing the emotional factors that contribute to pain perception, and vice versa, is essential for comprehensive care.

Clinical predictors of syringomyelia in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels with chiari-like malformation based on owners' observations.

Background: Syringomyelia (SM) is a prevalent inherited developmental condition in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (CKCSs) with Chiari-like malformation (CM), accompanied by a variety of clinical manifestations, including signs of neuropathic pain. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the gold standard in SM diagnosis. However, it is desirable to establish clinical predictors that can identify CKCSs with a large clinical syrinx that needs treatment, as some owners cannot afford or lack access to MRI.

Respiratory compromise in French bulldogs presented with intervertebral disc extrusion.

Background: French bulldogs hospitalised for the management of intervertebral disc extrusion (IVDE) are frequently affected by respiratory compromise, typically brachycephalic-associated upper respiratory obstruction and/or aspiration events. We evaluated the occurrence of such respiratory compromise events in French bulldogs presented to two referral hospitals.

Methods: Clinical data for French bulldogs diagnosed with IVDE were retrospectively collated, including severity of neurological deficits, neuroanatomical localisation, diagnosis, details of respiratory compromise, treatment and outcome.

Bacterial meningitis secondary to otogenic infection in 10 French bulldogs: A retrospective case series.

Background: There is limited published information to guide the clinical management of bacterial meningitis/encephalitis in dogs.

Methods: This was a retrospective case series comprising 10 French bulldogs from two referral centres. The cases were diagnosed with bacterial meningitis/encephalitis suspected secondary to otogenic infection based on detection of abnormal fluid/soft tissue opacity within the middle/inner ear, associated meningeal/intracranial involvement through MRI, the findings of cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) analysis suggestive of sepsis and/or clinical improvement following antibiosis.

Investigation of the presence of specific neural antibodies in dogs with epilepsy or dyskinesia using murine and human assays.

Background: Autoimmune mechanisms represent a novel category for causes of seizures and epilepsies in humans, and LGI1-antibody associated limbic encephalitis occurs in cats.

Hypothesis/objectives: To investigate the presence of neural antibodies in dogs with epilepsy or dyskinesia of unknown cause using human and murine assays modified for use in dogs.

Animals: Fifty-eight dogs with epilepsy of unknown cause or suspected dyskinesia and 57 control dogs.

Non-traumatic hemorrhagic myelopathy in dogs.

Background: Non-traumatic spinal cord hemorrhage (NTSH) is an uncommon cause of myelopathy in dogs.

Objectives: Describe the clinical characteristics, concurrent medical conditions and underlying causes, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and outcome in dogs with NTSH.

Animals: Dogs diagnosed with NTSH using gradient echo T2-weighted (GRE) sequences with or without histopathological confirmation of hemorrhage were included.

Vertebral giant cell tumour of bone in a domestic shorthair cat.

Case Summary: A 10-year-old male neutered domestic shorthair cat was presented with a 5-month history of progressive non-ambulatory paraparesis. Initial vertebral column radiographs revealed an L2-L3 expansile osteolytic lesion. Spinal MRI showed a well-demarcated, compressive expansile extradural mass lesion affecting the caudal lamina, caudal articular processes and right pedicle of the second lumbar vertebra.

A TNR Frameshift Variant in Weimaraner Dogs with an Exercise-Induced Paroxysmal Movement Disorder.

Background: Some paroxysmal movement disorders remain without an identified genetic cause.

Objectives: The aim was to identify the causal genetic variant for a paroxysmal dystonia-ataxia syndrome in Weimaraner dogs.

Methods: Clinical and diagnostic investigations were performed.

Serum anti-GM2 and anti-GalNAc-GD1a ganglioside IgG antibodies are biomarkers for immune-mediated polyneuropathies in cats.

Recent work identified anti-GM2 and anti-GalNAc-GD1a IgG ganglioside antibodies as biomarkers in dogs clinically diagnosed with acute canine polyradiculoneuritis, in turn considered a canine equivalent of Guillain-Barré syndrome. This study aims to investigate the serum prevalence of similar antibodies in cats clinically diagnosed with immune-mediated polyneuropathies. The sera from 41 cats clinically diagnosed with immune-mediated polyneuropathies (IPN), 9 cats with other neurological or neuromuscular disorders (ONM) and 46 neurologically normal cats (CTRL) were examined for the presence of IgG antibodies against glycolipids GM1, GM2, GD1a, GD1b, GalNAc-GD1a, GA1, SGPG, LM1, galactocerebroside and sulphatide.

Myoclonus in older Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

Background: Myoclonus is observed in older Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (CKCS) but a full description is lacking.

Objectives: The presence, age of onset, characteristics and treatment of myoclonic episodes were retrospectively evaluated in a cohort of CKCS which presented to 1 board-certified neurologist. Clinical data, imaging studies, presence of seizures and their management, as well as other comorbidities were noted.

Primary orthostatic tremor and orthostatic tremor-plus in dogs: 60 cases (2003-2020).

Background: Orthostatic tremor (OT) is a rare movement disorder characterized by high-frequency (>12 Hz) involuntary, rhythmic, sinusoidal movements affecting predominantly the limbs while standing.

Objective: To describe the signalment, presenting complaints, phenotype, diagnostic findings, treatment, and outcome of a large sample of dogs with OT.

Animals: Sixty dogs diagnosed with OT based on conscious electromyography.

Slosh Simulation in a Computer Model of Canine Syringomyelia.

The exact pathogenesis of syringomyelia is unknown. Epidural venous distention during raised intrathoracic pressure (Valsalva) may cause impulsive movement of fluid ("slosh") within the syrinx. Such a slosh mechanism is a proposed cause of syrinx dissection into spinal cord parenchyma resulting in craniocaudal propagation of the cavity.

Spinal ectopic choroid plexus papilloma in a cat.

Case Summary: A 10-year-old male neutered Russian Blue cat was presented with a 2-month history of progressive non-ambulatory paraparesis. Spinal MRI revealed a well-demarcated, compressive intradural extramedullary mass at the level of T1 vertebra. The mass had subtle hyperintensity on T2-weighted images, was isointense on T1-weighted images and had diffuse, marked enhancement following gadolinium administration.

Olivopontocerebellar degeneration associated with 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaric aciduria in a domestic shorthair cat.

Case Summary: A rescue charity-owned 6-month-old neutered female domestic shorthair cat was presented with progressive tetraparesis, increased extensor muscle tone and signs of spinocerebellar ataxia, including hypermetria. The cat's male sibling, with similar progressive neurological signs, had been euthanased 2 months previously. An inherited metabolic disorder was suspected.

Canine Lafora Disease: An Unstable Repeat Expansion Disorder.

Canine Lafora disease is a recessively inherited, rapidly progressing neurodegenerative disease caused by the accumulation of abnormally constructed insoluble glycogen Lafora bodies in the brain and other tissues due to the loss of NHL repeat containing E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 1 (). Dogs have a dodecamer repeat sequence within the gene, which is prone to unstable (dynamic) expansion and loss of function. Progressive signs of Lafora disease include hypnic jerks, reflex and spontaneous myoclonus, seizures, vision loss, ataxia and decreased cognitive function.

Clinical features, treatment and outcome of discospondylitis in cats.

Objectives: There is a paucity of information on feline discospondylitis. This study aimed to describe the signalment, clinical and laboratory findings, aetiological agents, treatment and outcome in cats affected by discospondylitis.

Methods: This was a retrospective review of the medical records of cats diagnosed with discospondylitis at four referral institutions.

Persistent fontanelles in Chihuahuas. Part I. Distribution and clinical relevance.

Background: The Chihuahua dog breed is known for frequent occurrence of a bregmatic fontanelle on the dorsal skull. A common conception is that this skull defect is a clinically irrelevant finding. No studies, however, describe its prevalence or whether it is accompanied by other persistent fontanelles (PFs).

Persistent fontanelles in Chihuahuas. Part II: Association with craniocervical junction abnormalities, syringomyelia, and ventricular volume.

Background: Persistent fontanelles (PFs) are, in Chihuahuas, almost ubiquitous. Furthermore, Chihuahuas are predisposed to other craniomorphological abnormalities, including syringomyelia (SM), ventriculomegaly, and craniocervical junction (CCJ) overcrowding resulting in neural tissue deviation. It is, however, undetermined if PFs are more common in dogs with these structural abnormalities, and their etiology is unknown.

Comparison of volume of the forebrain, subarachnoid space and lateral ventricles between dogs with idiopathic epilepsy and controls using a stereological approach: Cavalieri's principle.

Background: Canine idiopathic epilepsy (IE) is the most common chronic neurological brain disease in dogs, yet it can only be diagnosed by exclusion of all other potential causes. In people, epilepsy has been associated with a reduction in brain volume. The objective was to estimate the volume of the forebrain (FB), subarachnoid space (SAS) and lateral ventricles (LV) in dogs with IE compared to controls using Cavalieri's principle.

The Need for Head Space: Brachycephaly and Cerebrospinal Fluid Disorders.

Brachycephalic dogs remain popular, despite the knowledge that this head conformation is associated with health problems, including airway compromise, ocular disorders, neurological disease, and other co-morbidities. There is increasing evidence that brachycephaly disrupts cerebrospinal fluid movement and absorption, predisposing ventriculomegaly, hydrocephalus, quadrigeminal cistern expansion, Chiari-like malformation, and syringomyelia. In this review, we focus on cerebrospinal fluid physiology and how this is impacted by brachycephaly, airorhynchy, and associated craniosynostosis.

Syringopleural shunt placement in a pug with a cervical spinal diverticulum and associated syringomyelia.

We report persistence of associated syringomyelia and formation of newly caudal spinal arachnoid diverticulum, following marsupialization surgery. We describe syringopleural shunt placement as a novel approach to treat both conditions in a Pug dog.