Intervertebral Disc Herniation

Smitty is a 9 year old Dachshund that came to Friendship when he was suddenly unable to walk. The day before, his owners noticed that Smitty was limping a little bit, but by the next morning, he was completely unable to walk. On exam, Dr. Nichols (Smitty’s urgent care doctor) and I, found that he was painful and unable to move his back legs well. Smitty quickly had an MRI of his back, which revealed a large intervertebral disc herniation compressing the spinal cord in his back.  We reviewed the MRI findings and discussed Smitty’s options with his family.  After weighing the pros and cons, the decision was made to take Smitty to surgery immediately after the MRI.

After several days of recuperation in the hospital, Smitty went home to his dedicated family. With several weeks of rest,  Smitty slowly became stronger and began walking much more normally on his own.

Smitty’s family very gradually increased the amount of activity he was allowed to do over a period of weeks. Now, he is back to his adventurous preoperative lifestyle thanks to his dedicated family and his FHA Team!

Dr. Lindsay Boozer is the head of Friendship Neurology Specialists at Friendship Hospital.  She graduated from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine in 2008 and then completed a rotating small animal medicine and surgery internship at Red Bank Animal Hospital in Red Bank, NJ. This was followed by a research fellowship at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine studying brain tumors and encephalitis in dogs. She then returned to UGA for a neurology specialty internship and residency before joining Friendship in 2014.

*Images courtesy of Friendship Hospital for Animals.