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Let's talk about ophthalmology

Learn about the impact of Valley fever on pets, including symptoms, diagnosis, treatment options, and emerging vaccine developments in veterinary care.

From soil to systemic disease: Understanding and managing Valley fever in veterinary patients

May is Arthritis Awareness Month, which is a good time to review our approach to this common diagnosis in small animals.

Raising the standard: Arthritis awareness in veterinary practice

“Veterinary technicians are wonderful...patient advocates and I think we sometimes...limit ourselves,” says Tabitha Kucera, RVT, VTS (Behavior), CCBC, KPA-CTP, FFCP, in this interview with dvm360

A message for veterinary technicians from a veterinary technician 

Aspiring veterinarians in Colorado can gain real-world insight through the 2025 Become a Vet Shadowing Contest

Veterinary shadowing contest opens to high school students

Uplifting and supporting members of the LGBTQ+ community is needed year-round

Wrapping up Pride Month 

The neurology page is a comprehensive resource for Veterinary news, animal health, and pet care insights on neurology. Read more at dvm360.

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Clinical

In this episode, Anne Chauvet, DVM, DACVIM, CHT-VT, shares insights with our host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, and listeners from her extensive career treating neurological conditions. 

Chauvet also explores the importance of distinguishing clinical symptoms from radiographic findings in disc disease, especially in prone breeds, the complexities of brain tumors in aging dogs, highlights MRI as a key tool for precise diagnosis, and more throughout the episode. 

: The big thing I tell veterinarian, just remember, when you're thinking about brain tumors, they don't usually happen unless you have a certain age. Now, I'm going to have a caveat in that that the youngest one I've had was 3 1/2 year old with a little Jack Russell, but usually it's 4 years and older. So if you have a 2 1/2 and a half year old little dog that begins seizuring, so therefore has a cortical lesion in the brain, the odds of that being a brain tumor are pretty darn low to none. If you have a 9-year-old pit bull, you have a much greater chance of having a brain tumor over idiopathic epilepsy. So you're going to make your decisions on whether you work up or not, or how far you can push your client for that. So the signs you're going to see are dependent entirely on the anatomy. So if I section out the brain, the front is going to be usually seizures. 

The cortex is very prone to seizure, particularly in what we call the Piriform lobe, which is the part of the brain that on each side of the brain will turn around, curl towards the midbrain that's very prone to seizure, and it's a lovely place for gliomas to launch themselves in all those pit bulls, Bulldogs, they tend to have a lot of gliomas. Boxers famous for it as well. So that's an area that often gets seizures. Then you look at things like midbrain, we see a lot of midbrain problems with pituitary tumors. Those are more of the dog that's very dull, aimless walking is going to kind of start running into things that often people label it for senility. Be careful with that senility label, because if you overlook it. It might be too late for us to be able to help the patient.

Anne Chauvet, DVM, DACVIM, CHT-V, takes listeners into the world of veterinary neurology 

The physical exam approach to the neurologic patient

5. Percutaneous laser disc ablation: a proactive approach to minimizing IVDD in dogs

Gaemia Tracy, DVM, DACVIM, (Neurology), joined The Vet Blast Podcast to
talk about intervertebral disc disease (IVDD) in canine patients. He explained percutaneous laser disc ablation and more.

We have compiled a countdown of our top 5 podcast episodes in 2022, here is number 5

Top dvm360 podcasts of 2022: #5

Gaemia Tracy, DVM, DACVIM, (Neurology), joins The Vet Blast Podcast to talk about intervertebral disc disease (IVDD) in canine patients. He explains percutaneous laser disc ablation and more. 

Below is a partial transcript. Listen to the full podcast for more.

: Yeah, so the procedure is called percutaneous laser disc ablation (PLDA) and what it is it's a purely preventative prophylactic procedure that's minimally invasive to prevent disc herniations... This procedure is minimally invasive [and] use a spinal needles to approach each disk space in the middle of the back, where  these herniated discs tend to occur. And then, using fluoroscopy, I pass laser fibers through those spinal needles right into the middle of each disk space. And the goal is to deliver a laser impulse into each disk space that takes the degenerative disc that's now dried up and desiccated and breaks it up into much smaller pieces, takes it back towards a liquid state and decreases the pressure at each disk space.

A boarded neurologist explains the ins and outs of percutaneous laser disc ablation

Percutaneous laser disc ablation: a proactive approach to minimizing IVDD in dogs

Ane Uriarte, DECVN, MRCVS, DVM, EBVS, RCVS, joined Dr Christman and discussed how the speed of onset of symptoms can affect the urgency with which a pet parent should seek care.

Uriarte said: "For example, you have a 10-year-old dog that has been slowing down for 6 months. He's just limping a little bit, and then, in 2 [or] 3 days, he is unable to walk. You may not need to rush that Friday night to see your neurologist, because it's likely to be something that is slow progressing."

She added that in the inverse is also true. Quicker onset of more severe symptoms should be greater cause for alarm. Uriate explained: "On the other hand, you have a 2-year old, super-bouncey, nice and healthy French bulldog or dachsund, that was running 10 miles with you and that night is unable to get up. That is definitely an emergency."

According to Uriarte, it comes down to a few factors in context. "So it would be a combination of how severe it is—if he's not able to walk and requires further assistance—and how fast it happened," she said.

Listen to the full podcast below for more.

In this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, Dr Adam Christman interviews Ane Uriarte, a specialist in veterinary neurology, about the different approaches to spinal injuries. 

Episode 75: Not all spinal injuries require surgery

According to Antonio L. Bowens, DVM, owner of Bowen’s Locum Veterinary Neurology & Neurosurgery Services, when examining a patient for a neurologic condition, it's crucial that you perform a physical exam prior to a specialty exam. 

“Just keep it simple. Neurology is already complicated enough. The first question you need to ask yourself is, 'Is this patient normal, orthopedic, or is it neurologic?'" Once you think the patient has a neurologic problem, the next step is ‘is it brain or spinal cord.’ Then, you take it from there," he tells Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, in this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast. 

Bowens also distinguishes the clinical signs of various neurologic diseases and offers insight into diagnosing these conditions and how to localize the lesion.

“With central vestibular disease, the hallmark clinical signs can either be a vertical nystagmus or conscious proprioception deficits," says Bowens. 

“Those with the peripheral vestibular problem may have a facial palsy, and usually that facial palsy is on the same side as the lesion," he adds.

Listen below for more of Bowens' expert knowledge on neurology and more.

On this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, neurology expert Dr Antonio L. Bowens provides an overview of how to localize the lesion (neuroanatomical)  in companion animals with neurological diseases.

Episode 58: Neurology simplified

Dachshunds are the human equivalent to dwarfism, says neurologist and neurosurgeon Fred Wininger, VMD, MS, DACVIM (Neurology). “When we artificially bred dachshunds to have short little legs and a long back, we essentially artificially created a condition known as chondrodystrophy, which is Greek for ‘faulty cartilage.’” Where a Labrador retriever may have disk degeneration at age 8, 9, or 10, he explains, dachshunds have complete degeneration of their disks by the time they are 3 years old.

“It’s like they need another pair of legs in the middle of T12 and T13,” Christman joked. “Right,” Wininger agreed, “or more ribs.”

In this episode of the podcast, Dr. Wininger, who practices at Charlotte Animal Referral & Emergency Care in Charlotte, North Carolina, shares his knowledge about IVDD, including the differences between type 1 (degeneration of the inside of this disk predominantly) and type 2 (more of a slow protrusion or disk shifting that causes compression of the spinal cord). “Most dogs are probably somewhere on the spectrum of having a little bit of both,” he says.

Wininger also talks about type 3 herniation, also known as a missile disk or torpedo disk, which is now being seen due to the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In these dogs, he says, rather than a primary herniation or protrusion, a normal disk that is not that desiccated will rupture through, and actually not only bang the spinal cord but penetrate the spinal cord or hit it and then dissipate away. The new term is acute noncompressive disk herniation. “Those are dogs that get spinal cord injury in the absence of needing surgery.”

Regarding diagnostics, “The gold standard is always going to be an MRI,” Wininger says. “MRI is going to enable you to see not only the disk herniation and the rest of the spinal column, but it’s going to let you see the degree of the spinal cord compression.” Although computed tomography (CT) is not the first option, Wininger says there are some benefits to using this modality. CT is cost-effective, quick, and does not require the patient to be anesthetized like MRIs do.

They also discuss what types of herniation are considered a surgical emergency versus what can be treated with medical management, how the use of advanced imaging techniques has altered the typical treatment course, newer prevention options, and factors affecting patient recovery time. 

To learn more about managing IVDD in your patients, listen below.

In this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, Dr. Christman is joined by Fred Wininger, VMD, MS, DACVIM (Neurology), who shares his extensive knowledge about intervertebral disk disease in dachshunds.

Episode 16: The latest on disk herniation in dachshunds

After taking a graduate course in neuroscience during his undergraduate studies at Tuskegee University, Antonio Bowens, DVM, was hooked. Well, he was hooked on human neuroscience, anyway, with a plan to go to medical school to become a neurosurgeon. Fortunately for dogs and cats, he was waitlisted at both medical schools he applied to but was accepted to Tuskegee’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Bowens decided to commit to Tuskegee with the plan to go to medical school after veterinary school—until he learned that he could specialize in veterinary neuroscience.

For the past decade, Dr. Bowens has been practicing veterinary neurology and neurosurgery, first in a solo practice and then as a co-owner. When the partnership did not work out, Dr. Bowens decided to become a locum veterinary neurologist and neurosurgeon. He is now owner and head of neurology and neurosurgery at Veterinary Referral & Emergency Hospital in Arlington, Texas.

“Basically, he tells Dr. Christman, “the way things work now I usually provide services on a mobile basis to general practitioners in the area. I also travel out of state to provide services for referral/specialty hospitals that are trying to establish a neurology/neurosurgery service or just filling in for a colleague [who] needs to take some time off.”

Dr. Bowens also shares his clinical experience with disk disease and other neurologic conditions, as well as advanced and alternative therapies.

Listen below to learn more about Dr. Bowens’ journey, the mentors and colleagues who helped him along the way, what he has learned on the road, and how he manages work-life balance with his veterinarian wife (and 

In this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, Dr. Christman is joined by veterinary neurosurgeon Dr. Antonio Bowens, who shares his journey to becoming a traveling neurologist.



Episode 13: The traveling veterinary neurologist 

An investigation highlights the importance of cross-species genetic research and the value of animal models in rare disease studies.

Developmental and epileptic encephalopathy type 50 is found in a Bengal kitten

Approximately 2% of dogs will experience a seizure in their lifetime.

New studies will investigate use of EEG and fMRI in dogs with epilepsy

Flynn, a 1-year-old Great Pyrenees, was treated at UC Davis after he was run over by a car and abandoned in a ditch.

Canine hit by car recovers at UC Davis 

The unapproved drugs claim to treat and control seizures in canine and feline patients 

FDA issues warning to multiple firms selling unapproved seizure medication 

The new tool could predict the likelihood of short-term mortality and give owners and veterinary professionals important data 

New tool assesses elderly canines' frailty

Karen Kline, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Neurology), offers insights for veterinarians handling neurologic emergencies

Considerations for neurologic emergencies

In this pre-Fetch dvm360 conference interview, Karen Kline, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Neurology), talked about her lecture “Neurologic Emergencies: Stay Calm, Cool and Collected,” presented at the Fetch dvm360 conference in Long Beach, California. Additionally, she shares key considerations veterinarians should keep in mind when handling neurologic emergencies, including beginning with basic blood work and avoiding assumptions.

Below is the interview transcript. It has been lightly edited for clarity.

Karen Kline, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Neurology): 

Yeah, “Neurologic emergencies,” the point of this lecture is to talk about mainly acute brain trauma and other diseases that will cause an acute presentation in the dog and cat. The reason we want to stay calm, cool is and collected is to do the best by your patient.

I think the most important thing is assume nothing. You want to start with basic blood work, making sure that your patient doesn't have an underlying systemic illness that's a cause of the neurologic issue, and then going ahead and doing your neurologic exam to localize where the problem is, and then instituting various therapies that we'll talk about in our lecture. But it's important to stay on point and delegate your staff and the team to handle this emergent case that comes in. And not all cases that look bad turn out poorly. So, I think that's the most important thing to realize as well—when bad cases turn good, so I think that's very important as well.

Neurology

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