Replying to Jennifer Cartwright 03/03/2023 - 21:40
Yes!
Apart from being cool it does have a urinary theme as the dog had ongoing problems with UTIs. I have popped some information about the case below for everyone:
“This is the radiograph of a dog that had a spinal cord injury and subsequent loss of control of urine voiding… in this case the solution to the problem was pretty cool!
Loss of control over urine voiding is a common complication after spinal cord injury or other disorders of the nervous system, and may be permanent. Often, because of loss of supraspinal regulation, incoordination of detrusor and sphincter contraction develops. This causes a functional obstruction that reduces the ability to void urine and impairs emptying of the bladder by manual expression. Management of overflow incontinence consequent to dyssynergia can be difficult in dogs. Management options include intermittent catheterization, manual expression, and indwelling catheterization, but these are all associated with risk of urinary tract infections.
For many years a “sacral anterior root stimulator” has been available to paraplegic humans which permits bladder emptying on demand through electrical stimulation of the sacral spinal nerves. This type of technique is also available for dogs!
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jvim.12011#:~:text=This%20study%20suggests%20that%20the,dogs%20without%20difficulty%20at%20home.
Hope that helps.
Scott 🙂
