
2 of 7
Spinal fractures and dislocations in Cats and Dogs/Altuğ et al. 
INTRODUCTION
Spinal fractures and dislocations are the main causes of 
neurological diseases in small animals [1]. Spinal fractures 
and dislocations may occur depending on the strength of the 
trauma, its impact area, and the natural aspects, strengths 
and weaknesses of the spine [2]. Falling from a height, vehicle 
accidents, bite wounds and gunshot wounds are among the 
main causes of spinal fractures and dislocations [2, 3, 4]. Spinal 
fractures and/or dislocations account for 6% of all spinal cord 
diseases in cats and 7% in dogs [5, 6]. 
Different degrees of neurological disorders, compressive 
lesions, medullary edema and trauma-related spinal  cord 
ruptures may occur after spinal trauma. Depending on the 
severity of spinal cord damage, animals may experience 
permanent paralysis or death [7]. The main aim of treatment in 
spinal fractures and dislocations is to relieve the nerve under 
pressure and to prevent secondary damage. For this aim, anti-
inflammatory drugs, antioxidants, fusogens and analgesics are 
used as medical treatment and the animal's movements are 
restricted [8]. 
As a surgical treatment, the vertebral canal and intervertebral 
foramen are brought to their normal position, relieving the 
compression on the spinal cord, and stabilizing the affected 
vertebrae, limiting the damage to the spinal cord and nerve roots 
[9]. Deep pain testing is a good indicator of spinal cord injury. It 
has been reported that the prognosis of cats and dogs without 
deep pain sensation is poor [10]. Previous studies on spinal 
fractures or dislocations focused on a single treatment method or 
spine segment and focused on comparisons between treatment 
methods [4, 9, 11,  12].  Although retrospective studies have 
been conducted on spinal fractures and dislocations [2, 8, 13], 
no information has been provided about the cause of trauma in 
cats and dogs and the effect of the process over the trauma on 
recovery. 
In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the etiological 
evaluation of spinal fractures and dislocations of cats and dogs, 
as well as the clinical effects of trauma causes, the process 
after trauma, deep pain sensations and trauma localization on 
recovery. 
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 112 cases, 80 cats and 32 dogs, that were presented 
to Hatay Mustafa Kemal University Veterinary Health Application 
and Research Hospital (HMKU VETSUAM) between 2016-2021 
and were registered, were included in the study. Patients were 
routinely processed upon anamnesis, examination, diagnosis 
and treatment protocol. The breed, age, gender, accommodation 
conditions, etiology of the disease, duration of the disease, 
clinical condition of the patient, localization of the affected spine, 
condition of the spine, deep pain sensation, and treatment option 
of the patients were recorded. The age classication of the cases 
was categorized as Juvenile (<6 months of age), sub-adults (6 
months to 1 year) and adult (>1 year) as reported by Stacharski 
et al. [14]. The duration of the trauma was evaluated as the rst 
24 hours, or the next 24 hours after the trauma. Latero-lateral 
and ventro-dorsal radiographs were taken in the radiological 
evaluation of the patients. Fractures and/or dislocations formed 
in the spine and the area where they were formed were detected. 
The neurological and radiographic examination
Conservative and surgical treatments
Statistical analysis
In the neurological evaluation, paraplegia, tetraplegia, 
paraparesis, tetraparesis conditions were recorded. Considering 
the neurological and radiographic examination results, the 
trauma area was classied as cervical (C1–C5), cervico-thoracic 
(C6-Th2), thoracolumbar (Th3–L3) and lumbosacral (L4-
S3) according to the affected spinal cord segment. Deep pain 
sensations were evaluated according to the change in facial 
expression of the animal, the sound it produced, the tendency to 
turn towards the area where the hemostatic was squeezed and/
or bite, by squeezing the areas between the fore and hind toes 
with the help of a hemostatic [15].
All statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS 
Statistics software Version 23.0. Categorical variables included 
in the study were subjected to the Chi-square test and calculated 
as "Frequency (n) - Percentage (%)". P<0.05 was considered as 
signicant.
The type of treatment was determined according to the 
deep pain sensation or the operation requests of the patient’s 
owner. 10 cats and 5 dogs without deep pain sensation were 
discharged without any treatment at the request of their 
owners. Conservative and surgical treatments were evaluated 
as treatment options. In the conservative treatment, besides 
cage rest and external coaptation, 30 mg/kg intravenous 
methlyprednisolone sodium succinate (Prednol, Mustafa Nevzat 
İlaç Sanayii A.Ş, Istanbul) was administered in the first 24 h 
after the trauma, and 5.4 mg/kg/h [16] sodium intravenous 
methlyprednisolone succinate was administered 24 hours 
later for neuroprotective effect. In addition, intramuscular B 
complex vitamin (Nervit, Vetaş, Istanbul) and 30 mg/kg cefazolin 
sodium (Sefazol, Mustafa Nevzat İlaç Sanayii A.Ş, Istanbul) 
intramuscularly for prophylaxis were administered. Various 
stabilization techniques and implants (pedicle screw, plate, pin 
and polymethyl methacrylate stabilizations, etc.) were used 
in the surgical treatment. After the treatment, paralysis was 
considered if there was no use of extremities, partial paralysis if 
the use of the extremity was limited and deep pain sensations 
were weak, and complete recovery if the use of extremities was 
functional [8, 13]. The cases were followed for 2 months to reveal 
their clinical and neurological conditions [8, 13].
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 
A total of 112 animals, including 80 cats (71.43%) from 8 
different breeds and 32 dogs (28.57%) from 9 different breeds,