29/10/2025
Neurology Month - Aishling's favourite case of the year
Does neck pain
Buddy, a 12-week-old Dachshund puppy, came to us after 24 hours of severe pain, reluctance to move, and refusing food. But his story started much earlier. Since being brought home at 8 weeks with his littermate, Buddy had always seemed "different." He was much smaller, often walked in circles, bumped into objects, struggled to play or interact, and mostly just slept.
When we first met Buddy, his head was dome-shaped, his balance was very poor, and his neurological exam showed several deficits such as compulsively circling to one side. MRI revealed severe congenital hydrocephalus, a condition where excess cerebrospinal fluid is present in the brain.
Image 2 Note on this image the enlarged cavities in Buddy’s brain; these contain spinal fluid (the bright signal on the image) and they are normally hardly visible.
We placed surgically a catheter into the enlarged cavities of the brain (see MRI picture below) containing the spinal fluid to divert it away from the brain: the end of the catheter is placed in the abdomen where the spinal fluid is diverted and where the body can absorb it: this is called a ventriculo-peritoneal ‘shunt’. The system has a valve that then regulates brain pressure.
Image 3 Note the shunt catheter (red arrow) through the skull than then goes travels the neck towards the abdomen (green arrow).
Buddy went home 48-hours after surgery. At his 2-week check-up, the owners reported he was a new pup, no more pain, no more circling and was able to play and interact. He also had gained weight.
Almost one year on, he is still doing incredibly well. He may always be a little smaller and not quite as ‘sharp’ as his brother, but he is happy, active, and living a full life.
Buddy ( image 1) is a perfect example that even with severe neurological abnormalities, there is still hope. Neck pain is often a sign of brain disease and potentially a manifestation of ‘headache’ in dogs. With the right intervention, we can offer these patients a completely new start. It was a joy to look after Buddy and work with his owners to see this remarkable improvement.
