Vertebral physitis with epiphyseal sequestration and a portosystemic shunt in a Pekingese dog

Vertebral physitis with bone sequestration and a portosystemic shunt were diagnosed in an 18-month-old female Pekingese dog. The latter was determined by the presence of low blood urea nitrogen, elevated serum bile acids, microhepatica and an increased portosystemic shunt fraction. It was managed with a home-cooked low protein diet. Vertebral physitis and bone sequestration was diagnosed by the presence of thoracolumbar hyperaesthesia, radiographic and scintigraphic changes, isolation of Staphylococcus intermedius from blood and the third lumbar vertebra, and histopathological examination of a surgical biopsy. A partial sequestrectomy was performed and a six-month course of amoxycillin-clavulanate was prescribed. The dog was pain-free and showed partial resolution of the radiographic signs four months after the discontinuation of antibiotics.