Diskospondylitis in the dog: 27 cases

A retrospective study was undertaken to provide information about diskospondylitis in the dog. This disease has not been well recognized and documented in the veterinary literature. Diskospondylitic lesions were confirmed radiographically in 27 dogs (20 males and 7 females). Pain, inappetence, and recurring fever were the prominent signs in animals that had failed to respond to short-term therapy by referring clinicians. Clinical pathology did not yield consistently diagnostic results. Radiography, which was regarded as essential, revealed typical involvement of adjacent vertebral bodies, their end plates, and the joint space represented by their intervertebral disks. Diskospondylitis occurred as multiple and solitary lesions; it was also associated with myelopathy.