Spinal cord injuries in dogs from intervertebral disc disease, trauma, or tumors can cause sudden paralysis, requiring emergency treatment and intensive rehabilitation to maximize recovery.
Spinal cord injury in dogs causes acute suffering from pain and the terrifying loss of function. Dogs that were active and mobile suddenly cannot move their hindlimbs, urinate, or defecate independently. The pain of disc herniation - nerve compression - is severe. Recovery, when it occurs, involves weeks of intensive physical therapy that is often uncomfortable. Dogs requiring wheelchair use adapt remarkably well behaviorally, but the physical care burden is significant. The time-sensitive nature of treatment creates a welfare crisis for dogs whose owners cannot afford emergency surgery - many are euthanized not for lack of treatable disease but for financial reasons.