Spinal injury treatment in dogs – Iowa State Daily: News

Dogs with certain spinal injuries are receiving experimental treatment at Iowa State's College of Veterinary Medicine.

Dr. Nicholas Jeffery, professor of veterinary clinical sciences, has been conducting the research.Jeffery, who is from the United Kingdom, said he has always had an interest in spinal cord treatment. He began developing the project in the U.K. before he came to Iowa State. While at Iowa State, he was able to set up the project which began in July 2013.

Theres a lot of potential in things here, Jeffery said.

About 60 dogs will participate in the project, which will last about three years, Jeffry said. He uses the Internet to find dogs to participate in the trial, including a website called Dodgers List. The trial is also publicized.

Jeffery said eligible dogs are ones that have been paralyzed in both hind legs for three months. The trial is also limited to smaller dogs.

The dogs will all eventually be injected with a drug that breaks down the scar tissue around the spinal cord, which prevents the making of new connections. Because the trial is an experiment, it is conducted in a double blind fashion where only Jeffery will know what he is injecting.

Some dogs at first will receive a placebo injection, but eventually, every dog will receive the injection of the real drug. In six months, Jeffery will be able to gauge how well the dogs respond to the injection.

If this works in dogs, the idea is that perhaps it might work in people, Jeffery said. The spinal cord organization is pretty much the same.

Although Jeffery has had only three dogs participate in the trial, he said the research will pick up in January when a doctoral student will aid him in the experiment.

Jane Wengert, veterinary technician in the Veterinary Medical Center, is also helping Jeffery with the experiment. Wengert said she helps handle the dogs and also communicates with the owners.

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Spinal injury treatment in dogs - Iowa State Daily: News