Neurology Service

Like people, pets suffer from neurological diseases of the brain, spinal cord and neuromuscular system.  At the UW-Madison Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, a board certified veterinary neurologist provides diagnosis, therapy and surgery as well as excellent emergency care to animals with brain and spinal cord trauma, for example, a dog hit by a car or a ‘downed dog’ that cannot stand.  The neurology service handles dogs, cats, monkeys, ferrets and other small animals and consults on large animal cases. 

Highlights of service

• Wisconsin’s only board certified veterinary neurologist.
• State-of-the-art equipment for surgery and diagnosis, including Wisconsin’s only MRI that is used exclusively by veterinarians.  MRI allows better examination of soft tissue such as the brain.
• Veterinarians see each case all the way through both clinical neurology and surgery, one of only a few programs to do so.

Common conditions

• Downed dogs unable to stand
• Intervertebral disc disease (compressed discs)
• Tumors
• Botulism
• Myopathies (any disease of a muscle)
• Neuropathy (any disease of a nerve)
• Epilepsy
• Wobbler Syndrome (cervical vertebral instability)
• Vestibular Syndrome

Equipment

• Electromyography (EMG) and Nerve Conductor Velocity for evaluating neuron and muscle function
• CT Scan
• Microscope for Intracranial Surgery
• MRI—the only MRI for veterinarians in Wisconsin

Clinicians

Resident

Lisa Lipitz, VMD