Experimental Drug May Aid Dogs with Spinal Cord Injuries

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences are testing an experimental drug that may benefit dogs with spinal cord injuries — work they hope will one day help people with similar injuries.

Funded through a three-year, $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, the drug to mitigate damage has already proven effective in mice at UCSF. The Texas team now will test how it works in previously injured short-legged, long torso breeds of dog such as dachshunds, beagles and corgis — breeds that often suffer injuries when a disk in their back spontaneously ruptures, damaging the underlying spinal cord. For more information, click here to read the full release.