The neurology team at Willows offers a complete neurology service and is happy to see cats and dogs with any neurological problems, including those referred for neuromuscular, spinal or brain diseases. Many patients with neurological conditions need prompt investigation and treatment, and we aim to see urgent neurological cases the same day where required. We are also happy to provide telephone advice to veterinary surgeons on the management of neurological cases.

Patients dealt with include those with:

• seizures and other paroxysmal diseases: e.g. movement disorders, narcolepsy-cataplexy
• peripheral and central vestibular diseases:  inner ear disease, dizziness etc.
• cranial nerves deficits:  e.g. facial paralysis, trigeminal neuritis
• inflammatory central nervous system diseases: meningitis, myelitis and encephalitis (brain inflammation)
• spinal diseases:  e.g. disc protrusion/extrusion ('slipped disc'), syringomyelia, spinal malformations
• neuromuscular diseases:  polyneuropathy (polyradiculoneuritis, endocrine neuropathy), junctionopathy (e.g. Myasthenia Gravis), myopathy (e.g. polymyositis, masticatory muscle myositis)
• neurological emergencies:  spinal trauma, head trauma and status epilepticus (severe seizures or fits)

The neurology team at Willows is fully supported by other specialists in the orthopaedic team, as well as those in our state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging facility (with in-house MRI and CT scanning ), and specialists working in our anaesthesia, internal medicine, ophthalmology and soft tissue surgery teams. Our highly trained support staff provide superb levels of nursing care for all our patients, including those referred for neurological problems. Neurological cases not infrequently require intensive veterinary and nursing care, and our dedicated Intensive Care Unit is equipped to the highest levels, enabling us to optimise the management of such high-dependency cases.

We are able to provide a full range of investigations, including on-site advanced imaging with a new high field MRI scanner giving image detail (and hence diagnostic quality) which is currently amongst the best in the UK, 16 slice CT scanning to evaluate patients with e.g. spinal or head trauma, cerebro-spinal fluid analysis, electro-diagnostic testing for neuromuscular disorders, and muscle and nerve biopsy where required.

Surgical treatment provided includes treatment of spinal diseases (e.g. slipped discs in the neck and back, and injuries caused by trauma, such as spinal fractures) and brain disorders (e.g., brain tumour, brain abscess) . We are able to optimise the outcome for such challenging surgical cases thanks to our specialist expertise, multi-disciplinary team approach, state-of-the-art operating theatre facilities and excellent intensive care provision. 

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