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Introduction
Cause : traction on the tail following road traffic accident.
Signs : range from paralysed tail, urinary and/or fecal incontinence to partial loss of sciatic nerve function.
Diagnosis : history, clinical signs and radiographic confirmation.
Treatment : tail amputation, manual expression or catheterization of the bladder, pharmacological aids in case of reflex dyssynergia.
Prognosis : cats with tail base sensation and good anal tone on presentation are expected to regain urinary continence. Cats that do not become continent within 1 month usually fail to regain urinary function.
Pathogenesis
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Diagnosis
Clinical signs
Paralysed flaccid tail.
Depending upon the extent of the injury, affected cats may present urinary and fecal incontinence and partial loss of sciatic nerve function.
Areflexic anus.
Manifestation of urinary incontinence may range from:
Distended bladder that is difficult to express and which the cat continually strains to empty.
A distended bladder that cannot be expressed but which causes the cat no distress.
A flaccid, atonic bladder with continual overflow.
Loss of nociception in the tail and/or perineum.
Diagnosis
Differential diagnosis
Non-traumatic conditions affecting the cauda equine: fibrocartilaginous embolism , disk herniation , spinal/spinal cord tumor , myelitis/cauda equina neuritis, spinal/ spinal cord malformation .
Traumatic conditions affecting the cauda equina at a more cranial level (L5 vertebrae to sacrum): fracture/luxation, spinal cord contusion, traumatic disk herniation.