Paresis,
paralysis and their various causes
Differential diagnosis in rabbits
|
Acute
paresis (hours) |
|
Serum electrolyte
abnormalities: |
Profound hypokalemia |
|
Hyperkalemia |
|
|
Hypermagnesemia |
|
Traumatic causes |
Spinal cord injury, trauma of the
spinal cord, fracture, or disease of the CNS. |
|
Spinal cord hemorrhage, e.g. after
trauma |
|
|
Disease or lesions (e.g. brain
hypoxia from severe seizures) |
|
|
Disc disease, compression of the
sciatic nerve |
|
|
Congenital spinal deformities |
|
Subacute paresis (days) |
|
Bacterial
infestation |
Brain
abscess, encephalitis, meningitis, spinal abscess caused by e.g. Pasteurella
multocida, Lysteria sp., Staphylococcus sp.. |
|
Traumatic causes |
Muscle trauma, after excessive
exercise, or prolonged pressure and ischemia. |
|
Spinal compression |
|
|
Congenital spinal deformities |
|
Slow onset of paresis |
|
Parasitic
infestation |
Encephalitozoon
cuniculi in the brain, accompanied by an inflammatory response of brain cells |
|
Toxoplasma sp. |
|
Neoplastic diseases: |
Bone neoplasm, development of tumors
in the spinal cord, carcinoma |
|
“Mechanical” causes: |
|
|
Spondylosis (spinal osteoarthritis),
disco-spondylitis, presence
of bone spurs or osteophytes, which can lead to pain and irritation of the
nerves |
|
|
Disk deformation |
|
|
Intervertebral disk disease |
|
Unknown cause: |
“Floppy rabbit disease” |
