There’s no way around it—a slipped disc (herniated disc) is painful. It’s physically painful for your dog, and emotionally painful for you to watch.
A dog’s spine is made of small bones that are cushioned by soft discs that act like shock absorbers. These discs normally protect the spinal cord and allow smooth movement.
Sometimes, whether due to discs weakening over time through a condition called intervertebral disc disease (IVDD) or due to a sudden wrong movement or injury, one of those discs suddenly bulges or bursts and presses on the spinal cord and nearby nerves.
This is a “slipped disc”, an acute event that causes intense pain and can interfere with the signals traveling between the brain and the body. Dogs may experience loss of coordination or sensation, incontinence, and in severe cases, paralysis—outcomes that are life-changing for both dogs and the people who love them.
There is some encouraging news. If a dog has not lost sensation in their legs and has not developed paralysis, surgery has a strong probability of success. Many dogs regain mobility and quality of life.
But for the approximately 16% of dogs who do develop paralysis from a slipped disc, recovery becomes far less predictable. For these dogs, the odds of walking again are closer to a coin flip.
That uncertainty is exactly what Dr. Go Tagawa, an Assistant Professor, neurologist, and researcher at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, is working to change—with support from the AKC Canine Health Foundation.
A Signal That Could Change the Odds
In earlier research, Dr. Tagawa and his team discovered that a specific nerve signal—called an F-wave—is linked to recovery outcomes in dogs with a severely slipped disc, which can be called a herniated or extruded disc.
So, what exactly is an F-wave?
F-waves are a type of late motor response measured during electrodiagnostic testing. In simple terms, a veterinarian applies a mild electrical stimulus to a nerve—in this case, the tibial nerve in the hind limb. That signal travels up the nerve to the spinal cord, where motor neurons send a small response back to the muscle.
You can think of it as a tiny “echo” in the nerve pathway.
By measuring these F-waves, researchers can assess the integrity of the nerve and its ability to transmit signals—critical information when trying to understand whether damaged nerves are likely to recover.
Dr. Tagawa hopes this research will make it possible to accurately and reliably predict recovery outcomes before surgery takes place.
“We aim to establish F-wave measurements as a cornerstone of prognostic evaluation in canine thoracolumbar intervertebral disc extrusion, potentially informing clinical decision-making and future therapeutic trials,” said Dr. Tagawa.
Turning Research Into Answers for Dog Owners
To test this approach, Dr. Tagawa and his team are recording F-waves in dogs prior to surgery and then tracking their neurological recovery over a six-month period. By comparing F-wave data between dogs who regain mobility and those who do not, the team hopes to identify patterns that can guide prognosis.
Ultimately, this work could give veterinarians better tools to counsel dog owners during some of the most difficult decisions they’ll ever face.
“We hope this will help veterinarians provide more accurate prognoses and guide treatment decisions for these dogs and their owners,” said Dr. Tagawa.
For families navigating IVDD, better information means clearer decisions, more realistic expectations, and, when possible, a better chance at recovery. This is the power of research in motion.
