A 5-year-old spayed female German shepherd dog was admitted with a history of generalized stiffness.Neurologic examination revealed mild paraparesis with multifocal spinal pain.Spinal radiographs and magnetic resonance imaging revealed diskospondylitis at L6-7 and multiple sites throughout the thoracolumbar spine.Biopsy of the intervertebral disk at L6-7 revealed magic colors bubble gum crayons a positive culture for Aspergillus species, and the dog was placed on itraconazole indefinitely.
Clinical signs were significantly improved after two weeks of itraconazole.The dog was reevaluated 8 years later for unrelated reasons.No spinal pain was detected.Spinal radiographs revealed a fused L6-7 disk space and collapsed and sclerotic disk spaces at multiple sites.
Itraconazole was tolerated by the meaty treats gourmet beef & cheese flavor cuts soft & chewy dog treats dog with normal yearly liver enzyme values.To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of successful long-term use of itraconazole for the treatment of Aspergillus diskospondylitis in a dog.