Importantly, canine disc herniation results in spinal cord bruising and compression, as is the case with trauma in humans. Additionally, the treatment for canine disc herniation is amazingly similar to that which is administered to humans with spinal cord trauma.

“The animals get an MRI, they get surgery, and they get rehabilitation,” said Levine, who is an associate professor in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences.

Using dogs with naturally occurring neurological conditions, as opposed to rodents with induced injuries, gives a much more realistic view of how a drug might perform in humans. However, the study is also much more complicated because the researchers don’t have control over a number of factors. Unlike rodents, dogs vary widely in their genetics, the location and severity of the injury, and time before treatment begins. Human SCIs, of course, have similar variability.