Important fluid produced in the brain; responsible for protection and support of the nervous system and its weight.

Clinical signs similar to peripheral vestibular disease but with associated depressed mental status (e.g. poorly interactive and disorientated) and postural deficits i.e. loss of strength and proprioception.

The carpal joint, or carpus, is the medical name for the wrist. In the dog and cat, the carpus is located in the forelimb and is made up of a cluster of bones sitting between the radius and ulna and metacarpal bones. Common conditions of the carpus include fractures, shearing injuries and degenerative disease.

Hearing test to detect electrical activity in the hearing pathways.

Brachycephalic Syndrome (BS) refers to a group of conditions resulting from the body conformation of dogs with short noses.

Bone tumours may be classified as “primary tumours”, which originate in bone or from bone-derived cells and tissues, and “secondary tumours” which originate in other sites and spread (metastasise) to the skeleton. The most common form of bone tumour in small animals is a primary bone tumour called osteosarcoma.

The so-called ‘flat bones’ of the skeleton, which in reality include the bones of the pelvis, spine, ribs, and skull.

Arthroscopy, also called arthroscopic surgery, is a minimally invasive surgical procedure involving a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of an injury is performed using an arthroscope (a rigid endoscope that is inserted into the joint through a small incision).

The artificial induction of ossification between the bones of a joint; fusing the joint in a fixed position. Arthrodesis is carried out to relieve intractable pain in a joint that cannot be managed with pain medication or splints. In unusual circumstances, arthrodesis is deployed to treat complex articular fractures such as shearing injuries of the feline tarsus.

Arthrocentesis is the process of collecting a sample of the synovial fluid (joint fluid) that bathes the inside of joints. Synovial fluid analysis is most useful for differentiating normal or degenerative (i.e. osteoarthritic) joints from joints with inflammatory joint disease (septic and immune-mediated).

The long bones of the skeleton, usually referring to the bones that make up the front and back legs.

Antebrachial growth deformity is an angular or rotational limb deformity of the forelimb. The consequences of ABGD are functional lameness as a result of abnormal posture, and painful lameness as a result of joint incongruity.