Presumptive coccygeal diskospondylitis in a cat

Diskospondylitis is a rare disease of cats, commonly seen in male cats, mainly at the lumbar spine.1 Coccygeal diskospondylitis has not been reported in cats; it has been described in horses,2 while only traumatic coccygeal vertebral osteomyelitis has been reported in a cat.3 Fluoroscopically guided percutaneous disc aspiration has been described in dogs withdiskospondylitis and it appeared to be a valuable technique to obtain culture and sensitivity data in 75% of canine cases with radiographic signs of diskospondylitis.4 To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report of presumptive coccygeal diskospondylitis in a cat. Multiple choice question What radiographic changes are highly suggestive of diskospondylitis? (A) Lytic change affecting the middle of a vertebral body, (B) Lysis of the vertebral end plates on either side of a disc space, (C) Smooth, well-defined new bone formation ventral to the disc space, (D) Increased mineral opacity of the intervertebral disc, (E) Rounded well-marginated lytic lesions affecting multiple vertebral bodies and dorsal spinous processes. Diskospondylitis usually affects both adjacent vertebrae, so a lytic change affecting the middle of a vertebral body would be less consistent with this disease (this change would be more consistent with spondylitis/osteomyelitis or vertebral neoplasia), and lytic lesions affecting the vertebral bodies and/or dorsal spinous process would not be indicative – in this case the major differentials would include disseminated neoplasia such as multiple myeloma or less likely multifocal osteomyelitis.