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Minnesota’s first and only animal hospital dedicated solely to neurology is now welcoming pet patients. 

 in Columbus, Minn., will treat dogs and cats with conditions affecting their brain, spine and nerves — like seizures, paralysis or extreme neck and back pain. Founder Dr. Missy Carpentier saw her first patient, a dog named Bluey, on Monday. 

As the clinic gets rolling, Carpentier talked to MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about hope for pets and their humans in what often begins as a scary situation. 

The following has been lightly edited for clarity. Listen to the conversation by clicking the player button above.

How common are neurological problems in pets? 

We do have a lot of patients, unfortunately, who are born with congenital neurologic issues. And so, because of that, there are certain conditions that we'll see in those younger animals, such as a condition called hydrocephalus — you can think of it like too much water in the brain. They have more water than they do brain tissue or matter, so they can develop seizures. A lot of times, in those younger patients, we will do an MRI to identify that condition, and then we actually can place a shunt where we help get that water out of the brain, and it drains actually into the belly, so that they can live a fulfilling life. 

Are neurological conditions in cats and dogs relatively easy to treat? 

It totally depends on what we're dealing with. So there are definitely cases where we unfortunately are not going to be able to help with certain things, like brain tumors, depending on where they're located, and different causes of paralysis. However, for the most part, we have excellent treatment options. 

And I think that's what people don't understand, because they see their pet, in either extreme pain, or all of a sudden, isn’t able to use its back legs but was fine last night. And they think there isn't any hope. But what we want people to know is actually there's great hope, because even if a dog is paralyzed from a disc herniation with surgery, as long as they can feel their back legs, we have an 85 percent chance of getting them up and walking again. 

So you go from this extreme high emotion of all of a sudden, you think this is the end for your pets, but actually, there are great options available. 

Veterinary specialties are often associated with teaching hospitals like the University of Minnesota. Are there more freestanding specialty clinics like yours?

Universities absolutely will have specialty practices, and there are larger specialty centers that have all the specialists together — more of a true referral hospital. But as we've seen, the number of owners wanting to pursue specialty care for their fur babies, or their four-legged family members, is really increasing, so there's definitely a need for these solo specialty clinics to be opening. 

We see it a lot with dermatology, ophthalmology and some surgery hospitals as well. And there's definitely a need for neurology, too. Neuro-specific hospitals have really popped up in veterinary medicine on the East and West coasts, not as much in the Midwest. But we're starting to see that now. We have Minnesota Veterinary Neurology, and then another one just opened in Missouri. So it's definitely the trend in where veterinary medicine is going to make sure people are able to have easy access to care for their pets. 

Do you also offer physical rehabilitation? 

We do offer rehab. Of course, it's going to be tremendously helpful for the neurologic patient; we also offer it for any patients. So even if it's an older dog who has a lot of arthritis, getting them in the underwater treadmill would be fantastic to help keep them comfy and keep those joints feeling good. So while we specifically treat neurologic patients, the one exception is our rehab patients, where we'll see anybody to help them out. 

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As the state’s only veterinary clinic dedicated to neurology gets up and running, Dr. Missy Carpentier told Cathy Wurzer why pets and their people can have hope in medical situations that start out scary. 

'There's great hope': Minnesota's first neurology-dedicated pet clinic opens

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