Puget Sound Veterinary Specialty & Emergency - Gig Harbor, WA
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Neurology

Animal Care Client Pet - Puget Sound Veterinary Specialty & Emergency

Information on Our Veterinary Neurology Center:

What is veterinary neurology?

The neurology and neurosurgery team at Puget Sound Veterinary Specialty & Emergency strives to provide excellent care for pets affected by neurologic disease. We understand the fear and anxiety that comes from your beloved pet being suddenly affecting by a neurologic condition, such as or paralysis. Prompt, and sometimes emergent, care is often necessary to ensure the best quality of life for your pet – to get them back to walking, seeing, or playing as they normally would. At PSVSE, our neurology & neurosurgery team seeks to not only offer pets the best possible care, but to support owners and help them understand their pet’s disease as well.

What does a veterinary neurologist do?

A veterinary neurologist is a board-certified member of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, specializing in neurology & neurosurgery. They have completed a minimum of four years of additional training after receiving their doctorate of veterinary medicine, including a rigorous three year residency and several phases of specialty board examinations.

What can you expect during a neurology appointment?

Prior to your pet’s appointment, the team at PSVSE will request all records and medical tests pertaining to your pet’s recent illness so that they can be thoroughly reviewed. During a neurology appointment, you will meet several members of the neurology team including technicians and the neurologist. We will ask you detailed questions about your pet’s recent illness, and general health history. A neurologic exam will be performed (usually in a larger room outside the exam to observe your pet’s normal gait and behavior. A neurologic examination includes assessment of vision, movement, reflexes, and behavior. Following your pet’s examination, the neurologist will discuss with you a diagnostic and treatment plan. Common diagnostic tests that may be recommended are lab work, x-rays, MRI, CT, and cerebrospinal fluid analysis. Depending upon your pet’s unique situation, diagnostic testing may be recommended the day of your appointment or may be scheduled at a future date.

Common conditions treated by the PSVSE Neurology and Neurosurgery Service:

  • Seizures
  • Intervertebral disc disease
  • Meningitis/encephalitis
  • Diskospondylitis
  • Brain, spinal cord, or nerve sheath tumors
  • Congenital neurologic disease (such as hydrocephalus)
  • Chiari-Like malformation and syringohydromyelia
  • Cervical spondylomyelopathy (Wobbler syndrome)
  • Infectious neurologic disease
  • Autoimmune neurologic disease (such as MUE)
  • Muscle and nerve diseases such as myasthenia graves and polyradiculoneuritis

Available diagnostics and procedures at PSVSE:

  • Interventional spinal surgeries such as hemilaminectomies, ventral slots, atlantoaxial subluxation and spinal fracture stabilization
  • Craniectomy/craniotomes
  • Cerebrospinal fluid taps
  • Epidural steroid injections
  • Muscle/nerve biopsies

Diagnostics not currently offered at PSVSE:

  • BAER testing
  • Electromyogram
  • Nerve conduction studies

Dr. Amanda Brenna, DVM, MS, DACVIM

NEUROLOGY

Originally hailing from Kirkland, Washington, Dr. Brenna is overjoyed to return to the Pacific Northwest and call the Kitsap Peninsula her home. Throughout her childhood, she accumulated a menagerie of rescued pets and injured wildlife and had settled on a career as a veterinarian by the age of ten. An intense love for horses had her certain that she would be an equine veterinarian. After her own cat Cleo suffered a serious neurologic injury, she saw firsthand how neurologic disease can impact a pet and their family and her focus shifted.

Dr. Brenna obtained her veterinary degree at Washington State University (GO COUGS!!!) where she quickly developed a reputation as “the neuro girl” amongst her classmates. After receiving her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 2013, she moved home to Seattle to complete a small animal rotating internship, and then to Dallas to complete a specialty internship in neurology at Center for Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Care. In Dallas, Dr. Brenna became acutely aware of how much she missed the rain and green of Washington, and how ill-prepared she was for the relentless sun and heat of Texas. Her three-year residency in neurology and neurosurgery took her to Auburn University in Alabama, where she got to spend every day honing her neurodiagnostic and neurosurgical skills and sharing her love of neurology with the veterinary students she taught.

To everyone’s surprise (including her own), life after residency took Dr. Brenna back to the Lone Star State, where she rejoined her friends at Center for Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Care as an associate neurologist. After four fun years in downtown Dallas enjoying the food & music scene (and hiding inside from the sun), she has made her way back to Washington to join the team at PSVS.

Dr. Brenna’s areas of interest are neurosurgery, neuro-oncology, and neuroimaging. Her favorite part of her job is watching a previously paralyzed dog take their first steps again – there is nothing quite like that proud little tail wag and smile they get! She also knows the pain of finding that your pet has a chronic or incurable disease, and cares deeply about supporting pets and their families as they navigate through a difficult diagnosis. She will work with you to help you understand your pet’s disease so that you can make the best decisions on their behalf regarding treatment plan.

When she is not at work, Dr. Brenna can be found hiking, backpacking, camping, and kayaking – rain or shine! She has a keen interest in primitive survival skills and enjoys shelter building, foraging, and fire-starting. Culinary arts, classical piano, and watercolor painting are less grimy pastimes Dr. Brenna is enthusiastic about. She has two precious pets that make her smile every day – her cat, Toulouse the Tailless Wonder, and her dog, Lady Marseille Chickenbones (the name is a long story…ask her about it sometime).

Dr. Brenna is incredibly grateful to be home in Washington and to become a part of the Kitsap Peninsula community.