Spinal Reflexes
030-spi

Spinal Reflexes (to page 44)
For the following procedures the patient should be relaxed and in lateral recumbancy unless otherwise noted.

• The response should be noted as absent (0), depressed (+1), normal (+2), exaggerated (+3), and exaggerated with clonus (+4).

• The diagnostic value of a given reflex is highly dependent upon its reliability and repeatability.

• Many of the following reflexes are difficult to elicit in normal animals, thus the absence of a reflex may be due to technique and not a neurological defecit. We have highlighted in RED those reflexes that a skilled examiner ought to perform in all patients, these reflexes are reliable and repeatable in most cases.