This paper describes the occurrence of acral pruritic dermatitis and self-mutilation of the tail, hindlimbs and genitalia areas in three dogs and one cat with compression of the cauda equina nerve roots. The diagnostic was carried out by clinical signs and radiological studies. The treatment was based upon the surgical decompression of the cauda equina by the dorsal laminectomy. The surgical treatment led to the total remission of the self-mutilation, tail persecution and the self-inflicted lesions.
spinal diseases; cauda equina syndrome; self-mutilation