Its Always Something

Reyna had her annual check-up on Saturday. Everything was going well – the tech read her chart and realized the vet has to draw her blood, so they didn’t have to muzzle her, and the vet remembered to not shine the ear/eye light on the floor for Reyna to see and go nuts over – until the vet started checking her legs. Now, everyone knows she has trouble with her hips, but she hasn’t shown any indication of other problems. Not that that really means anything…after all, this is the girl who almost chopped off her tail and never made a sound. When the vet manipulated Reyna’s right shoulder, though, she indicated that she did not find that pleasant. She found it so unpleasant, in fact, that she nipped him. A bit more than her standard warning nip, but significantly less than a bite. Certainly enough to make him stop messing with her shoulder. So, he checked her hips (we got the response we expected), and he checked her left elbow and shoulder. Nothing. No response at all, other than leaning in for a bit more scratching. So the vet went back to her right leg. No response when he messed with her elbow, but she went nuts when he tried moving her shoulder. Based on what he could feel, the vet thinks Reyna’s developed osteoarthritis in that shoulder. He said its fairly common for dogs with bad hips to get that, as they tend to put more weight on the front legs. But, he also said that, while watching her move around, he didn’t see any indication that she was bearing more weight on the front than she should. He’s confident that its not anything like cancer, so we decided to not bother with x-rays, and just keep treating her the same as we do now. I have pain pills for her hips, so if she does limp on the front, I’ll just give her some meds. The vet said that, as long as she doesn’t exhibit significant clinical symptoms (regular limping, or the leg collapsing under her), there’s really not much else to do.