Not 100% Satisfied

Last night, Duncan was resting on the couch, taking a quick nap before bed. I started petting his back, and I discovered a hard lump on his spine. I could feel it very easily while he was on the couch, but it wasn’t as noticeable when he was standing. I could also feel it easily when he was lying on the floor with his back straight. Now that I know where I’m looking, of course, I can feel it with no trouble at all. This morning I called our vet and got the first available appointment.

The vet took an x-ray of Duncan’s spine, with the focus on the specific area of the lump. She said the x-ray looked clean, with no bony growths on the vertebrae and nice spacing between the discs. The problem is that one vertebra is actually much higher than all the rest and that protuberance is what I felt. According to the vet, this isn’t really a problem, just a bit odd. And that’s great, except that she had no explanation for A) how this was missed for so long, assuming its always been this way (never mind the regular exams, this certainly wasn’t the first time in nearly 5 years that I’ve rubbed Duncan’s back while he was resting) or B) what might have caused this to suddenly occur. She mentioned the possibility of a shift in the muscle mass along his spine due to atrophy, but if anything he’s become more muscular over the last several months, not less.

So, its good that it doesn’t appear to be a problem, although the vet did suggest I keep an eye on it and call them if it starts to feel different. But I’m concerned about why the vertebra is like this. I think I’ll send an email to our old vet and see if he has any theories about this. And yes, I realize that I’m a worrier. I can’t help it – its just what I do.