Yesterday I took the whippet to the vets for a back examination as he's showing some signs of hind limb weakness - nothing too serious yet, just taking more than three leaps to get upstairs and a slight wobble in the back end after a long walk. I could find no pain response at home and neither could the vet until he tried the 'wheelbarrow' test and flexed his back with his hind legs in the air.
His diagnosis is lumbosacral degeneration but it's not bad enough for surgical treatment yet. Peter the vet said it was early stage degeneration, generally caused by wear and tear from ten years of flinging himself about at 30mph, so treatment for now is anti-inflammatories for a month, strict plodding exercise (no leaping upstairs, in and out of the car, on and off the sofa and the bed, tanking about off-lead etc), and I am looking for a reputable dog physio. It's not going to be fixable, more a case of management to keep him mobile for as long as possible. Poor wee skinny boy's belting-around days may well be over.
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