Argus and I had an interesting day as I continued my attempt to understand what is going on with his back and leg. We had an appointment at a new clinic anticipating an acupuncture treatment, but ended up getting a total workup and a few concrete answers. Very cool to find a vet who does both chiropractic and acupuncture and is an advocate of raw feeding! She went over Argus carefully and adjusted a small spot in his back, and while going over his hindquarters found some arthritic changes in one of his stifles. When she showed me how to do it, I could feel it too - so why could the other vets not find it? She thought the issues I was seeing in Argus's back might just be compensation for some pain in his stifle, but had suggestions on things we could do to improve that - involving both stretching and exercises. In addition to the exam and discussion she did several xrays. Argie's spine looked perfect, absolutely no sign of injury or arthritis, and his hips still looked very good (he is OFA Excellent), but the arthritis in his stifle was confirmed by xray. She explained that it would have started with a small injury and progressed from there. He's not lame, but I can tell it bothers him occasionally, and she advised putting him on one of the joint supplements - which I had already done, Arthrisoothe Gold.
So, we will see what happens now. It's nice to have some kind of concrete answer to at least part of the problem, and I am curious to see if the stretching and exercises make a difference. We spent about 1 1/2 hours at the clinic, I learned a great deal, and really feel as if I got my money's worth. Argus behaved wonderfully. A little too happy and enthusiastic as he loves all the attention, but extremely friendly with everyone, even under some difficult situations, and had only kisses and a wagging tail for everyone. We got through the back xrays OK, but he did have to be sedated to get the hips and stifles done without wiggling too much. Because of the sedation he did NOT get the "cheeseburger with everything" that I had promised him, so I will make up for that this weekend.
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