
A little about my dog:"Easy Dog" is 6-years-old, a Catahoula/Airedale mix, been spayed, weighs about 68lbs, eats Call of the Wild brand dog food twice/day, lives in a small town in Eastern Oregon, has had no health issues up to this point, and is normally a happy, very active dog.The Issue:Two nights ago we were playing in the backyard. Easy had just picked up her toy and was running back to me when she stopped and started whimpering. We have goathead thorns in this area so I went over and checked her paws. I couldn't find anything, and when I was done she acted like she didn't want to play anymore so we went inside. About an hour later I let her out to go potty and she whimpered again, so I brought her in the house and did a more thorough inspection. I asked her to roll on her back and I checked her paws again, but found nothing. This is when she started behaving like she was having a hard time walking. I thought she might have twisted her foot in a gopher hole or something, but she was only favoring her front right paw a little bit. She was also "tucking" her butt like something is wrong with her rear. We layed awake all night and she whimpered and wouldn't sleep. The next morning we went to the vet (we moved 6 months ago, but she's one of two really great vets in town, recommended by all my friends and great reviews on the internet). The vet did a thorough exam of her muscles, digestion, stool, temperature, xrays, etc. The best the vet could come up with is that she has a bone spur in her shoulder that might have been aggravated and one of her vertebrae is slightly shorter than the rest and she might have a pinched nerve. She said the other vet in the office was being kind of pushy about getting a sick cat on the xray machine, so she didn't get a vertical xray, which I thought was kind of substandard, but didn't say anything. She gave her a cortisone shot and a prescription for some Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS). The vet also said to let her rest and heal. Easy is a trooper and she "pushed through" the pain of the vet visit, which I don't think helped her diagnosis.When we got home Easy pooped and peed with some effort and lots of whimpering. The stool was normal. She went up our front steps (3) with some effort and whimpers and laid down in her normal spot and seemed somewhat happier so I went to work since I had taken the morning off. My fiance checked on her twice throughout the day and she had moved at least once, which we took as a good sign. When I got home we went down the steps and laid in the front lawn for about an hour. She still whimpered a little while moving, but seemed very happy and at ease laying in the grass with me. We went back in the house and had dinner. She ate normally when I brought her bowl and had lots of water (which I also brought). We let her rest for the evening and she moved off her bed and laid on the floor (which seemed good since for most of this ordeal she hadn't laid on her side which is her normal position). At bedtime I tried to get her to go out and go potty which is our routine. She went down the steps, wouldn't pee, and laid down in the grass. I got her to get up and she tried to go up the stairs, but couldn't so I lifted her and took her to bed. She has been whimpering and crying intermittently all night and I can tell she's in a lot of pain, although this isn't as bad as the first night.Which brings us to now:It's 5am and I can't let my dog suffer like this. I don't know what to do, but I'm pretty sure she needs help ASAP, not "rest". I want to take her back to the vet and ask for a little more urgency in her care, but I also know that the vet is a professional and usually knows what to do. Easy is not okay - she's dying and I'm terrified.The first photo is NOT Easy - the rest are some photos of a happy Easy DogAn Update from 10 minutes in the future:As I was hitting enter my fiance came out of the bedroom and said Easy was acting like she wanted to come to me in the living room. I went and coaxed her to get up and go outside. She went for a walk around the fence line, peed & pooped, and came back inside. She still whimpered and cried a bit, but it seemed less than it has been. Not sure if she had to go potty really bad or she's feeling a little better... via /r/dogs http://ift.tt/2qEUcSX
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