Brinkley and I made a trip to the vet this morning. The good news is he is now up to date on his shots. The bad news is Brinkley is currently getting lightly sedated for X-rays.
I'm sitting in a nearby coffee shop waiting the hour they told me to before returning to pick him.
The vet played with his right hind leg and checked his range of motion. His right leg has very limited range of motion compared to his left. She explained that this could mean two things. He could have arthritic hips or he could have a torn ligament.
The diagnosis of one over the other would mean very different treatment. If it's the arthritis, we can keep running and we'll just plan for rest, doggy aspirin, maybe some stretching, and such to ease it all as it flares up and as he ages. If it's the torn ligament, the. We have to stop running, limit all of his movement and see if the ligament can repair itself. If not, there is always surgery. Either way, the ligament diagnosis sounds terrifying to me. I don't want to lose my running buddy.
Brinkley had also chunked out in the last year. He's now up to 76 pounds, which is 6 pounds heavier than last year. The vet thinks it's odd he would gain weight considering we've been running during the last year. She wants me to lighten his diet and see if he can lose some weight over the next couple of months.
For now, I wait. We should get a diagnosis today, which is good because worrying about the future and waiting on the unknown sucks.
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