You know a few months back our Labradoodle was having pain in his legs, he was struggling to get up and sit down from his bed and as the day went on he started yelping while trying to stand/sit. He is about 4/5 years old and very energetic, nothing stops him and has never had anything wrong with him so this was something I noticed right away.
I couldn’t figure out if it was a front paw or back legs so I checked him, asked him for both his paws which he really struggled with which wasn’t usual and also checked his back legs and rotated each but overall he seemed fine and nothing that screamed out, no swelling, no lumps, no laboured breathing or panting but the odd yelp here and there but not for a particular limb.
I decided since it wasn’t usual I was going to call PDSA who could offer an emergency appointment if deemed necessary. I got a call back from a nurse who decided we needed to come down right away.
You never guess what! We called a cab (which wasn’t cheap) and drove down there and as soon as we got there he had no issue jumping out the car and pulling us to sniff around. He sat down without complaints and excitedly went after other actually sick dogs in the waiting room! We couldn’t believe it! A few hrs before he was at home, with doggy depression and giving us signs he was in pain… even limped a few times!
He was weighed, called in, had limb and spine check, temperature and I even asked for extra checks since we had come this far already! He was off his food and seemed very uncomfortable before. We was told there didn’t seem to be anything outwardly wrong with him but they will give him some pain killers and anti inflammatorys. All in all it cost a little over £100 to get him checked and meds and we took him home (they gave him an injection while there so we only needed to give him one med that night).
He literally never showed signs of any discomfort from the point we left for the vet! The next day I contemplated giving him his meds as I was starting to believe he was messing us around! I gave him one med and left it there. He was absolutely fine! No pain, no inflammation and no complaints since! Doggy depression gone, appetite back and energy levels bouncing off the walls! For him it was a fun day out and he loved every moment of it, us not so much and had he not of been a hypochondriac he could have just gone out as usual which would have been free but he was adamant he had “issues” that needed treatment🧐.
I have decided now if he has anything come up again I will assess the situation longer than that time! He is an otherwise healthy dog that is very attention seeking! I think it might be in his breed though as I read of a Labrador developing a fake limp just to be taken to the vets and find it’s actually fine but attention seeking! I wish we could determine that before the vet as with two cabs and the treatment and appointment we spent just under £200 for nothing! Only thing I was happy about was that I didn’t ignore it and it turn out to be something serious!
Hopefully your little one is okay, unlike ours your one sounds like they are not faking🙄 and I’m hoping the vet can give you a resolve soon. Our dogs meds could have actually gone to a sick dog that needed them🤦🏽♀️