Cocker with sudden onset of arthritis .

[teta]

Our 7 year old cocker spaniel has become very miserable these last two weeks.He is walking very slowly, painfully, hanging his head and sitting in weird positions.The vet has diagnosed arthritis and given us a nsaid for a week.Given that it appeared to have a sudden onset I'm wondering whether it could be something else.He has no elevated temperature at the moment and is still eating and drinking.The medicine is helping , but he is going into kennels for a month while we are away and I'm very worried about him.Anything I can do or ask?

For reassurance, as your going away soon and for quite a while, I'd make an appointment with another vet and just explain your concerns, perhaps get an Xray. There's no harm in a second opinion and as you won't be there it would be good to know. NSAID's are anti-inflammatory and pain killers so it seems possible they may help even if it's not arthritis (but I am NOT a vet!).

If you've not noticed an improvement on the NSAIDs I'd want further investigations - the signs you describe are not typical of arthritis. Did the vet bend/flex his joints and check for back and neck pain?