Any vets around? Arthritis in dog

[gutrotweins]

Hi. Just wondered if you would be able to know for sure that a dog has arthritis in its hind legs by rotating the legs?

The you can feel restricted range of movement that combined with signalment of age, breed etc will make most likely possibility, but definitive diagnosis would be by x-ray.

You wouldn't know for sure, but there are signs to look for as lonecat says. Definitive diagnosis requires xray but lots of clients prefer to monitor/ try treatment especially if the dog is older.

My dog is a 4 and a half year old border collie - very fit, perfect weight.

The vet was emphatic that he had arthritis, just by moving his hind legs. He said an x-ray would confirm this (if I wanted one). In the meantime, he suggested I feed the dog food supplements, but that I delay any medication.The dog doesn't show any symptoms of arthritis in day-to-day life.

The vet's visit was pre-empted by my agility trainers. On Tuesday, the trainer noticed that the dog was measuring before jumps, which was confirmed by the Wednesday trainer. They have never noticed anything before, and I train at 2-3 times a week.

Is there such a thing as sudden onset arthritis, or should I take the dog to a chiropractor for a second opinion?

As a border Collie hip dysplasia is a possibility, I have several dogs whose hip dysplasia first manifest itself as altering their jumping at agility. It would be worth an x-ray then as you may wish to reduce the height that he jumps at or even stop agility if there is evidence of hip dysplasia.
Chiropractors require a referral from a vet to work on your dog and IMO have little dog specific training. If there is HD they could do more harm than good.
As an aside I have always given my own dog joint supplements when he was doing agility to provide the joints with extra support.

The vet did suggest joint supplements, so I will try those.

Have an appt with a chiropractor who is also a vet, so hopefully, no damage will be done!

Thanks all.