Do we need a trip to the vet?

Hi all , quick question, since thursday night pippin 2 and 1/2 has seemed unable to get up on the sofa and my bed sometimes without being lifted.

He went for his walk no problem last night and he is running and playing.

This became more noticeable this morning and he will climb the step out the back and the stairs but seems reluctant.

I have checked him all over to see if he is sore anywhere but he doesn't seem to be,I even lay him on his back and moved his legs around to see if it his his hips but that didn't bother him.

He always charges down the garden to chase neighbouring cats and jumps at them when they peer down from the wall at him( they are not a bit afraid of him!) but he always lands on his back legs so I thought he may have hurt himself.He was running at them again as I was writing this and seems well able to run but can't seem to get the power to launch himself up on the bed etc. Do you think a trip to the vet is warrented or has anyone any ideas on what the problem could be?
I'm getting a bit worried about it now.

Is he less playful than before? How's his coat? Does he have little brown "freckles" on his skin that he didn't used to have (look kind of like age spots on a human)? If so, then I would take him in and ask your vet to check for Hypothyroidism. My Corgi has it and she had similar stair/jumping issues but also was a lot less playful, her coat was awful, and she had "age spot" looking spots on her skin. The solution to this is a pill twice a day, so it's not so bad.

I hope this helps.

Jenni

His coat is fine and he seems as playful as ever. He seems to only have problems when he stops to think about it, when he is excited he still runs upstairs or in to the house using the back step but if he rambles out and wants to come back in he sits looking at us and the step and seems to make an effort to climb it but can't.

I thought he was holding his back leg awkwardly earlier so my daughter held him and I massaged his leg and hip and then he didn't seem to bad.

He has been resting for an hour or so and just went out to do his wee nad came back up the step himself. I am going to keep him as rested as possible over the weekend as I can't get an appointment with the vet he is fully booked up for the afternoon and I am in work this evening.

I will keep the thyroid thing in mind,funnily enough I have that problem and have taken medication for years!

good luck. that sounds worrisome.

For Kris and I, we err on the safe side. If something doesn't seem right, it's off to the vet. I can't tell you how many trips we have made to the vet that turned out to be nothing, but once in a while it IS something and is easily taken care of because it was caught early. We are getting better now that we know more about this breed.

And don't worry about the vet thinking you worry too much; it's how they stay in buisiness.

My dog goes through a once or twice a year injury. He'll rocket himself off of something and hurt himself (still a wild man at age 10). He has to be kept on a very low-impact regimen for a few days to a week and then bounces back without prob. Occaisionally, he'll need rimadyl for a couple days. I wouldn't worry too much, just get it checked out.

One of my babies experiences this problem periodically throughout the year, the only trigger I can think of for him is when he jumps to get the ball ?? Though not really confirmed as sometimes a delayed reaction.

After it had happened a couple of times I had him x rayed in his back and hips to see if there was anything going on and each time it has happened I have taken him to the vet and they have examined him but appart from a little muscular stiffness and some possible spondylosis in two sections of his back there is nothing conclusive and no apparent cause.

My vet gives an anti-inflammatory injection and I also have some metacam liquid I can administer which is pain/anti-inflammatory medication.

I probably say this everytime I write a post on anything but, I think it is important to know what you are treating, I understand in this instance the symptoms may be intermittent and or awkward to show the vet but it is amazing what those trained hands can feel that we do not pick up.
I did all the kind of examinations you described you did on my Digby trying to decide if it was worth the $$ to go to the vet or if it was just a pulled muscle or something that would fix itself but in the end my boy was a bit unhappy in himself and appeared in a bit of pain so that made my mind up.

My advice would be go to the vet and let them have a feel, discuss the option of having some metacam or something similar on hand if it happens again to see if this reduces the problem ??

Good luck

Thanks for all the advice.
Well Pippin was fine by yesterday jumping up on the sofa,chairs and beds again.

I called the vet and he said to leave it for now, thinks he may have pulled a muscle or something but it healed itself or maybe the massages I was giving him did the trick. I'll keep an eye on him though.

Gus got this a couple of years ago but he was much worse and his neck/jaw was locking, the vet gave him anti-inflameterys and he had x-rays but nothing showed up and he never got it again. So hopefully Pippin won't either