Hi all,
Had a mini-panic with 8 mth old Max yesterday, which ended up with a dash to the emergency vet in the afternoon!...
Took him out for a lovely long walk/frolic in the fields in the morning - admittedly, it was a bit longer than usual, but he was full of energy the whole time & was even still pulling a bit when we got home! He played with lots of other dogs along the way but didn't have any rough play or falls/tumbles & certainly didn't seem to hurt himself or cry out at all or limp etc. - usual bounding along right up to the back door!
However, when we got him inside & dried him off, he'd usually go & curl up & have a much needed sleep for an hour or 2, but he seemed really unsettled & panicky & started whimpering & whining & constantly moving around to try to get comfy - he literally couldn't seem to stay still for longer than a few seconds & was trying to chew & bite at his back legs.
We started to really worry as it wasn't easing off & he refused a 'schmacko' which is unheard of & when he was attempting to settle down, his back legs seemed to be shaking & twitching beyond his control, plus when he was walking, he seemed to want to sit down all the time, as if his legs were giving way.
After much fretting on my part & hubby frantically ringing the various vets in the area (our was shut & no answer from the on-call one - great eh?!), we finally managed to speak to an emergency vet nearby who told us to come straight in. By this point, he seemed slightly less stressed & managed to walk out to the car apparently normally & did appear to sleep a bit during the journey - much relief all round!
We were then stunned when we got to the vets, cos the little blighter jumped out of the car (on his lead I hasten to add!) & pulled like mad to get in the door - ??!!
The vet was brilliant & spent ages assessing him & doing all sorts of exercises with him etc & reckoned he'd most likely had cramp &/or pins & needles or maybe even pinched or pulled a nerve a bit - must have overdone it on his walk or just one of those things!?!
She gave him a painkiller/anti-inflammatory injection & the obligatory thermometer up his bum, giving his anal glands a squeeze while she was there (?!) at which point he decided she was no longer his newest bestest friend! She then gave us some stuff to put in his drinking water to make sure his electrolytes were ok etc. (which he's had) & we left with a completely full of beans bouncing all over the place cocker, £105 worse off!!
We don't begrudge spending ANYTHING on him at all to make sure he's ok etc & would do it again in a second, but we WERE a bit miffed that they charged us almost £70 for the fact that it was 'out of hours' - 2.30pm on a Saturday afternoon?!?! Ah well!
Has anyone else heard of this or have any of your dogs experienced cramp before?! Just wondered if we should do anything to help avoid it in the future apart from take it easy on his walks etc? (She did say to give him short, on-lead walks for a few days & then build him up to his normal exercise)
He slept most of yesterday afternoon/evening & was absolutely full of life this morning but was seriously peeved when he only got a short, on-lead walk - pulled to go past the house when we got home & didn't want to come back in at all!! Bless!!
