Second opinion at the vets?? Anyone asked before

[lisalh]

FOllowing on from my thread (on Kooki's possible sprain and wearing a coat) we have been to see the vet this morning and I am feeling very worried but also a little concerned about our appointment. I am seriously thinking of getting a second opinion as have been left feeling a little unsettled.
Kooki was def subdued in the vets but jumped up wanting to sit on my knee in the waiting room and did her usual wall of death at the end of the lead in the carpark pulling to the door- she is def uncomfortable as didnt even grumble or growl at the vet (as she usually does). They felt all up and down her body (incl stomach) and then manipulated her legs- the vet is concerned that she can hear clicking and grinding when manipulating her hips/legs coming from her hip joint but is not sure if this is the cause of her current problem or something to be aware of in the future, and thinks I may be right about a sprain because back end is 'tight'. I have been given metacam to give her with her food but she has not had any yet as I had already fed her before going to vets, but since she has been manipulated she is almost back to her normal self. 
Her condition had improved so much after a days rest that I had considered cancelling the appt and almost wish I had now as the vet has worried me so much over her hips. She is to have 1 week rest (no walks no playing and no jumping on furniture) followed by 1 week of 5-10 min onlead walks only and then when she is getting her anal gland op they sugggest I get her hips xrayed at the same time (op in 2-3 weeks), she has already had to be seperated from her brother twice as she is trying to get him to play and I have had to put her on a lead as she was chasing leaves in the garden when she went out to the toilet.
 The vet we saw this morning is one I have seen before with both dogs but is not my 'usual' vet and I am seriously tempted to book an appt with him next week to confirm that Kooki needs to be so 'restricted' as she is obviously itching to do more than I am letting her do and that was before the vets visit, and also I want to know more about what they think it could be- all that was said was a degenerative condition but nothing was specified. . I have got myself really upset over this and dont want to not follow advice and make her be in pain but based on how I know Kooki I am currently feeling that the restrictions would cause her more distress. 
I really dont want to make a pest of myself and vet today was lovely but I am just not sure about the diagnosis - if it was your dog would you go for second opinion or would you leave it a little while to see how things pan out - the vets have always been brill with both dogs and this is the first time I have 'questioned' their treatment

[wendall]

If it puts your mind at rest then get a second opinion. But just remember that dogs dont know that they must rest when they are not well. Try to keep her mind busy and hopefully that will help.

[PennyB]

My vet tends to see my pets 1st and we develop a plan - so this means I work with my vet then at some point if a or b doesn't happen or we reach a certain point in time then we refer.  That way we're both happy 

If my vet had mentioned something I hadn't taken in till later I will go back to find out more or ring practice to ask.

Best thing is to ask yourself what do you want from a 2nd opinion.

At my practice we sometimes see a locum who is there when main vet on hols - he's a good vet but occasionally something occurs that counters what my other vet has said or will say so I go back to my own vet with a list of questions

[lisalh]

I think I want my usual vet to see her as he knows her better and yes she is subdued but 'other' vet has left me so worried that it 'could' be soemthing serious and yet was happy to wait for weeks until her op for xrays and yet doesnt want her to have any exercise until then - I am just so confused by it all.
 If it is possibly something serious I dont want her having to wait in pain and if it is more likely to be something less serious or a strain I would like that explained to me - she is so improved compared to how she was yesterday (and that was before her metacam) I just cannot see how soemthing would be serious enough for such restrictions on her movements and not serious enough to warrent immediate investigation ...

I am probably not making myself very clear - sorry - but thanks to all that have answered x

[elaine.e]

I think go back and see your usual vet early next week, or at least phone him and talk through what was said today, as it's very clear from your posts that you're worried about it, as I would be too if it happened to Wills or Louis.

You could still be in the position of not having a definite diagnosis of either a sprain or hip related pain, but having said that, if Kooki continues to improve over the next couple of days and you then see your usual vet a diagnosis may be more easily made by then.

In the meantime, please take the advice of the vet seen today and keep Kooki quiet for now. Dogs don't understand that rest can help and if they are bored and want to play or run they'll forget the aches and pains in those seconds or minutes of activity but might hurt even more afterwards.

My first Cocker had his hips x-rayed when he was about 8 or so after an incident of pain that a vet thought could be hip related and the x-ray showed that one hip had a very poorly formed joint. But he went on to live until almost 17 and stayed pretty sound. So a diagnosis of dodgy hips, if that's what it turns out to be, may not be anywhere near as bad as you fear.

[debbiedaywalker]

That's good news that Kooki has improved after a day's rest without any Metacam too. That is very encouraging  Hopefully she has just strained or torn a muscle/ligament. I would be inclined not to give her any Metacam unless she is really uncomfortable/painful as this will mask any soreness and she will be more inclined to want to run and play. I would continue with her lead on for toilet breaks too.
The Vet can only guess until he does any x-rays, it won't do any harm to have a word with your usual Vet Lisa, but I suspect he will advise rest for a week too.
I hope that Kooki is feeling better this morning and continues to improve over the next few days.

[lisalh]

Well I Have been back to the Vets and seen our usual one and while he agrees that there is something bothering her he cannot hear any untoward clicking or grinding in her hips and we are going to treat it as a muscular sprain - she is off the metacam (poops not good on it) and have booked for her anal glad op in a fortnight- she is housebound/no walks for another few days and then can start getting out again but agreed with me that lead walks at first so no over doing it - I feel so much better now I have gone back and asked more q's and he couldnt have been nicer when I explained why I was there - Kooki was her usual self and slept on my knee in the waiting rooma nd turned into a whirling dervish in the surgery so dog only knows how I am going to keep her calm after her bum op....

[wendall]

So glad you`ve had your mind put to rest....