I'm really not buying into the phantom pain thing. If it was phantom, surely the pain killer would have no effect?
As you can tell, it's still going round in my head but I'm sure Metacam is the way to go. She has disc leaks periodically so I'm sure it may kill two birds with one stone!
I hope I'm right! 
I'm sure you're right. For the painkiller to stop the phantom pain then, logically, the dog would need to know that it was a painkiller medication and not some other kind of treat.
Treating a psychosomatic condition with a tablet, medication or even a placebo can be very effective in a human subject as they're made aware that the treatment is directed against the condition, real or imaginary.
I would question whether a cocker spaniel, even with their high degree of intelligence, would be able to deduce the correlation between the perceived pain and the specific treatment.
I would also suggest that if Metacam is effective in helping the condition then it's real pain that's being felt by Lyla and not phantom pain.
Just my two penn'orth but it may be helpful in your deliberations.
Bob.
