Back x-rays

On our way to Vancouver we stopped in Calgary for an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. Kili had seen Dr. S a few months prior for a check up and to discuss her chronic back problems. Dr. S couldn't find anything obviously wrong with her and had recommended full spinal x-rays as the next step. Kili is a huge drama queen about medical procedures so I knew she'd require heavy sedation. I decided that if I was going to put her through sedation then I wanted to make sure the x-rays were done to Dr. S's liking the first time, so I took her back to have them do it.

On the x-ray table, sedated and getting supplemental oxygen.

One chemically induced good dog, and one naturally good dog. :)

Perfect greyhound hips. You can see the slightly more open SIJ on the left compared to the right.

Jury is out. Dr. S saw some early degenerative disease in her lumbar spine, and also thinks that one of her sacroiliac joints (SIJ) is fused compared to the other. I appreciate these changes, but the big question is how clinically important are these changes? They are not severe changes, and while there is more degeneration than one would expect in an average dog her age... it may not really be more than one would expect in a SIMILAR dog her age, i.e. another agility dog. For now I have started her on Cartrophen, an injectable joint support product, and will continue her with chiro and rehab. I have also asked my rehab tech to develop me a conditioning and stretching routine. I am also trying to watch how many weave poles I ask Kili to do. In courses that don't require us to do the weaves I will avoid them completely, and in practice I will be decreasing how many times she does them per session.

After our appointment we loaded up to hit the road to Revelstoke. This is what Kili looked like... stoner puppy!

So sleepy!

At first she refused to lay down in the truck, but she was very unsteady which made driving a bit of a problem. It was pretty funny to watch her falling asleep standing up though!