Hi everyone, I have a real conundrum and I'm hoping somebody has experienced the same issue and may be able to make suggestions.  My almost 10yr old Lhasa Apso had her last little about 4.5yrs ago and ever since, she has been scratching up or nesting, whichever term you are familiar with.  A few weeks after the litter was born and she was still doing this, I took her to the vet who scanned her and discovered she had endometritis (I'm guessing that's the dog equivalent endometriosis in humans)  and she was then speyed, somewhat earlier than she would have been had she not encountered problems. She continued to scratch up and we have been back to the vets for bloods and scans a couple of times since - all coming back as negative and within acceptable ranges.  In the past couple of weeks, she has become lethargic and has yelped a couple of times as she has walked around, but no lameness on any of her legs.  I picked her up and inspected her pads and between them, I also wiggled her joints a little bit but no yelping, flinching or reaction at all.  I took her to the emergency vet over the weekend and they discovered nothing other than a low-grade pyrexia so gave her antibiotics and said to follow up with my own vet this week.  Trying to give her her ABx, she yelped again, but I couldn't see anything obvious, possibly a sore tooth?  Got in to see my vet before surgery and he's keeping her in on fluids today and he'll repeat scans etc.  Oh almost forgot, when I lifted her onto my bed last night, she yelped again, I had one arm through her back legs supporting her tummy and the other arm under her ribs, so that's several different areas hurting her.  Her tail is dragging on the floor as well.  I know she's in the right place, but has anyone else had this issue who will have an idea what it is?  I only have £3,000 on the insurance and a referral for this type of thing for exploratory surgery is somewhere in the region of 5 to 6 thousand pounds and I simply don't have the balance between the two.  Anything that might point us in the right direction would be greatly appreciated xxx

It sounds potentially like a spinal issue, perhaps a disc problem? Long-backed breeds like Lhasas are prone to this, although any dog can develop a problem. I'm sure the vet will check her placing reflexes and the range of movement of all her legs as well as her neck. Good luck!

I agree with spine or disc issue. I've had a dog with an extruded disc and it presented like this initially and got gradually worse till she had spinal surgery - which was actually quite a simple op but it needed a specialist vet to do it and then she was right as rain for the last 3 years of her life and died of something else.

I think you might try rest and pain meds at first but if it doesnt improve, seek a referral to a specialist vet and an MRI.

Thanks, will mention it to the vet but would she be able to walk if it was spinal?

Thank you xxx

Yes they can walk with a spinal issue. My boy could until the disc moved

Yes, my girl could walk ok for many months and run about on walks - but at first would just randomly cry out sometimes. Then it got worse and worse, until eventually she couldn't stand and could only just about get outside to toilet before she was overcome with excruciating pain - even with all the pain meds on board we could give. It was an extruded disc in her neck - where the material inside the disc has come out and put pressure on the spinal cord. She was almost immediately better after surgery. It took her a while to walk without wobbling but she was pain free instantly.