Took my Rudy to the vet as he yelped the other night when I lifted him and for next couple of days didnt want to do his usual jumping about. Vet put him under anasthetic and xrayed him. He said his hips were fine and he diagnosed hypertension of the hocks. Said we could only help with painkillers and it is something he was born with and that there is nothing else he can do except pain management, said if rudy had been insured would maybe have sent him to specialist but thought they wouldnt be able to do anything different anyway. He also said maybe try and reduce his weight a bit. But to me hes certainly not overweight as hes a very fussy eater and I had been glad that just recently he had been eating well. He said that I should now definatly get him insured. I dont know if I agree with his opinion as rudy seemed to be prefering to stand on back left leg and seemed to be having problems putting back right leg down but vet didnt agree, said problem was worse with back left leg. But I'm not a vet, so I suppose I have to listen to him.  I am so sad to see him in pain and wonder if any of you kind people have any ideas to help manage his pain. Vet gave me metacam to give him once a day to help with the pain and said to come back and get more as I need it.

Hi if you are not happy with the vets diagnosis the get a second opinion, if the new vet diagnoses him the same as the first vet then you will be sure you are doing all you can for him.
But with my own recent personal experience going for a second opinion was my gut feeling, and I am so glad I did.
Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery xx

Are you sure of the diagnosis, could he have said " hyperextension " of the hock [ the joint extends farther than it should]?

At 4yrs old I would have expected it to have shown up by now if he has had this since birth, he may have done something energetic which has led to the sudden onset of the pain, it may settle with rest and the pain meds, if there is no improvement then ask for a second opinion/referral to a speciallist.

If you apply for insurance for him now this will be classed as a pre existing condition and therefore not covered by the insurance.

Sorry I did mean hyperextension. He has been more energetic recently as he has been running about with new pup and jumping up really quickly on sofa etc when he runs from pup. I did mention this to vet and he said it would have had nothing to do with it, but as I say I'm not sure I agree as I thought that him jumping up on things so quickly he may have pulled a wee muscle or something. He seems to be a bit easier pain wise today and I'm making him rest lots