I've just realised that it was about this time three years ago that I first noticed Holly walking slightly oddly. It wasn't very often and it wasn't a very big change, but just every now and again I would notice her back right leg would kink a little when she took a step.
At first I though I was imagining it but over the space of a couple of weeks I decided I wasn't imagining it but nobody else had seen it. When I had a long weekend away Holly stayed at Mum and Dad's and when I came back they had seen it and I took Holly off to see the vet.
A lot has happened in the last three years, a lot of miles have been walked and I have shed a few tears along the way as well.
I've thought once or twice over the past few months that her front legs are getting weaker and wobblier. Earlier this week I noticed that her front right paw didn't seem to be doing what she wanted it to do. She was, with a little help from me, getting up onto the sofa and her paw wasn't unfolding to step on to the cushion so she ended up climbing up with a folded up paw.
I've also noticed that she has problems getting her front legs coordinated, especially on smooth surfaces and especially when she is tired or just woken up after a good snooze. The control of the internal plumbing is also getting steadily worse.
Once or twice I've wondered if it's time to make that last trip to the vets, but those thoughts have usually been at 3am when we have had a puddle on the kitchen floor and a crash landing on the path to the lawn. Come the morning she has been her usual demanding self, berating me for being half asleep and not getting her breakfast served up fast enough, telling me how she things we should be spending the day and generally showing none of the problems from the middle of the night.
I think the time is drawing closer, but for now she is still happy and, other than the cdm, healthy so we will continue to take things one day at a time and at her pace.
