After watchful waiting to see if he'd get better on his own, yesterday I took Charlie to the vet.
A little over a week ago, Charlie quit jumping. He quit climbing on me to sing, quit jumping on the bed to sleep, and quit leaping the terraces to explore and hunt kitty poo. Worse, he quit being able to easily climb stairs - a problem in a house built into a hillside. Especially when your mom can't carry you!
Despite the fact that he is getting a little better, and despite the fact that I'm getting used to having room to turn over in bed, he still couldn't climb stairs, so it was time to drag him to the vet. And I do mean drag --- the floors there are well-waxed or else I don't think we would have gotten him into the examining room.
Of course at the vet's Charlie was on his most perfect healthy-dog behavior. He jumped all over me. He trotted around. He went up and down stairs. X-rays showed no problems (whew!), but on probing, the doctor could detect some guarding in his left hip and knee.
So it's probably a soft tissue strain, good news I think. And the bad news for Charlie is, well, good news for me. Charlie is completely and utterly grounded. For
two weeks. Two long weeks that he's only allowed outside long enough to do business on a leash. Two weeks he's not allowed to jump at all. Two more weeks of spacious restful sleep for me.
