I've posted about Sid's mobility problems before (Tripod having difficulty getting up and down).

Here's the short version of what's been happening: Sid, my tripod greyhound, has got progressively worse, mobility-wise, over the last year, and in the last month he'd really gone downhill to the point where he could no longer walk on tarmac or stone and sometimes found it hard to get over thresholds.  It had become dangerous to cross a road with him because he could suddenly fall on his backside and he doesn't get up quickly. 

We've tried four different types of boot.  He hates them all, and has a really bad day after he's worn one for a short while, which we put down to muscle cramps because of 'walking funny'.  He has worn one in the past, but now he's afraid to walk in them.

I suspected foot problems, causing knock-on problems for his hind leg and his back.  He was definitely getting cramps and we bought a massager to help him.  My vets couldn't see a corn and said it was likely to be muscular.  They didn't think it was his back or his hip, and he's had that leg x-rayed.  After a hydrotherapy session one day, I could see something I thought looked like a corn, and so could the hydrotherapy guy (who is a greyhound trainer).  Vets took a look and couldn't see a thing, so I asked for a referral and a couple of weeks ago we took him down to Queen's Veterinary School Hospital at Cambridge where he was seen by a final year student who ran a general check of all the usual things, an orthopaedic surgeon, and a neurologist.  We also took along a video of him running along on grass and creasing up when he got to tarmac, almost falling on his backside after a few paces, only to recover again when he hit grass. 

You can see this video here:

So it turns out he has a corn.  It took three specialists to diagnose it, because it simply wasn't visible on the surface - well, if you looked closely when his foot was soaked, you could see a very small, faint circle, but it was completely flat.  He had surgery to remove it exactly two weeks ago. They biopsied it and yes, it's a corn.  It was spectacularly large, but totally INSIDE the pad.  They said it was between half and one centimetre long, and went down almost to the toe bone.

I took him back today because I thought he was looking a bit uncomfortable again and he has an infection.  He's got two weeks of antibiotics and they've left the bandage off.  So he's finding a bit harder to walk again, which is a pity, because he was up on his feet the same day as the surgery and was doing so well.  Walking straight for the first time in months.

Some of you were interested in knowing what type of massager we got for him. They have one for sale on eBay at the moment.  It's an "ALDRAH HEALTH PRO HEAVY DUTY HAND HELD MASSAGER".  Both dogs adore it, and actually get pushy with each other to be first in the queue!