Well, been 2 weeks since I brought mine in. Vet wasn't at all concerned. We've maxed her out on carprofen, but still plenty of other things we can give her. Put her on gabapentin, which blocks the nerve pain and all of a sudden, she's like a whole new dog. Her leg and hips are still fucked up, but she doesn't know, so she doesn't care.
2 days after I started her on that, I came home from work and sat on the couch and she came over and nuzzled me like a cat would...rubbing her head up against me. She's never done that before. I can't tell if she's just high as balls or so happy that she's no longer in pain. Either way, I'll take it.
its enough that our short walks down to the end of the property seem to be having some serious positive effects. Arthritis is such a shitty thing - all you wanna do is nothing, but that's exactly the wrong thing to do. Seems to be getting stronger and can make it up the stairs more on her own now. Which is great, because I bought a lifting harness for her, but it turns out that when a dog hasn't even worn a collar in 12 years, a harness ain't really her thing.
Every once in awhile, shit just works out.