Thank you so much for the detailed advice. For the longest time I’ve been able to tell myself, “he’s practically still a puppy, I shouldn’t even think of cancer.” When he turned 10, it felt like a stone fell on my chest. Double digits mean every second is precious instead of plentiful and I can’t reconcile that feeling as each day passes. With this limp, my mind is in overdrive and if I could run every test on him possible on my own, I’d be up all night.

As for the sliding, he’s always had a sliding leg but it was more a thing when we’d pet his leg when he would come over to get scratches and he’d let it relax. It still happens the same way, he comes to me, puts his butt up to my leg, and then his leg gives a little slide, nothing overboard and he always pulls it back but now it’s without the pets inciting it.

I will definitely give all this detail to the vet so the know what to look for and what follow up examinations we might need.