It's hard watching your dog slow down.
On Sunday night at the park, I threw the ball and after turning to give chase, my 8 year old golden immediately froze and then did a couple of half spins reaching for his rear end, appearing to be disoriented / in distress. It was something I'd never seen him do and it felt like something was off. He seemed to be okay after that as he trotted around the park a little bit more before we made the ~300 yard walk home. Yesterday morning, he woke me with a yelp from his bed. It was clearly out of pain and afterwards he came to the side of my bed cowering like he typically only does for thunder or fireworks. After some pets he seemed to be okay and we went about our morning routine which includes a quick walk to the park. As soon as we got there he laid down and would not get up. I sat with him for twenty minutes and finally was able to get him up to walk back home. Immediately got him in at the vet and after X-rays / physical exam / $500 later, they told me all they can figure is he pinched a nerve and sent me home with pain/anti-inflammatory meds. Since getting him back home yesterday around noon, he hasn't gotten up from his bed (almost 24 straight hours now). I've brought him dinner & breakfast and he's eating perfectly fine and seems to have his normal demeanor but I cannot coax him to get up.
Part of me feels guilty as the vet told me he had put on about 5 pounds since our last visit in September. He's already a big boy (~90 lbs) so I've had him on a diet food and preventatively had him on Cosequin for his hips/joints for a couple years now. Other than the occasional ear infection, he's been a super healthy dog up to this point.
Has anybody ran into a similar issue or have any tips?
Here's Cooper: