Thank you Ladymom!
I have been reading up on LP quite a bit but didn't know that the pain was caused solely from arthritis caused by LP. I think I'm going to ask my vet for a referral to University of FL and get this settled once and for all.
My vet is recommending surgery and I was 99.9% sure after his diagnosis at our last exam that that would be what we would do. What you posted is what my vet said and everything I've read online- that grade 3 and 4 require surgery, end of story. Then I poked around YT a bit and read several threads saying that is wasn't always the case. Wishful thinking I guess. It's just so hard to think about such a difficult surgery when he seems perfectly fine and happy.
He's laying next to me now, sleeping and occasionally giving a little whine from his dental today. It's killing me and that is so minor compared to LP surgery. This sucks!
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"If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men." — St. Francis of Assisi, 1181-1226