I hope the vet visit goes really well. You might want to ask your vet about a product called Metacam for Maddie's stiffness. It's an anti-inflammatory and a pain reliever and is really helpful in stiff, older dogs. My RB dog, Smokey could barely walk without it. But with it, she cruised around just fine. It looks and kind of smells like honey and some dogs even like it. If they don't, it's easy to hide in their food. It's a bit on the expensive side but it's worth it. If your vet feels it would be right for Maddie, you could ask him about the human equivalent that you can get at the pharmacy called Meloxicam. It's quite a bit cheaper and from what I've heard, it's the same thing. This drug can be a bit tough on the organs though so your vet might want to do a blood panel to make sure they are in healthy condition.

Doing a blood panel on your 10 year old cat would probably be a good idea too if you have the money. I think the geriatric blood panels are done on pets that are 7 years of age and older. Seems crazy but I'm pretty sure that is accurate.

Hope all goes well and that you only get good news today! Look forward to an update.