Poor Pirate, Louie knows how you feel because he often needs a "lift up" and tends to walk with a list to one side. We recently tried a course of Prednisone but there wasn't a significant improvement to his back end and without the meloxicam, he was limping badly on his bad front leg and tramadol just puts him to sleep like a narcotic. After a long discussion with our vet we too have decided to use only meloxicam to keep him pain free and let him enjoy life as much as he can for as long as he can.
There's nothing like home, with the furkid friends and a loving family is there Pirate? Just soak up the sun and the good food and all the good wishes and prayers from your PT buddies.