Well Louie had his xrays today and unfortunately they weren't as clear as the vet was hoping. Her original thought of the discs being the cause of the pain is sadly closer to being true as general arthritis should have shown on the xrays.....but it didn't.

My poor little man (who is still a bit "stoned" from the sedation!) is now facing an MRI scan which will show the spine in more detail. It's not going to be nice for him as they have to inject a dye into the spinal cord so that everything (discs, spinal cord etc) can be clearly seen. We are not sure when this is going to be at the moment as we need to get the relevant claim forms from our pet insurers (thank heavens for pet insurance!), but I'll keep you updated.

Thank you for your well wishes and advice...anything else would be gratefully received!