diff --git a/proxy/mucp/mucp.go b/proxy/mucp/mucp.go
index 06ab676f..02f28d89 100644
--- a/proxy/mucp/mucp.go
+++ b/proxy/mucp/mucp.go
@@ -43,9 +43,6 @@ type Proxy struct {
 	// A fib of routes service:address
 	sync.RWMutex
 	Routes map[string]map[uint64]router.Route
-
-	// The channel to monitor watcher errors
-	errChan chan error
 }
 
 // read client request and write to server
@@ -96,6 +93,18 @@ func toNodes(routes []router.Route) []string {
 	return nodes
 }
 
+func toSlice(r map[uint64]router.Route) []router.Route {
+	var routes []router.Route
+	for _, v := range r {
+		routes = append(routes, v)
+	}
+
+	// sort the routes in order of metric
+	sort.Slice(routes, func(i, j int) bool { return routes[i].Metric < routes[j].Metric })
+
+	return routes
+}
+
 func (p *Proxy) getLink(r router.Route) (client.Client, error) {
 	if r.Link == "local" || len(p.Links) == 0 {
 		return p.Client, nil
@@ -108,27 +117,25 @@ func (p *Proxy) getLink(r router.Route) (client.Client, error) {
 }
 
 func (p *Proxy) getRoute(service string) ([]router.Route, error) {
-	toSlice := func(r map[uint64]router.Route) []router.Route {
-		var routes []router.Route
-		for _, v := range r {
-			routes = append(routes, v)
-		}
-
-		// sort the routes in order of metric
-		sort.Slice(routes, func(i, j int) bool { return routes[i].Metric < routes[j].Metric })
-
-		return routes
-	}
-
 	// lookup the route cache first
 	p.Lock()
-	routes, ok := p.Routes[service]
+	cached, ok := p.Routes[service]
 	if ok {
 		p.Unlock()
-		return toSlice(routes), nil
+		return toSlice(cached), nil
 	}
 	p.Unlock()
 
+	// cache routes for the service
+	routes, err := p.cacheRoutes(service)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return routes, nil
+}
+
+func (p *Proxy) cacheRoutes(service string) ([]router.Route, error) {
 	// lookup the routes in the router
 	results, err := p.Router.Lookup(router.QueryService(service))
 	if err != nil {
@@ -149,18 +156,40 @@ func (p *Proxy) getRoute(service string) ([]router.Route, error) {
 		}
 		p.Routes[service][route.Hash()] = route
 	}
-	routes = p.Routes[service]
+	routes := p.Routes[service]
 	p.Unlock()
 
 	return toSlice(routes), nil
 }
 
-// manageRouteCache applies action on a given route to Proxy route cache
-func (p *Proxy) manageRouteCache(route router.Route, action string) error {
+// refreshMetrics will refresh any metrics for our local cached routes.
+// we may not receive new watch events for these as they change.
+func (p *Proxy) refreshMetrics() {
+	var services []string
+
+	// get a list of services to update
+	p.RLock()
+	for service, _ := range p.Routes {
+		services = append(services, service)
+	}
+	p.RUnlock()
+
+	// get and cache the routes for the service
+	for _, service := range services {
+		p.cacheRoutes(service)
+	}
+}
+
+// manageRoutes applies action on a given route to Proxy route cache
+func (p *Proxy) manageRoutes(route router.Route, action string) error {
+	// we only cache what we are actually concerned with
+	p.Lock()
+	defer p.Unlock()
+
 	switch action {
 	case "create", "update":
 		if _, ok := p.Routes[route.Service]; !ok {
-			p.Routes[route.Service] = make(map[uint64]router.Route)
+			return fmt.Errorf("not called %s", route.Service)
 		}
 		p.Routes[route.Service][route.Hash()] = route
 	case "delete":
@@ -174,31 +203,22 @@ func (p *Proxy) manageRouteCache(route router.Route, action string) error {
 
 // watchRoutes watches service routes and updates proxy cache
 func (p *Proxy) watchRoutes() {
-	// this is safe to do as the only way watchRoutes returns is
-	// when some error is written into error channel - we want to bail then
-	defer close(p.errChan)
-
 	// route watcher
 	w, err := p.Router.Watch()
 	if err != nil {
-		p.errChan <- err
 		return
 	}
 
 	for {
 		event, err := w.Next()
 		if err != nil {
-			p.errChan <- err
 			return
 		}
 
-		p.Lock()
-		if err := p.manageRouteCache(event.Route, fmt.Sprintf("%s", event.Type)); err != nil {
+		if err := p.manageRoutes(event.Route, fmt.Sprintf("%s", event.Type)); err != nil {
 			// TODO: should we bail here?
-			p.Unlock()
 			continue
 		}
-		p.Unlock()
 	}
 }
 
@@ -360,39 +380,28 @@ func (p *Proxy) serveRequest(ctx context.Context, link client.Client, service, e
 	// get raw response
 	resp := stream.Response()
 
-	// route watcher error
-	var watchErr error
-
 	// create server response write loop
 	for {
-		select {
-		case err := <-p.errChan:
-			if err != nil {
-				watchErr = err
-			}
-			return watchErr
-		default:
-			// read backend response body
-			body, err := resp.Read()
-			if err == io.EOF {
-				return nil
-			} else if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
+		// read backend response body
+		body, err := resp.Read()
+		if err == io.EOF {
+			return nil
+		} else if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 
-			// read backend response header
-			hdr := resp.Header()
+		// read backend response header
+		hdr := resp.Header()
 
-			// write raw response header to client
-			rsp.WriteHeader(hdr)
+		// write raw response header to client
+		rsp.WriteHeader(hdr)
 
-			// write raw response body to client
-			err = rsp.Write(body)
-			if err == io.EOF {
-				return nil
-			} else if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
+		// write raw response body to client
+		err = rsp.Write(body)
+		if err == io.EOF {
+			return nil
+		} else if err != nil {
+			return err
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -451,9 +460,6 @@ func NewProxy(opts ...options.Option) proxy.Proxy {
 	// routes cache
 	p.Routes = make(map[string]map[uint64]router.Route)
 
-	// watch router service routes
-	p.errChan = make(chan error, 1)
-
 	go func() {
 		// continuously attempt to watch routes
 		for {
@@ -464,5 +470,19 @@ func NewProxy(opts ...options.Option) proxy.Proxy {
 		}
 	}()
 
+	go func() {
+		t := time.NewTicker(time.Minute)
+		defer t.Stop()
+
+		// we must refresh route metrics since they do not trigger new events
+		for {
+			select {
+			case <-t.C:
+				// refresh route metrics
+				p.refreshMetrics()
+			}
+		}
+	}()
+
 	return p
 }