Help Needed: Lab/Aussie mix in wheelchair

[Renee]

I hope someone can help. Our dog had sugery two years ago for a shattered disc and lost use of his back legs. We have tried physical therapy with no improvement. He is in a wheelchair but because of his size (65lbs) he cannot stay in it all the time and therefore drags his legs and cuts them up pretty badly. He also does not have control of his bowels. We are at a loss. He stays in our laundry room which is very large but since he doesn't have control, our house smells horrible and we feel so badly that he has to stay in there all the time and we are constantly cleaning and when he goes to the bathroom he tends to get it all over himself. We are trying everything we can think of and despite of it all he still seems happy. We are thinking of building him something outdoors but we are concerned about the winter weather and what it would cost to build something that is climate controlled (we are not wealthy people by any means). If someone can give me some advice or knows where we could find hime a good home I would greatly appreciate it.

[Hollie]

My St.Bernard Belle has been paralyzed in the back legs since April '05. We have worked with her hoping she'll regain use of her legs, we've seen some movement but have realized she probably won't walk again & are looking into getting a chair for her now. In regards to your question, this is how we have managed to keep things "clean" & are still figuring out what we will do in winter(we live in Nebraska). Thankfully we have an extended garage that the previous owners finished the back half into a room & this is where Belle stays. Because the room was large she was making a huge mess of herself & the room. We went & bought a truck/trailer mat & a doggy playpen to keep her from "traveling" too much. For us that was a life saver, & she still has room to get away from her soils. A similair setup might work for you in the laundry room. We have 3 old blankets that we constantly cycle through the wash that we put on top of the trailer mat. The mat is easy to clean up with just a washcloth & dries quickly. I use Orange Pine Sol dilluted in a spray bottle for clean up, it seems to cut the smell better than anything else I've tried. When winter comes we won't be able to take Belle outside to clean her up anymore, so our plan is to use the other part of the garage for clean up the best we can with the use of a space heater or garagae heater. We'll have to cross that bridge when it comes, just like everything else we've encounter on our journey with Belle. I hope this info might help in some way. I know the cleanliness part has been one of the most frustrating things for me to deal with. If you have any other questions, let me know or if you could provide some tips for me, I would greatly appreciate any feedback. Goodluck!

[critters]

Have you tried a diet that (hopefully) gives firm poops that are easier to deal with?

[Hollie]

We tried diapers with Belle, but she always seemed to get them off, FIRM poop definitely helps!

[CarolC]

<a href="http://www.joybies.com/pagedog.html">Joybies diapers that stay on</a>

<a href="http://www.yoyopetwear.ca/">Diaper coats</a>

I think Critters sometimes recommends putting the dog into a baby onesie (or something similar that comes in your dog's size) to keep diapers on.

I trust you have discovered the virtue of a "sanitary clip" where you take your dog to the vet and have them shave off all the area that get soiled from incontinence, on the bottom, legs, tail, abdomen. That is, if you haven't already shaved him down completely, which would be tempting.

[CarolC]

[Joanne]

i have a similar problem w/my dog, Simon. He 's in a wheelchair after disc rupture surgery 4 mos ago, and has sporadic control of bowels but poops according to his own secret schedule. he gets VERY upset when he poops inside, knowing it's bad, so I try to make things comfy (and preventative) for him:
1) crate mat that's foam w/nylon fabric cover on one side/sheepskin on the other. I have a stash of old sheets and towels, and cover the pad cover w/a sheet then a towel or two, tucking everything in well. If he poops on them, I rinse the spot in the toilet, and spray w/Oxyclean and put it into a trash bag awaiting weekly laundry). I also sometimes use the big wee wee pads, but they travel with movement and aren't always where you need them most.
2) I put up a folding crate wall to keep him in one area if I go out.(I'm in an apartment, so have no extra room or garage to put him into, not that I'd do that anyway- it would freak him out to be segregated from his humans).
i found that makng it too small (like just around his bed) gives him no room to scootch away from his poop if he goe and he will get it all over himself, necessitating a bath. So I fence off
1/2 of the room. He scootches off the bed onto the tarp, see below.
3) I put a nylon tarp over my rugs and all around and under his bed- easy to clean and if he scootches around does not irritate his butt area.
4) feed him a great anti- diahrreah diet: 1 white potato, 1 sweet potato, 1 slice white turnip, 2" leeks. all diced up small, simmer together for about 1 hour, cook ground beef or chicken w/it for flavor. he loves it, and it has done wonders making it firm and easier to clean. I mix this w/ Eukanuba lo-res dry food, and just started adding in some frozen raw beef patties by Stella and Chewy, available at my local pet store. i also keep the bisquits to something known- Mother Hubbard Lamb and rice bisquits- NO other brands. Also, raw carrots help to make the stool more firm, ground up and put into food, or given as a snack. Also try adding acididophilus powder into the food.
5) try to do "poop on demand". Use a light spray bottle, mixing chlorhexadine solution (disinfectant) w/water, and I spray his butt w/it. He puckers up his anus repeatedly, and if I do it enough (along w/ some very gentle stroking of the area w/a moist soft baby wipe), he poops on demand, onto a paper towel. It's not fun, but a lot better than picking up after an accident.
I learned this at the vet, as they had to change a dressing on his
butt from an abscess that happened soon after his surgery and had to be treated for almost TWO months. Every time they cleaned him, he pooped. Almost instant reaction.

[Pam (Riley's mom)]

Poop on demand. I'm going to try this because it'll be wonderful especially around the holidays (no more surprises for guests).

[Dianne]

This may be a subject that makes some people squeamish. If so, do NOT read on...

My doxie has been incontinent since February. Recently Critters posted something that made me think that I could also get my pup to "poop on demand".

I hold him with my left arm crook over the open lidded toilet with his backside facing the wall behind the toilet. Using my right hand, I form my fingers as if picking up a penny. Grasping the anus, I pull in an outward motion to stimulate the appearance of feces/aka "poop". Within 3 -5 grasping motions, he will present feces and they plop into the toilet. Neat, clean, no messy hands, and NO more poop in his bed overnight! (You quickly learn how to feel feces in the rectum.)

This has REALLY simplified my life. He can be expressed of bladder and NOW he can be expressed/forced to "poop on demand". AHHHHH.........

I suspect that you could also do this with a larger dog, but someone else will have to try it outside, and report.

Dianne

[CarolC]

This is exactly what I do, only I spread a layer of kleenex in the lavatory and hold her over that, then bundle up all the tissues when we're done.

[CarolC]

Sometimes I get messy hands, then I do my pinches with a kleenex in hand. (Don't put kleenex in the toilet, I found out the hard way it will clog the pipes eventually.)

[Marni]

I'm gonna give this a try with my doxie Simon. The poop in his bed overnight makes him nervous. I'll let you know how well we do.

[Dianne]

My dog weighs about 25 lbs. and is NOT too difficult to hold over the toilet. It would be interesting to see if it is possible to express feces from a much larger dog using this method. It sure would save a lot of messy clean up for owners.

I feel so stupid that I didn't do this MONTHS ago when we were cleaning, and cleaning. Geesch, do I feel dumb that it took so long to figure this out. Now we're thinking about putting our doxie in our bed under the covers where he is happiest. Life is almost "normal" again.

AHHHHHHHHHHH, Dianne

[CarolC]

I bet it would be a comfort for you to feel him under the covers in addition to him loving it. You must miss that. I was going to suggest one part of doing this with my dog is we go through the pinch drop pinch drop pinch drop routine and during it she sometimes works her feet as it seems to help her do whatever pushing she can. When we are done I wipe her with kleenex and set her on the carpet on her feet. There seems to be what I would almost call a "walk away reflex" that goes with expressing the bladder and the bowel. My dog took her first steps after being expressed. It is natural for a dog to walk away from their potty spot after they're done. Some will even run. You might see if you notice this with your dog. Instead of carrying him right back to his bed, set him down for a sec and wash your hands, see if he walks a step.

[BethT]

I do something similiar with Waffles (he is 55 pounds). Way back in the beginning I found out that when I would be cleaning him if there was still some stool in him that the rubbing motion over his anus would make his tail go up and more stool would come out. So now I do this all the time. I just gently but firmly rub his anus with tissue and if there is anything close to coming out it does. I also kind of push around the outside of his anus to help the stool come out. I just catch it in the tissues or a pee pad and flush. This does make life much easier.