Help Needed: choosing a wheelchair

[Merry]

my 4 year old beagle had ruptured disc surgery and has no use of his hind legs. It will be 6 weeks Thursday since his surgery and we went to the vet today and we were told he has no deep pain sensation. They said we should get a cart for him and I dont know which one is better, k-9 or eddies wheels

[Leslie B.]

I'm not an expert, but also look at www.doggon.com. I checked their site last night. Looks like they are a caring company and make great carts. Good luck. Leslie B.

[Tinker's Mom]

Merry-

Keep the faith.

I've been down the same road for the past 6 months with my Beagle mix. We chose Eddie's Wheels and have been very happy with the cart. It's lightweight and well constructed and has served our needs well. And Leslie (Eddie's wife who does the bulk of customer service) has been very helpful with questions. BTW, in a bit of a twist, we also use the Doggon' Wheels rear harness (not while in the cart) for walking because that's what the hospital where Tinker had surgery issued to us- and it's worked out fine.

We also did hydrotherapy and acupuncture and 6 months later, Tinker walks funky- but he walks. In our case, 3 critical days went by between the time he went down and surgery, due to an initially incorrect diagnosis. Prior to surgery, he had "muted" DPS, but then regained it after surgery. However, I know of several very successful outcomes of dogs who didn't regain DPS for months, or never regained it, but the dog still learned how to walk using what's called "spinal walking".

Please feel free to email me if I can help with more info on the cart or anything else, plus you can visit Tinker's website for pictures and his story.



Tinker's Story

[Tinker's Mom]

Here's an overhead view of Tinker in his cart (BTW, this is a more recent photo from early July- notice how his hair had grown back in. The first pic was probably taken in March or April, within the first couple of months after surgery.) In this picture you can see the back "stirrups" which are more like bars padded with neoprene in a cart this small (Tinker is only 21-1/2 lbs.).

The main difference in the construction of carts from various companies is whether it is a "fixed" hard saddle style (which Eddie's is) or a "sling" style saddle. The Doggon' Wheels rear harness that we use to walk Tinker is actually the same sling saddle that would attach to a Doggon' Wheels cart if we had selected that one instead.

For info and pictures of the Doggon' Wheels sling-style cart used by Murphy, another Beagle who successfully underwent IVDD surgery and recovery (and Tinker's hero), you can visit Murphy's World at http://murphysworld.jaisp.com/.

Tinker in Eddie's Wheels Cart (overhead view)

[Tinker's Mom]

For some reason, the link isn't working. Try cutting and pasting this to see the picture:

http://image48.webshots.com/49/9/25/71/ ... YYu_ph.jpg

[Weeble's :o~ mom Beth]

Merry~ I too am getting a cart for my chi/min pin x,who has CP . I am going with Eddie's Wheels, getting a quad cart. Had gone with k9 carts but had problems & sent it back. Have spoken to both Leslie & her hubby Eddie, who makes the carts. Both are very caring people. Had sent them pictures & Eddie called me & spent about an hour on the phone with me discussing my puppers case. You might ask if they have a payment plan. Am excited to ge my puppers new cart ordered....fingers crossed that this cart will help him as the other one did not.

[cindy]

Your beagle sounds very much like what we are experiencing currently with our Rottie, all 120 lbs of him (or prior to surgery, he is at 105 now).He had deep pain prior to surgery, huge bulging disc, surgery within 24 hrs of going down. Its been 4 weeks and he can stand on his own for quite awhile, if we put his legs in position. Occassionally he will position them himself and stand and take a couple steps or semi stand. He has full bowel and bladder control. Never lost bowel, but did lose some bladder control for about 1 1/2 weeks after surgery. We have a pool so he swims everyday with me for about 20 minutes. He wears a life jacket, he hates the water. He too has more feeling and pain on his right side but is stronger on left side, vet cannot tell me why. I do physical therapy with him a couple times a day, the bicycle excercise and use a deep heat massager on him. I am thinking of getting him a cart just to help out on my back, but people tell me that if I put him in a cart, he will quit trying to use his back legs, which while walking him on the behind lift strap, he does move his legs, but this right toes are still terribly buckled, and his left toes every once in awhile. Is there a walker that will make him use his legs while he is in it. Any suggestions or advice you can give me in helping with his therapy would be greatly appreciated. The local vet who does acupuncture does not feel as though he can help him any. Do you think B12 injections would help. I work for a general practitioner vet and can easily administer those on my own. Thank you...and much love to Tinker and Virgina.

[CarolC]

Doggon' Wheels or Eddie's Wheels are two good choices.

Here is a link to Wonderpuppy.net. You can click on FINDING THE PERFECT CART and also other helpful info.

<a href="http://www.wonderpuppy.net/copper/">Wonderpuppy finding the perfect cart</a>

[Tinker's Mom]

With Tinker, we had him on steroids and complete rest for the first 4 weeks post-surgery. If you are only at 4 weeks, 20 minutes of swimming is an awful lot of movement very early. Did you have him on complete rest at all? Is he still on steroids?

We didn't start acupuncture or hydrotherapy for 4-5 weeks- wanted him to rest and the stitches to come out first. (This lack of movement caused quite a bit of atrophy in his hind quarters, which was eventually built back up by hydrotherapy.) So, if you're just at that point with your dog, take it easy and let him heal at his own pace. And, I would suggest keeping a diary and pictures of his progress- on tough days, it really does help to look back and see how far you've come.

I do not agree with people who say using a cart will make your dog "lazy" or not use his rear legs. That has not been our experience. What it did was to allow him to lift his spirits by becoming more mobile earlier. Especially with a larger dog, it will not only spare your back, but allow him some independence and the opportunity to feel "normal". Tinker didn't use the stirrups much, and you could see his legs start to move. As he got stronger, we lowered the height of the cart to make him do more of the work and put weight on the legs. We also used the rear harness for controlled leash walking, and didn't rely solely on the cart.

As for the acupunture, we found it helpful in conjunction with the B12 and did it weekly for the first 6 months. If the pratitioner you consulted with didn't think your dog would benefit, you may want to consider getting a 2nd opinion. (see the directory at www.ivas.org for acupuncturists in your area). Our rehab tech tells us that she sees the greatest improvement with IVDD dogs who do the combination of hydrotherapy and acupuncture.

Because the field of canine rehab is in its infancy, sometimes it's tough finding the right practitioners who are open minded and have experience. The vet you work for may have limited knowledge about rehab and IVDD, but he may know of other resources (other vets or specialists or rehab centers) that can help- keep asking around. You are being proactive and asking the right questions- good luck and keep us posted on his progress!

[SandyNY]

Have you looked at the braces??? They would keep the feet in the proper position and not allow them to turn under. When I had porkchop, money was too tight to purchase new braces for a dog who was never going to walk again. So, a wonderful little boy gave me a pair of his that he had had when he was smaller. ( with Spiderman on them, none the less) I would put them on Porkchop for short periods of time while lying about the house at first. Let him get used to them.

[SandyNY]

http://www.handicappedpets.com/splints/


foot splints

[cindy]

Excellent Idea, thank you. I will look into them. I hate seeing those feet knuckled under and hopefully the braces could help that.

[cindy]

Thank you for your information. Our surgeon had us start him on hydrotherapy right after the staples came out, with was roughly two weeks after surgery. He had us doing "towel" walking after a few days, but because of his size, he did not want us to let him rest too long. He probably had about one week of solid rest, that's it, then I started the bicycling with him. Hes a strong dog, massive muscle amounts in the front end, and was anxious to start moving pretty quick. We took it easy as long as we sensed that he had some pain, but that was pretty well gone in about 2 weeks. When I say hes in hydrotherapy for 20 minutes, that's altogether, not a solid workout. We do his swimming and then we do some resting with his front legs on the top steps and bottom feet on the lowest step and push on his hips in small up and down movements. Today when I came home from work, he greeted me while standing. He is not and has not been on any steroids so far. Today, I did talk with the vet about B12 injections, which we are going to start and another injection, which is probably some type of steriod, but I forget the name. The acupunturist told me that only if he had pain that needed to be relieved would the acupuncture work. I don't know of another in this area, but will call around. I appreciate you advise on the cart, as that was my theory too, but my vet told me today she felt he would be walking soon with the progress he has made so hold off on the cart. The behind lift that we ordered from Calif has been a backsaver. Now, after we get him hooked up in it, he helps lift himself pretty well, and he also stands on his own and walks fairly decent with it, we just more or less steady him.
I will keep you posted on his progress. Thank you again.

Cindy

[Judy]

My 22lb. terrier mix has been in K9Kart for 3 years and I am very pleased with all of their products.

[Winnie]

My Blanche is a 16 year old collie mixed and has immense difficulty in using her hind legs. I have decided to get her a wheelchair and have tried to find on the internet articles/discussion boards/forum on comparisons between the different carts but there are not many.

I am thinking of getting an Eddies Wheel. Anyone here has any adverse comments on their products? Many many thanks !