pet carts I build & give away

[CarolC]

Movie!

[The extension mov has been deactivated and can no longer be displayed.]

[BendyMom]

love the movie. it was very helpful
i'm wondering if something is also up with her hips.
i would have expected her to be standing on her hind legs more or moving her hind legs more.

if she were my kitty i wodl do physical therapy with her hind legs. move them through the range of motion, tickle her belly to encourage her to rabbit kck , i do what i call "kitten-ups' where i support their belly and have them standing with their weight just on their hind legs. lower them slowly, then lift them, starting out with very little weight on teh hind legs, repeat about 10 times. over the days I incrase the amount of weight supported by the hind legs.

i've seen the stories of many front-limb deformed or injured kittens that learn to hop on their hind legs.

[critters]

Cute little redhead!!

[caumlaurie@yahoo.com]

Hi, I have a 4.6lb tiny chiuahua who has just been diagnosed by the vet with 2 rear displaced pattela's and 2 torn acl's. The said she needs a wheelchair with a place to put her back feet in so they dont drag the ground and get injured. I am in desperate need of a wheelchair as we can't afford one until next month. In the mean time we are carrying her every where and assisting her(holding her hips in place) while she goes potty. She is 8years old and other wise in good health.
Any help or suggestions would be most greatly appreciated.
Laurie

[CarolC]

She is so small carrying her is probably easiest. Another option is to tie a long soft scarf around her waist and use it for a sling. You can see an illustration here:

http://www.fourfurfeet.com/2003-page2.html

An even simpler idea is, take a leash designed for a big dog, the kind of leash that is an inch wide. Put her hindquarters through the loop handle so the loop is around her waist, then you hold the end of the leash that has the clip and use the leash to assist her. When the dog is this small, there is not much weight on the loop and it should not bother her tummy if you have it situated where the tummy meets the thigh.

[caumlaurie@yahoo.com]

Thank you carol, very much for your suggestions, it doesnt bother us carrying her around as she is just a bundle of joy to us , just concerned her being inactive(not walking/excersing) might cause muscle loss/weakness, will try the sling. I most sincerely appreciate your help !
Laurie

[CarolC]

OK, let me give you a tip...? If you are planning to really walk her for exercise, not just to potty, you may want to protect her hind feet because from time to time her nails will touch the sidewalk if you lower her a bit too much with the scarf while walking. If they scrape the pavement enough times, eventually there will be some wear to the nails. You might have noticed it looks like my dog is wearing little socks in the illustration.

If your dog is like mine, boots will not stay on her little feet with slender ankles. So I recommend vet wrap. It is the colorful self adhesive stretch bandage you can buy at the vet for about $3 a roll. It's the same stuff they use to hold a cotton ball in place after a blood draw. Cut about 7" of vet wrap, wrap it LOOSELY around the foot without stretching it. Then fold the whole foot in your hand and squeeze. The vet wrap will gum onto itself and your dog will be wearing a little custom fitted sock. And you know you are not cutting off the circuation because you did not stretch it. In my experience you can reuse the piece of vet wrap once, then you have to cut a new piece. I did a video of applying vet wrap a few years ago. I don't think I have it uploaded but I can upload it to YouTube if you need to see what I mean.

[caumlaurie@yahoo.com]

Thanks Carol and yes the vet was very concerned about her back feet dragging as its natural reflex for a dog to put its feet down to walk. The vet said to avoid her possibly injuring her legs she will need some sort of "pouch" to place her rear legs in. Thank you again, appreciate it !

[CarolC]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF7EitQ4DKw

I uploaded the video. It is not the best video we have done but it demonstrates the technique of putting vet wrap on without stretching it. You can see at the end I tug on the toes to demonstrate it stays on in spite of tugging, and it does. The secret is to be sure a little is wrapped on the ankle up above the foot maybe 3/4" or so. (You may not want to tug the toes on your dog with her knee issues.)

This amount of vet wrap will protect her feet for a long walk on pavement or grass, and then another long walk the next day. In my experience the reason you can't keep reusing one piece indefinitely is it gets dusty from walking and then it does not want to stick to itself anymore. But you should be able to unwrap it after the first walk and put it in the drawer and use those pieces one more time. I used to be able to get wider vet wrap designed for horses when PetsMart had an equine department. The same number of feet of vet wrap on the roll cost only a little more than the size you see here, but I could cut it in half lengthways so it would be the same width as you see in the video, and it was like one roll lasted twice as long for about the same price. If you see wider vet wrap at a feed store or someplace, get some!

[Christine]

What a precious little love this kitten is! I love the picture of her sitting up with her tummy showing. So glad you came here... you are hearing from some of the most caring and knowledgeable people on the planet!

[Frankie]

Just an update on Frankie... She is perfectly healthy, happy little girl! We have figured out what works for her. (We use puppy pads instead of litter, landing pads so she doesn't hurt herself jumping off of things) She jumps up and down off the furnature, runs around like a crazy girl, and explores a little more every day! As far as we can tell, she is a very well adjusted cat, just looks a little different! #clubfootedkitty

[critters]

My baby boy uses pee pads, too. I can live with that!

[kitty_hope]

I may need ur services though hoping for the best vet said worst case scenario is front legs not working on a 6 week old kitten i wrestled from a dogs mouth. Shes on pain meds and cant walk but her back legs are okay vet said we both notice the front left one not moving. Shes eating but has 2 days to poop before can be cleared he is hoping is only a bruised spine xray showed no broken bones but she cries when she moves. Vet said she will for sure live but front keg movility uncertain. Any advice is welcomed it breaks my heart that she cant get up when she tries. Shes safe inside now and i work at home so...she will always have me near...i pray she walks again.

[BendyMom]

give her time, she ha a lot of soft-tssue trauma. it needs to settle down and as it does she will regain function. at 6 weeks hopefully she will heal quickly. I have cared for larger cats that were shaken by dogs who just lay still for days then slowly started movng around again adn were eventually fine. Recovery is certainly possible. thank you for giving her a chance!

[kitty_hope]

do u know if healthy appitite is a good thing is not pooping? its only the second day vet said needs to by monday evening, i read about pumpkin, and syringing warm water in rectum i put petroleum jelly on it to take temp which is still a degree low, and i put a lil extra hoping may help her. she has to poop if doesnt by wed morning i can take her for an enema, thtd be 4 days, and she does eat more than they expected and has peed im so so worried. her little legs shake sometimes and sometimes flex and move without shaking. when she cries i reposition her and she purrs, she also licks herself alot, all good signs, yes? really alert, even with pain meds, but she cant walk