pet carts I build & give away

[Ricthewrench 1776]

I don't want to cause an issue with any cart makers but I do this for free. When our special little man Hershey the world's greatest mini weiner dog was in hospital I agonized Over being unable to fix him. So now I do this to help other dogs remain with their owners longer. It's about quality of life. if I am out of line offering the service I apologize, it is just what I do

[critters]

I don't think you're the first, as I recall. In fact, many of us, including me, have made our own carts and posted the directions. As far as I can tell, people from HP only come to these other boards when they're called.

[critters]

PS--You might want to post on the neuro board, too. You're most likely to be needed there for spinal cord injuries, as you know. I doubt anybody from the board of directors will mind, but that's a bridge to cross only if necessary. You might want to post some pics of your carts.

[Frankie]

We have a 6 week old kitten, her name is Frankie, and she was born with her two front feet being club feet. She is not very mobile, and we are interested in getting her front wheels. Don't know how that would work, but would love to hear your thoughts. Will send a picture, when I figure that out. Took her to the vet and she doesn't even weight 1 lb, she was 14.6 ounces. She is a love and we want to do all we can to help her!Frankie's Mommies

[Ricthewrench 1776]

I would be happy to try and get your friend mobile again. I have not done the front cart yet but I have many pictures and I am a shameless design copier with a full machine shop at my disposal. I will start researching this immediately, please send me a pic when you get one. I am making a cart for a Hawaiian rabbit at this time but that is not an issue I am on yours also.

[CarolC]

Will send a picture, when I figure that out. Took her to the vet and she doesn't even weight 1 lb, she was 14.6 ounces. She is a love and we want to do all we can to help her!Frankie's Mommies

Pictures would be very helpful!
Here is a link showing how to upload them, please ask if you have any problem.

http://handicappedpet.net/helppets/view ... =15&t=6764

Would love to see her!

[Frankie]

I tried to download to computer, didn't work. All my pictures are on my IPhone. I could possibly email you if you private message me. Would love to share pics. She has made some progress, it's almost if she had the thimbles you use to count money, she would do great. She just can't get traction, with her little army crawl that she does. Vet is worried she will get ulcerations....

[Ricthewrench 1776]

Let's go direct, off board. Ricthewrench 17 @ gmail is me.

[critters]

You can always use shoes on them, although with clubs custom shoes would probably be necessary. My Koi boy had contractures in his foot, so Tommy and Teddy's made him a shoe. http://tammyandteddys.com/ Koi was a cat; I tried to get them to make the Tammy and Teddy site more cat-inclusive.

[CarolC]

To tell the truth, a front wheelchair has varying success with dogs, but I have never ever heard of one for a cat. I think only a very unusual cat would put up with it, and I say that as a cat lover. More likely they would just scootch right out of it. I suppose you can try it, but I am guessing you will be expending time and effort and resources for something that ultimately will not be well accepted by the cat.

I would really like to see a picture of this kitten. Frankie, I sent you my email by private message so if you want to forward some pics I will get them posted.

There are a lot of cats with various front leg deformities such as radial hypoplasia and radial aplasia. Without seeing the photos it is hard to know how short her legs are or what is going on. If we can see the pictures it would help.

I am including a link to another topic about a kitten because it mentions how to keep the wraps on. I would say, you will have to be very careful if you are going to "wrap" the feet, you cannot afford to risk cutting off the circulation, which would be easy to do in the attempt to keep the wraps from slipping off. We had someone here one time whose cat had been declawed and the vet wrapped the paws too tight and they were facing amputation, you have to be careful.

I imagine the kitten will develop calluses with time. It might partly be a matter of letting them build up gradually and limiting playtime temporarily if they start to get too raw.

http://handicappedpet.net/helppets/view ... &hilit=roo

[critters]

SO true! Cats VERY seldom are willing to put up with stuff upon their personages.

Quite a few RH/RA cats learn to walk upright--like people. Some puppers do too.

[BendyMom]

is the club deformity fixed in place, or can you straighten her legs at all?
if you are able to straighten them, you can try bracing.
i have seen a few carts on facebook that are essentiall a hammock the cat's body rests on, which hangs from a frame about teh cat's height, which has a wheel on each corner. they seem to work well. many cats with forefoot deformities learn to get around on their hindlegs.

picts would be great if you can.

[Frankie]

Her front legs are straight,(no bend at elbow) then bend in at paw I sent some pictures to Carol, hopefully she will be able to post, so you will have better understanding. Frankie gets very frustrated trying to walk, but she is starting to climb. She currently sleeps in a cat carrier, with the top and front off, and when left there if she is hungry, she climbs the sides to try to get out. So she's trying.

[CarolC]

Great pics, here they are!

click to enlarge

[FYI]

http://messybeast.com/moggycat/rh-cats.htm

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2281&hilit=roo+kitten

http://www.ouradoptionstories.com/roospage.html