Young lab recovering from ED surgery

[jojov]

Greetings to all. Your stories of compassion and patience bring tears to my eyes. God bless all of you for caring so much about these special pets to stand by them in their times of need. There are too many people that would not have the desire or the understanding to do what you all do.
With that said- I am in a bit of a predicament with my own "daughter" and could use a little guidance if anyone has any words of wisdom. I have an 8 month old female lab who is recovering from Elbow Dysplasia surgery fairly well. I got her at 12 weeks and by 15 weeks she was having trouble getting around. The signs and symptoms were so similar to HD that I really thought it was her hips. I was shocked to find out it was the other end! Anyway- the surgeon of course recommends physical therapy (water treadmill and such) but the facility is quite a hike (about 100 miles roundtrip) and quite costly for trips 2-3 times per week. I was trying to find some type of support for her front end- not to completely take her weight off the ground- but to support some of it so that we can start some therapy here, but there doesn't seem to be any such thing. And forget about slings and such- she weighs about 70 lbs and I just couldn't manage for the distances that we would need to go for any real therapy to begin. Not to mention, she is becoming quite overweight with each passing day since she can't get the exercise she needs and the only way I can think of to occupy a young lab for extended periods is to give her things to chew. Unfortunately, that is having an adverse effect on her recovery because excessive weight the worst thing any dog can have, especially an arthritic or joint problematic one!
So I guess my question is this: are there any designs for front end carts to just give some support- not take all the weight off? Anybody have any ideas on any other means of home therapy? And has anyone else had experience with ED surgery that can give me some idea of how well this surgery works in the long term? We are trying to do some short walks,but since she has been unable to go for walks for much of the time I've had her, she gets way too excited and pulls too much and I'm afraid that is doing more harm than good. This poor girl needs more in her life than laying around the living room and backyard!

[FYI]

http://www.doggon.com/products/frontwheel.html

http://www.eddieswheels.com/html/counterbalanced.html

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

What's your baby girl's name? I have two lab mixes, both busted to bupkiss. Labs, as you know, tend to be a little chunky and as you said, it is essential to keep excess weight off. Better trim than heavy. 60-80% of body weight carried by front legs. So if you can get some pounds off, and have you talked to doc about supplements? Can you get a 'brace' (go up top of page `products`) and see if there is something there that might prove useful? We look forward to hearing all about your baby!
WELCOME! Welcome Baby!

[CarolC]

It sounds like you are just going to need something temporary to support her, so maybe you could make a homemade cart to support her. Here are some examples of 4-wheel carts:

http://www.accg.com/s-neuro/link21.html

http://www.handicappedpets.com/gallery/ ... /index.htm

Here are other links for carts, mostly 2-wheel:

http://www.handicappedpets.com/HomemadeCarts.htm

For what it's worth, I'd say don't rule out driving her to PT entirely. I have been driving my dog to PT twice a week since February 2004 and we have a 40-minute drive one way. My dog walks on the underwater treadmill. However, you don't need a treadmill to do hydrotherapy, simple swimming would help. You might check around for pools, including horse pools. I know of one person whose dog did rehab in a pool at a horse hospital.

Also, here is a link to find facitlities with underwater treadmills. Maybe there will be a new one in your area your vet didn't know about, and you won't have to drive so far. Click FIND A PROVIDER in the blue box in the lower right corner of the webpage:

http://www.fernovetsystems.com/smallanimal/index.htm

[critters]

You might try Orthodogs, too. http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/orthodogs/

[jojov]

Dixie is my baby's name and she is the love of my life! (Don't tell my husband!) Dixie also has a husband- a healthy, crazy, male chocolate named Willie. He is also 8 months, from a different litter, and 5 days younger. At 8 months he is 91 lbs. The size of this dog almost frightens me. How much bigger can he get? On the brighter side, there are a lot of hayrides given in the fall around here- maybe I could find him a cart and make some extra money! (Just kidding.)
I do live very close to the beach and could take her swimming, but it's getting too cold for me and I don't think she'll go in alone for the first time. Plus, as I said, she gets so excited to go anywhere and I am afraid that that causes more harm than good having her pull me around. I just don't know how hard I can push her at this point. I guess that's where the P/T is really useful- they would be able to educate me on her limits and some home therapy. Hey, it's only time and money to make a happy life, right? I never should've hesitated in the first place and maybe seeing other people's stories was all I needed to realize that.
The links you have all provided are great and thanks so much for the replies. I will keep everyone posted as to her progress. I am a bit of a homebody and I can see that everyone here is no stranger to internet research, but I have spent endless hours researching HD, ED, and pet insurance that covers these conditions (thank God! Dixie's surgery has topped $5,000!) so if I can offer anything to anyone else- please be no stranger- I enjoy giving back!
Thanks all!

[CarolC]

I am a bit of a homebody and I can see that everyone here is no stranger to internet research, but I have spent endless hours researching HD, ED, and pet insurance that covers these conditions (thank God! Dixie's surgery has topped $5,000!) so if I can offer anything to anyone else- please be no stranger- I enjoy giving back!
Thanks all!

You might consider doing an article or two for the Handicappedpets wiki. There are no articles yet on HD, ED, or pet insurance. (You might have other areas of experience as well). Here is a link to Mark's message requesting articles:

http://www.handicappedpets.com/help/viewforum.php?f=23

[EDIT: Direct link viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6079]

Don't worry if you don't know all the wiki style stuff. If you can just write the text of an article and send it to him, he will make it into an article. Here is the wiki so far:

http://www.handicappedpets.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page