Help for Lovable Lola

Neurological Disorders Resources. Treatment and care for pets having pain or trouble walking or standing due to spinal injuries or neurological disorders like IVDD, FCE and DM.
lmayhugh
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Help for Lovable Lola

Post by lmayhugh »

Hi everyone...I am also new to this forum. My Lola was recently hit by a car on March 16th. Thank God her back was not broken, but she has a ruptured disk and is paralyzed from the waist down. (Also has a large laceration on her hind leg which is healing nicely). We chose to have her treated medically instead of surgery because there is no guarantee of success. Our vet is treating her with high potency anti-inflammatory meds, chiropractic adjustments, laser theapy and electro-acupuncure treatments. Within the first week, she started to slightly move her tail (maybe an inch or two) from side to side - when she would go poop (only)...then a day later she would raise her tail straight and move it up & down (when going poop only), then a couple of days later when she did that, she actually would wag her tail!!! (but again...only when she is having a bowel movement). The pain test on her toes - she has some thigh muscle movement, but we are told that could be that "Arc nerve" that goes up to the lower back. Now when she wants to go to the bathroom, she tries to get up, I will hold her back end up, then she goes...if it is in the middle of the night, then she will just lay there and go. I have been asked if she goes pee all at once...or does it just leak out? Well, she does both! What does this mean? Does she have control or not? In the middle of the night, she actually whines, and wakes me up to let me know that she is wet. My other question is that all she wants to do now...is drag herself EVERYWHERE! So we have purchased a pen to keep her in a contained area so not to worry about her getting into trouble. But what do other people do with their dogs around the house when their dogs want to get around? How do you protect their knees, or underside from rubbing raw? We are getting a cart for her next week - thats great for a hour or so, but what about the rest of the time? Thanks...Laura
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Re: Help for Lovable Lola

Post by Bobbie »

What kind of dog is Lola? My corgi does use his cart around the house (also drags when he isn't in it.) But bigger dogs may have more trouble using a cart inside.

I would say if she is leaking she does not have control, but sometimes her bladder probably releases it all at once because it is overfull.
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lmayhugh
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Re: Help for Lovable Lola

Post by lmayhugh »

Bobby...She is a Valley Bull Dog - a cross between an English Bull dog and a Boxer. (I don't know if I did it right, but there is a picture of her at the bottom). Yea, I don't know how she is going to do with the cart...I will find out next weekend! I hope it works, cause all she wants to do is walk around with us like before!!! I am thinking about diapers for her, but I don't know about disposable or washable. I read a little online, seems like the disposable ones don't work very well. I'm really just trying to find out a way for her to get around the house comfortably without rubbing herself raw or damaging her chances of re-gaining the use of her legs! Plus we love to go to the beach and I know the cart will do ok there, but she can't be in it all the time! Can she drag herself through the sand without sand getting into places it shouldn't be????
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lmayhugh
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Re: Help for Lovable Lola

Post by lmayhugh »

Question for all of you who have a paraplegic dog...what do you do with your dog while you are at work? Does your dog stay in the house or locked up? How do you handle the bathroom issues? Or the getting around on their own -issues?...Please help with answers! Thank you.
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CarolC
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Re: Help for Lovable Lola

Post by CarolC »

Hi, Laura! I moved your topic to Paralysis forum where more people are likely to see it.

I have a paralyzed dog and I work full time. I have found it is better to contain her while I am at work, and let her out when I am home and can monitor her and be sure she is not getting sores from dragging around too much. Some people who have normal dogs (not paralyzed) have them crate-trained and keep them in a crate while they are at work, so that is kind of what I do with my dog who has rear paralysis. The only difference is, Katie is small so I do not use a crate, she has a playpen. It has a padded mattress covered with a soft mattress cover, then she has a warm blanket to burrow into, and her water dish. When I come home for lunch, she goes out in the back yard in the grass and it does not hurt her because it is only for the lunchhour. Then I put her back in her playpen during the afternoon, where she stays till I get home from work. In the evening she is either out in the grass, or inside on the carpet (or on my lap). At night she sleeps in a different playpen upstairs, with a similar mattress cover and blanket and water dish. By doing it this way, she does not scrape up her toes/hips/etc., yet she gets to enjoy the grass and being out in the playroom. The way we handle pottying is, I express her when we wake up, again at lunch, again when I get home from work, and finally at bedtime. She does not need a diaper.

I have another dog who is partially paraylzed and dribbles urine all day. She sleeps at night in a playpen with no diaper. In the morning I take her downstairs and feed her in her downstairs playpen. Then during the day she wears a diaper with an absorbent pad and is out playing on the carpet in the morning, outdoors in the grass at lunch, back inside on the carpet during the afternoon, back out in the yard after work, and back inside from then till bedtime. They both eat dinner in their playpens. I take her diaper off when I put her in her playpen to have dinner, and leave it off the rest of the night. That way her skin stays healthy.

I don't live near a beach, but I suspect sand would be pretty abrasive for her skin. The thing you need to find out is, how much will she actually drag around at the beach. I do not worry about my dog being out in the backyard for several hours at a time because she mainly finds a place in the sun and sunbathes without dragging around a lot. Or she'll lie on the mat by the back door. If your dog is happy to go to the beach and lie on a beach blanket with you, it shouldn't hurt a bit. As for sand getting in private places, yes, that could happen. At least once a week when I express my dog, I will notice tiny bits of debris with the urine, which is grass/dirt from the yard. That is why it is always good to express her right when she comes inside, in case you need to express out any bits of foreign matter.

It sounds like your dog has some bladder control but I can't say for sure. If you are doing what is called "conservative treatment" for a disk injury (no surgery) then here are a couple of helpful articles on how to do that. Dragging around right now would be considered off limits while the disk is healing. Hope this helps.

http://www.dodgerslist.com/literature/conservative.htm
http://www.dodgerslist.com/literature/CrateRRP.htm

:pastel:
lmayhugh
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Re: Help for Lovable Lola

Post by lmayhugh »

Wow Carol...Thank you for all of the wonderful information! I don't know about crate training Lola, she (nor any of my dogs) have ever been crated before. We have never tied up, locked up or anything like that to our dogs. They have always had a dog door so that they could come and go as they pleased. And she is 60lbs so she would have to be cramped in a pretty big crate. My husband & I both work about 30 min. out of town, so we can't come home for lunch :( But maybe we can come up with a pen of some sort to keep her in.

What type of diapers work best? And do they all need separate pads put inside? Disposable or washable are best? I appreciate all the advise! Thank you!
lmayhugh
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Re: Help for Lovable Lola

Post by lmayhugh »

In addition to the diaper question....Has anyone out there experienced a situation likes mine where Lola has a ruptured disc, (also a couple of broken transverse process(?) bones), which has caused her paralysis. We did NOT have surgery, but are doing several other therapies. I was wondering if anyone has an idea on the amount of time I am probably looking at on how long recovery can take, or if anyone had the same thing and had full recovery? or never recovered? How long till we just KNOW, that she may not get better?
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CarolC
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Re: Help for Lovable Lola

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lmayhugh wrote:Wow Carol...Thank you for all of the wonderful information! I don't know about crate training Lola, she (nor any of my dogs) have ever been crated before. We have never tied up, locked up or anything like that to our dogs. They have always had a dog door so that they could come and go as they pleased. And she is 60lbs so she would have to be cramped in a pretty big crate. My husband & I both work about 30 min. out of town, so we can't come home for lunch But maybe we can come up with a pen of some sort to keep her in.

With a big dog like that, the idea of the exercise pen you already bought is better than crating. If you decided to use a crate, you would strain her back putting her into it and taking her out. With the x-pen, you can just open a section and walk in. You have done the right thing getting a pen, in my opinion. I would just keep using the x-pen while at work as long as she is still dragging. She will get used to it, and you will fine tune it to be the optimum setup.

What type of diapers work best? And do they all need separate pads put inside? Disposable or washable are best? I appreciate all the advise! Thank you!

This is one of those things that is trial and error, at least that's my experience. When I adopted my dog, her foster mom had already found diapers that fit her well. They are a simple denim cover similar to this http://handicappedpets.com/www/index.ph ... hable.html, goes on with velcro, and I put a pad inside. You will probably have to try several types of pads to find the best ones. To tell the truth, I ended up taking quite a few barely-opened packages of incontinence pads and feminine hygiene pads to my workplace and putting them under the bathroom sink (in case anyone needed one :blush: ) because I kept getting pads I wasn't satisfied with for my dog. I can't tell you the best kind because your dog is a different size than mine. The thing I've found that is important is, when you put the pad in the diaper, the place where moisture is going to enter the pad (ie. the spot her female area contacts the pad) is close to the tail hole and therefore close to the edge of the pad. There are pads that taper the thickness of their filling, because they are designed for humans. They are made with more thickness in the center of the pad, tapering down to less thickness at the edge. Of course, that would make it more comfortable and less visible for a human, but it results in less thickness where your dog needs it. Poise is bad this way (but good if you're a human :) ). I find the Wal-Mart brand of incontinence pads, with the brand name "Options", that come in a hot pink plastic wrapper, are nice and bulky near the edge and do a great job. With a dog your dog's size, I'd get the maximum absorbency you can buy. I used to use Serenity Ultimate for my male dog and they were very absorbent, but I do not remember how much they tapered at the edge...he was a boy so he needed his absorbency in the center of the pad like a human.

Whatever brand of pads you buy, you really need to do something *one* time, and that is run your fingertips across the surface of the pad after your remove it, to see how much actual wetness can be felt on the surface. The good pads lock the moisture in some kind of gel crystals (or something) and the surface where it contacts the skin is pretty dry. Regular pads will keep moisture against her skin constantly and she is likely to get diaper rash or even an oozing raw area.

But going back to the frustration of diapers, it comes down to sizing, which is why it is difficult to recommend a brand of diapers, unless you have a dog with the same body type. My dog wore out her original diapers and when I went to buy replacements, the company had changed the sizing, making them very long waisted so they did not fit her. Finally I found some close-outs by the case and stocked up. You are probably just going to have to try different brands till you find what fits, and it may cause some frustration. If you put a pad in them before trying them on her, hopefully you will be able to return them if they don't fit. It's just like humans, we cannot all go to the store and buy the same brand of jeans because we are shaped differently.

The other thing, the diaper in the picture I attached is not good because the tail hole is too small. (Those were temporary diapers we used till we got good ones.) With a female dog, in my opinion, you want the stools to drop out of the diaper, not stay in the diaper where fecal germs contact the female area, because you do not want to risk infections. So I would look for a diaper that has a big enough tail hole. Aaargh, hope this helps. Here is a brand I have not tried, but I have always admired them because they address the issue of different body types, even having one called "squatty body".

http://www.seasonals.com/order-now.html?size=medium

The other thing (this is turning into a dissertation) is keeping the diapers on. My dog keeps her diaper on 98% of the time but some dogs scoot out of the diaper. If your dog scoots out of the diaper, please post here for many ideas on how to keep the diaper on. Hope this helps! :D

lmayhugh wrote:In addition to the diaper question....Has anyone out there experienced a situation likes mine where Lola has a ruptured disc, (also a couple of broken transverse process(?) bones), which has caused her paralysis. We did NOT have surgery, but are doing several other therapies. I was wondering if anyone has an idea on the amount of time I am probably looking at on how long recovery can take, or if anyone had the same thing and had full recovery? or never recovered? How long till we just KNOW, that she may not get better?

Well, this is another area where there is no set answer. There is so much variation, even a specialist cannot predict this. My dog's physical therapist says that as far as bladder control goes, you need to give it at least 3 months to see if it will return, but 6 months to be sure, and that whatever you have at 6 months is pretty much what you're going to have. However, there was a dog on this message board that began to have bladder control at 10 months post injury.

The same is true of walking, no sure timeframe. The only thing you can depend on is, it will not come back all at once. Recovery from paralysis is by baby steps, tiny signs of additional ability, and all those tiny, miniscule improvements eventually add up. My dog had a spinal fracture (complete break) with no deep pain sensation whatsoever. They discovered deep pain at 149 days (almost 5 months) and by 6 months she still could not urinate but she could help me when I expressed her. At 9 months she was taking her first steps, and eventually she became able to walk 1/4 mile, which is a long way for a small dog. There have been people here with dogs with disk injuries that began to walk after weeks, after months, and even after years. I think the record I know of is a dog that stood up for the first time after 4 years. So I realize, this is both good news and bad news to someone with a newly paralyzed large dog. You immediately think, "I can't do this for 4 years, I don't know if I can do it for 4 months!" The way it happened with me was, I kept doing PT with my dog and I had already long ago given up any hope that she would walk when...she began to. So what you do is make the adjustments (such as diapers and using a pen when you're not home) and you fall into a routine that works for you, and if she recovers the ability to walk that's wonderful, but in the meantime, you already have a lifestyle that works. If it is possible to be optimisitic without being impatient, that would be ideal. You have to know in your heart, because it is true, that every day her nerves are healing a tiny bit more, even though she looks much the same. With my dog, I could maybe, if I really stretched my imagination, convince myself she had improved a teeny bit about every 6 weeks, I would call the pace of recovery glacial...but she did begin to walk eventually. There is an article cited on this message board about the regeneration of nerves, nerves do regenerate but they do it very slowly. The purpose of PT is to help make the most of that recovery. However, as said before, when you have a dog recovering from a disk injury, you must do strict crate rest now, and save PT for later. The only thing that would be considered safe would be passive range of motion and only under the guidance of your vet. Some people do not think even that is safe while the disk is healing.

You mentioned getting a cart. The cart company I dealt with did not recommend putting the dog in a cart until 6 weeks post-injury, to allow time to heal. With a big dog, I think you have to decide based on what is the least stress for the dog. If putting the dog in a cart is less physical stress for the dog than using a sling, then it is better, or if you simply are not capable of supporting the large dog with a sling for very long. A cart will support the dog and hopefully keep her back aligned, but I would be extremely careful when you put her into it and take her out, to keep the stress on her injury to a minimum. This is where people with small dogs have an easier time, it is easy to move the dog in a controlled fashion if it is small, harder if you really have to heave the dog.
Diaper_sm[1].jpg
lmayhugh
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Re: Help for Lovable Lola

Post by lmayhugh »

Carol.....Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!!!! What a wealth of information! Having the support from someone who has experienced something similar...is amazing! And I appreciate the advise on the diaper situation, I never thought about making sure the hole is big enough for poop to fall out! I have read other things about diapers saying how well their diaper holds the poop in! But you're right! It makes sense (for the female). We got our cart yesterday, but now after reading your post, we are a little nervous about using it so soon. The one we bought (used), is the "Walkin' Wheels" one, so it is completely adjustable so she can use it while she is paralyzed, and use it as a "walker" as she starts to re-gain the use of her legs (I pray)! But then again, not sure, since we are only 3 weeks after the injury at this point - It's just that right now, she is "stir crazy"!!! and starting to drag herself everywhere and we can only stop her so much! So we figured maybe it was time to start looking into a cart so she can feel a little more "normal". OMG!!!! By the way...Yesterday I spoke to a patient we had at our office ( I am an orthodontic assistant) and she told me about a neighbor of hers that used a lady that did actual "accupunture" on her dog (who fell out of bed and couldn't walk after that) Her vet told her that he needed surgery to correct the problem- this woman does humans, but she also does ALL kinds of animals as well - anyway apparently after one treatment her dog could walk again, after two treatments he could walk normal and after 5 he was running and jumping as usual!!...wow...I'm considering calling her! Couldn't hurt I guess, right? Anyway, Thank you for all of your wonderful advise and support!!!
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slshepherds
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Re: Help for Lovable Lola

Post by slshepherds »

Hi Laura

I'm Joanne and I have a 3 yr old, 65lb, paralyzed Lab, Crazy Carl, who I adopted as a down dog 14 months ago. You ask about urination - where is Lola's injury? The level of the injury will help answer that question. Basically dogs with spinal cord injuries have either an upper motor neuron bladder (a lot of tone) or a lower motor neuron bladder (no tone). Carl's injury is at L3 and he has an upper motor neuron bladder, meaning he has a lot of bladder tone and is unable to urinate on his own, although when his bladder is full it can overflow. The nice thing about this is that I can express Carl fully 4 times a day and then leave him without a diaper. If he had an injury at L4 or lower he would have a lower motor neuron bladder with no tone and would just dribble all the time.

Carl has very good reflexes in his hindlimbs, but they are just that, reflexes. If I pinch his toes he reflexively pulls his leg back (but doesn't respond to the feeling of the pinch)and if I push on the bottom of his feet, another reflex causes him to push back against me. Now having said this ... Carl has been paralyzed for 2 years and suddenly over the past few months I have seen changes that show he has some signals "getting through". Carl can now almost push himself into a standing position and he wags his tail, especially when he is excited. This just shows that you should never give up hope.

Carl too is very active - so much so that he is on his third wheelchair! Foot care is a problem from time to time as Carl has pushed past me and got outside, running round the yard tearing the top of his feet. Inside I don't have a problem - I have some carpet and some vinyl and neither damage his feet. The way Carl moves only his feet drag, his knees are off the ground. Carl has boots (Ruff Wear GripTrex put on back to front are the only one's that can stand up to Carl) that he wears outside when he is in his cart. I used to have his legs suspended in his cart, but now find that his legs move if left down, so down they stay!

Diapers - I'm lucky having a boy :-) I use a size 5 diaper placed round Carl's abdomen with a male wrap securing it in place. The diaper is enough to hold about 6 hours worth of urine. I also stimulate Carl to poop twice a day, putting a qtip with vaseline on just inside his anus and moving it round. Doing this twice a day means I don't come home to poop smeared everywhere.

Carl used to have access to the downstairs of the house with my other dogs, but unfortunately has started having seizures so is now kept separately in my bedroom (one of the other dogs attacks him when he has a seizure). I have a comforter on the floor, but I usually find Carl lying on the tile floor in the bathroom! Carl is crate trained but I like him to have more room. Now if he had a new injury he would be crated until everything was healed.

Hope Lola continues to do well.

Joanne and Carl
Joanne
Carl, Tiny, Freckles (paralyzed Lab, mix and Red Heeler)
Sam I Am (Lymphoma, Lab)
Eli, Aoibhe, Tesla (limb deformities, GSDs and Lab mix)
Mochridhe (storage disease, GSD)

http://www.straightlegshepherds.org
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lmayhugh
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Re: Help for Lovable Lola

Post by lmayhugh »

Hi Joanne...Sorry it took me so long to get back to you, I was waiting to find out from my vet exactly where Lola's injury was. She fractured several of her transverse process bones between L3 and L5 and so rupturing a disc somewhere inbetween there. When the accident occured they originally only took a general x-ray just to see if she broke her back, so they weren't really checking (up close) at the time for disc issues. Although they mentioned tonight that they can do some more x-rays now and see if we have any changes. We go to the vet on a weekly basis now for a bandage check, chiro, laser & electro-accupunture theapy. As far as her urine, having the injury where it is, she seems to have control (I think), because she goes on a pad several times a day (she used to go all at once at times but then dribble at times also, but she no longer dribbles). She also will go a bunch when we lift her to move her from room to room (either with a towel or by our hands).
I'm not sure what to think about the diaper thing yet. I tried the size 6 disposable diaper and it barely fits! But after reading the great advise that Carol gave me about making sure if using diapers, that the tail hole is large enough that the poop falls out - don't want that near her "female" area!!! So true! but then I really don't want to have to clean that up either. I'm just really frustrated about this subject, because I think there are going to be times where diapers are needed (like visiting someones house or traveling somewhere important etc). But I just don't know what is the best way to go. so for now I am trying your advise and started the Qtip thing yesterday and so far it has worked great! Although, I'm just not sure sometimes when to stop stimulating her...Not sure when she is actually done!
Lola pulls herself around on her knees with her legs dragging behind. Do you know of anything that would help protect her knees (or inside her thighs) from rubbing raw)? It hasn't quite happened yet, but I'm afraid that it is just around the corner. By the way...she loves her wheelchair! I can't believe Carl has gone through 3 of them! How does he do that? She has only been it in 3 times so far, we are giving her some time to get used to pulling the weight! But she LOVES to go outside and just "GO"! Thank you for all you advise! Laura & Lola
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slshepherds
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Re: Help for Lovable Lola

Post by slshepherds »

Hi Laura

Diapers are so much easier on boys than girls as you basically use them like sanitary napkins wrapped round their abdomens. If size 6's are too small you may need to think of something like childrens sleep pants or adult depends. When I first started with Carl I bought small packs of many types of diapers before i found the right ones for Carl.

What you describe about Lola urinating makes me wonder if she actually has control or if what you are seeing as her urinating is just her bladder getting so full that it overflows. When I got Carl, his previous owners described the same thing but he has no control. What you might want to try is feeling Lola's bladder at least twice a day and seeing how big it is. When Carl's is large it is about the size of a naval orange, after being expressed I can't feel it at all. If you need help with expressing there are links and videos around the board that I can find for you to watch.

In the house rubbing is not a problem for carl, it is only when he slips past me and gets outside that he damages the skin on his legs. I actually made him some leg protectors with soft foam pipe insulation and velcro - I'll try and find some photos I took. they worked well, I just don't need them any more as carl is much better about being in his cart.

How does Carl break his cart? ... Carl has no idea that he should be any slower or more careful than his able bodied brothers and sisters. he runs like the wind, makes hairpin turns and thus rolls his cart over. One cart the frame snapped in half, the second clips keep breaking and his newest cart he's bending the swing plate that keeps the wheels on. Thankfully this last cart was the cheapest and all parts are replaceable so Carl is still "in business" .

Regards
Joanne
Joanne
Carl, Tiny, Freckles (paralyzed Lab, mix and Red Heeler)
Sam I Am (Lymphoma, Lab)
Eli, Aoibhe, Tesla (limb deformities, GSDs and Lab mix)
Mochridhe (storage disease, GSD)

http://www.straightlegshepherds.org
http://www.paralyzeddogs.org
lmayhugh
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Re: Help for Lovable Lola

Post by lmayhugh »

Thanks for the advise Joanne! Yes a picture of the protective pads you made for Carl would be great if you can find one. Or I was going to try to find some kids soft denim pull on pants that I could cut a tail hole in and modify a bit (I don't know)??? And yes, I looked at some adult Depends the other day, but the smalls had a waist size that seemed too big for her so I didn't get them. Has anyone tried kids "Pull-ups"? But then again, it's hard to figure out what size to get because they don't have a waist measurement on those (I don't think), and I'm not sure they would stay on without some sort of "suspenders"?' (maybe clipped to her collar)? Has anyone tried that?
Does Carl use his cart in the house? Has he learned that when he runs into an obsticle, that he has to back-up and go around until he clears it? How long did it take for him to get comfortable in the cart? They say to only put them in the cart for a minute for the first time and a couple of minutes the second time and work them up to getting used to it, but Lola took off towards the front door the second we hooked her up! Although when she runs into something (goes around a corner too sharp or gets a wheel caught on an object) she just stands there). And shortly after she is in the cart she will start to pant, which makes me think that maybe it's kinda heavy on her shoulders or something? She seems to like it though...because she gets to go outside! We are getting her a wagon also so when we decide to go on a trip (eventually) or go camping, and she gets tired in her cart, we can put her in a wagon and pull her! Thanks again for the help! Laura
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CarolC
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Re: Help for Lovable Lola

Post by CarolC »

lmayhugh wrote:Lola pulls herself around on her knees with her legs dragging behind. Do you know of anything that would help protect her knees (or inside her thighs) from rubbing raw)? It hasn't quite happened yet, but I'm afraid that it is just around the corner.

Rajah's Mom bought foot pajamas for Rajah (Rajah was a really large dog, think she was an akita mix).

:arrow: :arrow: :arrow: http://handicappedpet.net/helppets/view ... amas#p6545

Here is a smaller dog with the same idea. (This photo was posted on this board several years ago, wish I could remember who posted it.)
pants.jpg
Here is another idea. :D



...making sure if using diapers, that the tail hole is large enough that the poop falls out - don't want that near her "female" area!!! So true! but then I really don't want to have to clean that up either. I'm just really frustrated about this subject, because I think there are going to be times where diapers are needed (like visiting someones house or traveling somewhere important etc).

If you can feed her so she has firm, low odor, quality stools, everything is easier. You just pick it up with a kleenex and toss it, no need to spot treat the carpet, it leaves no trace, and your house will still be nice. I have had several dogs do well on Science Diet w/d dry (must be the dry kibble).

For visiting (or anytime) they make diapers with a cord lock tail. Here are a couple of links.


http://www.doggon.com/dog_incontinence.html (drawstring lock around the tail hole)
http://www.samsdoghut.com/catalog_g3.html?catId=56269 (cord lock tail hole)

I would think if you are having success stimulating her to empty, then putting her in a diaper with a locking tail hole for a visit would be no problem. If you were going to do that all the time, long term, then it might be better to double diaper, where you put her in a snug diaper with a tail opening that allows stools to drop out, and over that a looser fitting diaper cover with a snug tail hole that will keep waste in. Then she is not soiling the carpet but also protected from fecal germs. But I don't think you need to worry about that if you are able to stimulate her to empty. :D
lmayhugh wrote:Thanks for the advise Joanne! Yes a picture of the protective pads you made for Carl would be great if you can find one. Or I was going to try to find some kids soft denim pull on pants that I could cut a tail hole in and modify a bit (I don't know)???

This might not look too good on a girl but some people have put boy's Fruit of the Loom on the dog backward with the tail through the fly.

And yes, I looked at some adult Depends the other day, but the smalls had a waist size that seemed too big for her so I didn't get them. Has anyone tried kids "Pull-ups"?

Yes, that has been done. :smart:

But then again, it's hard to figure out what size to get because they don't have a waist measurement on those (I don't think), and I'm not sure they would stay on without some sort of "suspenders"?' (maybe clipped to her collar)? Has anyone tried that?

Here is an article with a size chart that may help a little.

:arrow: :arrow: :arrow: https://www.handicappedpets.com/mediawiki/index.php/Diapers_and_male_wraps

Rather than attach the suspenders to the collar, it is easier and probably safer to put her in an ordinary chest harness and attach the suspenders to that. You could probably get a cute one, I've seen them in pretty designs, it doesn't have to be plain red or plain blue...aqua? pink? baby blue? :wub:

Joybies Piddle Pants are a diaper cover that comes with suspenders, if you don't want to use a harness.

http://www.joybies.com/pagedog.html

Does Carl use his cart in the house? Has he learned that when he runs into an obsticle, that he has to back-up and go around until he clears it? How long did it take for him to get comfortable in the cart? They say to only put them in the cart for a minute for the first time and a couple of minutes the second time and work them up to getting used to it, but Lola took off towards the front door the second we hooked her up! Although when she runs into something (goes around a corner too sharp or gets a wheel caught on an object) she just stands there). And shortly after she is in the cart she will start to pant, which makes me think that maybe it's kinda heavy on her shoulders or something? She seems to like it though...because she gets to go outside! We are getting her a wagon also so when we decide to go on a trip (eventually) or go camping, and she gets tired in her cart, we can put her in a wagon and pull her! Thanks again for the help! Laura
lmayhugh
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Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2011 1:14 pm

Re: Help for Lovable Lola

Post by lmayhugh »

Great info!!! Thanks...I will check into all of these!
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