What to use to lift hind end

[DebCos]

My 4 year old rescue, mixed breed, girl just had surgery at the Veterinary Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania for a herniated disc. She’ll be coming home tomorrow or Friday and I’m looking for suggestions on what I can buy to lift and support her hind end, which is paralyzed, hopefully just for a few weeks, so we can take her out to urinate and defecate. We bought a harness before she got really bad but it had a strap that goes up her back and so t work due to the incision. She’ll be on crate rest for several weeks, and if her hind legs don’t come back we’ll need something to use until we can get her a cart. Thank you.

[CarolC]

Big

For now a belly sling might be easiest. I checked the HandicappedPets site and currently I do not see a plain belly sling. Well, there are various brands on the market. You can search Google images for "dog belly sling" and see which one you like. I would go for one with some thickness, like maybe one with sheepskin or something for comfort.

A popular alternative is to make your own for short term use by taking a canvas grocery bag and turning it into a sling. Here is an example.

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20413

It is possible your vet hospital will send her home with an appropriate sling, you might call them and ask before you go looking for a canvas bag.

They may tell you to use use a bath towel under her belly and grab the 2 ends in your hand. It works if you have strong hands. A thin worn out bath towel will be easier to grip. Someone once suggested that a baby crib sheet works as well and it easier to hold on to.

In my experience the slings shown in product pictures look nice and wide to give good support, but in reality they will scrunch up under the dog's tummy when actually in use, at which point you have the equivalent of a bath towel, but with better handles.

If you have a problem with your dog dribbling on the way out the door, there is a great solution for that, which Chelsea's parents invented. Here is a link:

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=15423&p=82662&hilit=chelsea#p82662

[DebCos]

Thank you. This is all new to us and I’m terrified I’ll do something to hurt her recovery.

[CarolC]

The main thing she'll be doing is resting. You want her to be confined in a small area big enough for her bed and water bowl. I can't tell for sure but I'm assuming she's maybe 50 lbs or more in size? People always talk about crate rest, but crate rest can be done in an x-pen, and that may be easier for you. When you rest a large dog in an actual crate, you have the issue of getting her in and out. It's easier if you are not constantly having to lean into the crate to help her, or change her bedding. I don't know what exercise pens cost now, but they used to be about the same price as a large crate. The advantage is you can just open one panel and walk your dog out with her sling. It's a lot easier to get her on her feet and to get her settled again when you come back in from pottying.

Did they tell you if she is able to urinate, or will you be expressing her bladder?

Is the vet hospital at the University of Pennsylvania open over the weekend if you have any questions?

Here are some pictures of Tinker doing crate rest in an x-pen, as well as some general pictures of x-pens and an IRIS pen.

[DebCos]

She’s a mixed breed and weighs 18 pounds. We have a crate in the bedroom with an ortho mattress in it for sleeping at night and an exercise pen that we configured for another ortho mattress and space for her water bowl. Prior to the surgery she would urinate outside once a day, but would also void her bladder when I picked her up, so I’m assuming it was how I was picking her up. Yes the VHUP is open on weekends plus they have a 24 hour emergency phone line. We have 8 dogs, all small except the elderly Shiba, Marley is a dachshund Min Pin think. Thank you for tour help, I’m terrified I’m going to do something wrong and hurt her.

[CarolC]

You can ask the vet on this, but as far as I know, once the surgery is done, they have removed all the disk material that was pressing on the spinal cord and it is all cleaned up. So it's not like you're going to injure the area through normal handling with proper support and just being normally careful, which obviously you are going to do. That being said, my dog had surgery for a spinal fracture (not a disk) and when my dog was injured, I had written instructions from the vet to crate her for 4 weeks. After that, I handled her like eggs for another month. So I know the feeling! Right now you are just keeping her quiet and letting the swelling go down in the area. It sounds like you've got a really nice crating setup, and I'm glad she's 18 lbs.

[DebCos]

We’re going to. Is it her today, and possibly bring her home tomorrow if she makes the transition from IV meds to oral. We have an animal PT place near us that does cold laser, acupuncture and water therapy which we’ll be doing to rehab her. Thank you for your advice, it’s much appreciated.