HandicappedPets.Net

3 was always our "magic" number too--1 in use, 1 in wash, and 1 for backup.

Exactly!

I'm going to try something for Pip. I ordered him a $12 dog bed (if this doesn't work I won't go broke) and I'm going to put it in the corner of his playpen. He can't hurt himself if he bounces around and hits it. He is able to get into his litterbox bed when he really wants to. He did it 2 days ago so quietly I didn't even notice.

Before he was paralyzed, don't you suppose he liked sleeping in a puffy bed when it was cold? And now he never gets to. It's going to be 17 degrees on Saturday and he'll still be curling up on top of a blanket and not sunk down into anything deep. But maybe if he has a puffy bed, he'll go in it. Or maybe he'll get trapped in it and thrash around and hate it. Only one way to find out. It's coming tomorrow.

Excuse the double post. The bed came. It's great quality for $12. It's stuffed firm and the bottom is the kind of material in a windbreaker, strong nylon or something, not that black nonwoven stuff that shreds the first time you wash it.

He was not in it this morning, so I put him in it when I brought him in from pottying. He stayed. I discovered that the sloped sides of the bed are great for setting his food bowl at an angle. Usually I use a tightly folded washcloth to raise the back edge and tip it toward him.

I'm happy about this. If we have an outage he will be able to have an uber-thick fiberfill bed under him, and I can cover him with a blanket. Whether it is enough I don't know, but it's better than lying on the thin mattress in the bottom of the playpen.

Yeah, we aren't happy about the weather either. Gak!!

Critters, I just noticed something you said about Ari.

I need to get a pic of Ari in her cart, but it's just been too cold for her to leave her bed that long (I think her temperature control was nuked along with the motor control).

I didn't realize Ari had poor temperature control!

Yes. Baby Boy Ares does too.

They could start a club.

I took a picture of Pip eating. He is so smart. He has figured out that if he leans against the playpen net, he can stay sternal to eat, like a regular dog. I haven't seen how he actually gets in this position, but I put him in the playpen on his side when I start to make dinner for everybody, and almost every night now, I will find him over in this corner, leaning on the net like this, and I just put his food in front of him and he eats it. It sounds like nothing, but he's quadriplegic and it's brilliant!!!

That's a cute pic of him.

Pip says

I just got an idea.

He used to do great in a double harness, front and rear, with me holding both parts. He could RUN with his front and hind feet. Mainly I was giving him balance and front support.

What if I try a rear cart to give him balance so I don't have to hold a rear harness, and still use a front harness to support only his front?

Most carts already have a front harness attached, and I wouldn't need to put a front harness on him if I attach a leash to the front harness of the cart. They have really cheap used WW on walmart.com with 30-day free returns to the store, no shippping. Guaranteed to work perfectly with only cosmetic damage (who cares about that?).

Hmm. Seems like it may be worth a shot...

I'm not sure how I'll get him into it. He can't stand on his front legs.

I can put on his chest harness. I can get his hind legs into the saddle.

But then you have to clip the harness to the clips on the shafts. I'm hoping I can grab the harness over his shoulders and hold him in a standing position with my left hand, then brace my knee behind the back wheel so it won't move, and clip one shaft. Switch hands, do the other.

No wait, duh. We'll do the whole thing backed up to a wall so I won't need to brace with my knee.

It came in 5 days. Advertised as used but looks new.

Got it assembled and adjusted. Pip is the world's most patient dog, or I don't know how we could have figured out putting him in, but we did.

He is rounding his back a LOT. He is trying to weight-shift to the rear to help his weak front legs. That''s why he rounds his back. Dang. I kept telling myself he can't backflip because I'm holding him in front. Made me uneasy.

He's also holding his head very low and stretched out.

There's no way to angle the wheels farther back on this cart. I didn't realize it doesn't have the little twisty "knuckle" joints that allow you to adjust the angle of the struts. I guess you only get that on the big sizes. The struts are at a fixed angle, no option. I looked right at the photo and didn't notice.

It isn't going to work for him. Well, now we know. On to the next plan...

That's too bad. Can you return it?