Websites: Caring Canine Rehab Center *LINK*

[Joan]

I wanted to post a link to the website of a wonderful rehabilitation center in the Metro Atlanta, GA area: http://caringcanine.com/

It's actually 2 facilities on the same property. Caring Canine Rehabilitation Center is a fully equipped rehab center. The other building is called Loving Touch Animal Center and it's an Eastern and Western medicine vet office.

I found out about these places because our 11-year old Great Dane, Judge, has been battling DM for some time. Of course he isn't a candidate for surgery, so we were forced to explore other, more non-traditional options. I read about acupuncture and discovered they offer that service, along with chiropractic, herb therapy, etc. at Loving Touch. For those who are interested in the gold bead implants for Wobbler's, they do that there.

We did the acupuncture and it seemed to work for a while. We then decided with the vets there that we were going to start Judge on Physical Therapy at Caring Canine in the underwater treadmill. The idea was that, although we know his condition is not going to improve, we wanted to keep up his muscle tone in his rear legs as well as we could so he could get the best use he could out of them with whatever feeling he had left in them. He has gotten into the habit of bearing almost all his weight on his front legs and his back legs were atrophying. The treadmill did a great job of keeping his condition stable for quite a while. Plus, he got to go for a ride in the care every week still, which he loves.

Unfortunately, we found out he has megaesophagus and got aspiration pneumonia and that really hit him hard. He hasn't recovered to the point he was before since then, and so we are now at the point where we're looking into a wheelchair for him. He had to stay inactive while he was recovering, and his back legs got much worse and he lost tons of weight. He lives for walks, and I think the wheelchair is the only thing now that will be able to let him have walks.

But, I wanted to give people hope that there are places out there who do extensive rehabilitation with disabled or injured dogs - especially elderly ones. And it isn't as expensive as you would think.

If you live in or around the metro Atlanta area and are struggling with a disabled or injured pet, before you give up hope, please see if Caring Canine or Loving Touch can do anything to help your animal. I can say absolutely that taking Judge there has extended his life by at least a year so far. Eleven is extremely old for a Great Dane!

The people who work there are so warm and comforting, it feels more like a family than a vet's office.

I hope this might help someone else who has a dog with a progressive disease like ours.

Caring Canine Rehabilitation Center

[CarolC]

Hi Joan,

I love your dog's name, it's perfect for a great dane! If anyone inquires about rehab facilities in Georgia I will be sure to refer them to your message.

There are a couple of websites you might be interested in. The first are for dogs with megaesophagus. Here they are:

<a href="http://www.megae.homestead.com/pictures.html">Support Group</a>

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/bailey_chair/">Bailey chair</a>

<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/megaesoph ... b=s">Yahoo group</a>

If you are investigating getting a cart for your dog, one place you will want to check with is Eddie's Wheels. They have a lot of experience with dogs with DM. Also, they can discuss the special needs of the giant breeds with you before they sell you a chair. Here is their page on DM:

<a href="http://www.eddieswheels.com/html/dm.html">Eddie's Wheels DM page</a>

One more thing that may help you later is this page on bowel and bladder management (something that will be much easier with a cart).

Bowel and Bladder Care in the DM Dog

Since you are dealing with a dog of over 100 lbs., and taking him in the car every week, etc., I think many people would be interested in any and all tips that may help with this situation. I especially would be interested, I have an aging dog who is too heavy to lift. Any suggestions or tricks would be welcome.

Thanks for sharing your recommendation of the rehab facility, it sounds really great!

[Joan]

Thanks so much for your helpful links! This megaesophagus thing has really thrown us. The main problem is that every time we put him on antibiotics, he instantly becomes almost completely debilitated. I know he's got some upper respiratory infection but there's not much we can do about it until we get a cart. It's just one more problem...And thank you for the compliment on Judge's name. He is a black Dane, and every bit the Judge. In his younger days, he made every pizza delivery guy shake in his boots when approaching the door.

And, of course, the syndrome most giant-breed dog owners are quite familiar with: "Why don't you just put a saddle on him?" "We don't allow horses here!" etc... Judge always made many friends who wanted to know what kind of dog he was (his ears are natural, not cropped, and that throws people for some reason), how much he weighed, how much he ate, etc. He loved all the attention. But, not other dogs, unfortuntately.

Yes, I had found out about Eddie's Wheels on this website (actually that's why I found this site) and then when I went to Caring Canine yesterday to have them take the measurements for the cart, they also recommended him so we're ordering the cart from Eddie's Wheels. So, hopefully in about 2 weeks, Judge will have a cart. I was glad to have the folks at Caring Canine do the measurements for us so they would be sure to be correctly done. While we were there, we saw a little dog who boards there for PT being let out who had one of Eddie's Wheels carts on. I definitely liked the looks of it and was assured by the people at Caring Canine that they have never been anything but completely satisfied with the products and customer service from Eddie's Wheels.

As far as tricks for getting him in the car, Judge's actual owner is my boyfriend. We've been together for four years and Judge immediately took to me as his new Mommy so we basically co-own him, although we don't live together. If not for my boyfriend, I wouldn't be able to get him into the car anymore by myself. One thing we use is a neoprene sling called a Walkabout that we got at Loving Touch, but I've seen similar things (in fact, I'm looking at an ad for one in the corner of this webpage as I type holding up a basset hound) for much less money. The problem with these rear support sling type things is that with a dog as tall as Judge, you have absolutely no leverage while pulling up on the handles of the sling. My hand, where it grasps the handles, is often pulling up higher than my waist. I'm 5'6'' and my boyfriend is 6' so it's much easier for him, but still. For shorter dogs, it's much easier because they are closer to the ground and you have leverage when you pull up on the sling.

So basically that's one reason why we need the cart now. It's just too hard to hold him up with the sling. Getting him into the car has been an increasing challenge. Fortunately, he's very enthusiastic about going for rides in the car, so he cooperates, which is a big help. But, we just have to support his back end with the sling and get him to step into the floorboard with his front legs and then slide him in. We've had problems of broken toenails and such many times, as it's usually quite awkward. Also, he couldn't get into Jeremy's SUV anymore so we started taking him in my Honda Accord. The lower the floorboard is to the ground, the easier it is for him. But it usually ends up just a matter of brute strength, so, like I said, without my boyfriend's help, I doubt I could pull it off. I had to take him someplace by myself one day and I hurt my back trying to get him in the car because his back legs collapsed and I was caught off guard. I had to lift him myself into the car and it was really tough. He only weighs about 125 now, but before his pneumonia he weighed like 140, down from a high (since I've known him) of 165.

I wish I had some more tricks for the car entry and exit thing, but all I can offer is the rear support sling thing and a strong man. I have to say that when I was researching Judge's condition a couple of years ago, I read a message board on another site about people who have dogs with Wobbler's. Many of them went shopping for a specific car that would be the easiest for their dog to get into and out of and lay in the back of comfortably. I wish I could remember which one they all decided on but I think it was some Ford station wagon type. I don't know if that's an option for you but I have heard of others doing that, so I figured I would pass it on.

Part of our challenge with Judge in the earlier months when we first started using the sling was that he didn't really understand that he could go ahead and walk and that we would hold him up with it. He would hesitate anytime he was being asked to lift his front legs off the ground, because he bears almost all his weight on them now. But, after a while, he got used to the sling and understood that it meant help, and now he won't try to walk down the two steps to get out the door of the house without it. So that's good, because he used to go barreling out the door before we could stop him and fall down the steps because he didn't really grasp that his legs weren't following him. That's one of the things that let us know it wasn't arthritis or anything painful because he clearly didn't really feel that his legs weren't working right. It was always a surprise to him when he couldn't do what he planned to do. But he's got it now. It has been a while.

Anyway, I've rambled long enough. I appreciate your help with the links, I'm going to check them out. Let me know if you have any more questions or comments. We really need all the support we can get at this point, and I would be thrilled if our experience could help others.

[CarolC]

> But, we just have to support his back end with the sling and get him to step into the floorboard with his front legs and then slide him in. We've had problems of broken toenails and such many times, as it's usually quite awkward. Also, he couldn't get into Jeremy's SUV anymore so we started taking him in my Honda Accord. The lower the floorboard is to the ground, the easier it is for him. But it usually ends up just a matter of brute strength,

Oh, boy! I can totally relate to all of that. Getting my dog into the car is my biggest challenge right now. I got him a Doggon' saddle support sling but it didn't work (doesn't stay on his hindquarters). I'm pretty sure I will be getting a Hartman Harness. It would be worth the effort to put it on him if it would ensure getting him into the car without a stumble. Right now I am simply parking the car by the curb and walking him across the grass so he has a height advantage compared to loading him from the level of the driveway. At the vet I can't park like that so they load him in for me. It's funny you were talking about station wagons. I have a Saturn Wagon. What I've decided is that if needed, I am going to completely unscrew the back seat out of the car and store it in the garage. I'll put blankets or something on the floor where the seat was, for him to lie on. He can actually get onto the floor of the car OK, he just can't get from there up onto the seat where he needs to be. No seat, no problem. I've thought about a ramp to get him into the cargo area, but it would be too difficult. We're stuck with the back seat (or better yet the back without the seat). Here was my message about that:

<a href="http://www.handicappedpets.com/cgi-bin/ ... ">Adapting car</a>

I'm not sure what to think about the respiratory problem. DM does affect the breathing eventually. It seems like there should be some kind of antibiotics he would be OK with. Maybe you could try another type of antibiotics? That is hard to understand.

Wanted to give you one more link--I really liked this idea. Unfortunately, I don't know where I'm going to find a sled in south Texas.

<a href="http://www.handicappedpets.com/cgi-bin/ ... 8186">Sled idea</a>

Best wishes to Judge and his family!

[Joan]

Thanks again for the tips. The reason he has to be on antibiotics sometimes is from the megaesophagus which can lead to aspiration pneumonia. I think we will try a different antibiotic and see what happens.

I wanted to post that we finally got his cart tonight and we tried him out in it. The problem is that we need to get some durable boots for his back feet. We got a cart with the stirrups to hold his back feet off the ground but he still wants to try to use them so he kicks them and tries to get them out of the stirrups. But when we let him have his feet down, his front legs go faster than his back feet can go and he ends up dragging and knuckling pretty badly. So, we'll need to get him some durable booties. I want him to have his feet down to get some excercise with them but he can't if he doesn't have some protection.

I know I was reading a website where a woman makes really tough booties and she went into a long explanation about her dog and other booties she tried but they would wear out after one trip to the mailbox. Now I can't find that website anymore. I thought it was linked to this one but it doesn't seem to be. Anybody know what I'm talking about?

[CarolC]

Hi Joan,

You got a cart! This is so exciting. He likes it OK? That is so cool! Not sure about the website, it does sound vaguely familiar. May search around a little more. Here is one I thought of, don't know if this is it, doesn't mention a mailbox.

<a href="http://www.wonderpuppy.net/copper/Cboot ... onderpuppy website</a>

Whatever kind you get, a trick is to stick several layers of duct tape over the part that gets the wear. Let him wear through the tape, then rip it off and apply new tape before he wears through the actual boot.

Do you remember anything else whatsoever about the website?

[critters]

Wasn't it you that dug up the lady in Ireland or Europe making custom, super-tough shoes?

[Christy Mullady]

Alright...I just now read the part about digging someone up...and in Ireland to boot! goin to act as if i didn't read that....but I did find a site for sturdy boots...and it's in Ireland.

Her name wasn't by chance Mullady, was it?



sturdy boots for working and sporting dogs

[CarolC]

Yes, that's right. There is a place in Ireland called Proactive Paws that makes custom made boots for disabled dogs. They provide super customer service. That is the company I ordered boots for for my dog, because they made boots that come above the hock and don't slip off. (My dog has slender feet and her ankles are not much smaller than her feet so regular boots slipped off). Joan, it's a good company but I'm not sure if it's the one you meant.

[Lee]

My Sam is in a cast on her back leg which has her foot in a position that won't allow a boot to protect the bottom of the cast. She's walking now, with the cast dragging along the ground as she swings it around and was was tearing through the bags I had wrapped her cast in to keep it dry.

I tried several things, and the one I'm going with now is cutting up a vinyl shower curtain and making a "baggie" by folding it in half and taping the sides. I bought a package of those velcro dots and use them to hold the boot to the cast and also to close it up to fit snugly. I needed to rig something that could be put on quickly and that could be taken off easily since the bottom of the cast needs to get air. I can put these on right before I let her out and take them off when she comes back in. I'm thinking that you could make up some kind of slipper that could fit over the boots your using (Think of those booties they use over shoes in sterile environments).

The boot lasts about three days for me, although
since your pet is in a cart they are putting in more miles, so your results may vary (LOL). I got some really cheap curtains at home depot that were on clearance. I've even been able to reuse the velcro a couple of times. They're also quite fashionable- she's sporting a moon and stars motif that's the envy of all the doggies in the neighborhood.

Hope this will help
Lee

[Christy Mullady]

A "MOON AND STARS MOTIF"! How wonderful!! You're likely to end up with gads of orders for booties!! Now - YOU'RE using that noggin!!

[CarolC]

Hi Joan,

Miller's Mom had another solution for keeping boots from wearing out for her spaniel--here's her message:

<a href="http://www.handicappedpets.com/cgi-bin/ ... 0">Message from Miller's Mom</a>