Thatcher has DM. Anyone use Dwanecart wheelchair?

[furrykidmom]

Glad this thread is still going

Here is our update.

We sent our new puppy's DNA test in. Both alleles were negative. We are overjoyed. We did not test our mill Boxer (rescue). She is 8 and going strong. Did not see the point.

Update on our boy. My husband bought toddler socks and sprayed them with some rubber coating. They have been great for traction but he goes thru a pair a day. They rub all the way thru.

We bought the dorsi flex assist. I think it is helpful. My husband thinks it hinders. BUT my husband puts a sock over the assist device which i think hinders what it is to do because it is on the crossed velcro straps. The boot part of the device drags because he is still knuckled under. On the rug this trips him up. At daycare they have been taking everything off him because his legs are crossing and he is falling over all day. They said he does better without.

Daycare will allow the braces but not the wheelchair so the cart is out. My husband does not want to leave him home alone while the other two are at daycare. He thinks he will be lonely. I think he will be less stressed. We both think that he hates daycare because he cannot play and he feels left out.

Yesterday I ordered the Help em up harness. I am hopeful this will be helpful for daycare and daily activities at home. He scares me on the steps. He has not fallen but he is so unsteady. Sometimes he goes down the steps with his rear legs elevated. I keep waiting for him to go ass over apple cart. I am so stressed with his condition. Hubby is not happy I bought yet another device. We have so much invested in products that have not helped. My husband would do absolutely anything for him but he wants to know that it will work. Many of these products cannot be returned. It is just so frustrating. I dont know what to do for him. I will buy everything and try it. I am desperate for something to give him better mobility. Truthfully, he seems to do best with nothing. But the downside of that is then he bleeds.

 

[Mega's Mom]

Have you tried the rubber boots from Pawz? Cornelius wears them while outside on walks. They do wonders for him not getting scraped up when he knuckles that right paw. I don't put them on in the house because they do not breathe and I don't want him to wear them all day.

Have you tried the Vet Wrap? I put that on him when he goes to daycare and it seems to work really well for traction. I took him last week and he was getting wobbly so they tried to coax him in the back for a nap. He wasn't having it so the girl had to carry him out of the play area. Mind you she is tiny and he ways 66lbs! My vet says as long as he wants to go to daycare and he's able that I should keep taking him.

I also bought the Hartman's Hip Helper Harness but it's taking a while to get it adjusted right so we haven't even started using it yet. I'll let you know how that goes.

 

[furrykidmom]

We tried the rubber boots from RuffWear??? They were high end quality. But the traction seems to knock him over because he drags and it grabs causing grip and pulling him back and off balance.

I am going to try the Vet wrap again. I cant let DH put it on. He has a tendency to wrap it so tight he cuts off circulation. He argues that it falls off if it is on loose. But he woke up one morning and his toes were all swollen. I have tried to teach him the proper way to wrap but he just does not seem to remember the logistics of why you start at the toes and wrap up not at the hock and wrap down first. And he is an engineer.

 

[Mega's Mom]

The Pawz are little disposable rubber boots (I think there are 10 or 12 in a pack). They are not clunky at all so they may be easier to manuever in than the bigger boots. I also don't put anything on his paws at night while he's sleeping.

 

[Rbastedo]

The only time we put anything on Thatcher is when he goes for walks in the cart. If it's indoors or outside in the back yard he's got naked paws.
He hardly ever hurts his paws this way, once in the past couple months he scraped a toe and I slathered up the area with Neosporin and it was better by morning.

It's hard for us to watch our best friends struggle to walk and we want to do everything we can to help. It's difficult to stand back and let them do as much as they can for themselves. By all means step in when they ask for help, and you know when they do as they look at you and you can tell they need it. My approach is to back off and let Thatcher do it himself as much as possible, this helps him feel "ok" like he's not a burden and it's also good for him in terms of muscle memory.

Of course the times we must help him are increasing, we knew it would be this way. I don't know how much feeling he still has in his rear paws, but I want to give him the chance to do what he can while he can. I tell him what a great job he's doing with every step he takes, my kids have picked up on this and I've heard them doing the same thing. He gets double cookies when he makes it back into the house from the back yard.

You know some times all you need to help is a nice big beach towel, all these slings and things are not that much better than a towel and I know we all have towels.
The best tool to help is generally going to be the one you can reach the fastest and a towel wraps under the belly a lot faster than some of those slings.

I don't mean to offend anyone, I know we are all working with our dogs and doing the best we can for them. I am reminding myself to just take a step back once in a while and make sure my dog has a little dignity and that he truly feels happy.

 

[Gunther]

Thanks for the update, I was looking for the post it's in this thread. Someone said it's important to keep your guy feeling how lost you feel at times. Time and patiance, not reading into anything justy a remoinder.

The slings and harness I feel serve a slightly diffrent purpose. When I got the little crappy two loop one I was thinking I could actually walk Struddel with it. You can't it was usless and yep a towel would have serviced the same purpose.

I stopped taking her for rides becasue "I" thought she did'nt care anymore. Her last car ride proved I was wrong, she was happy and alert in the car.

Had I know she still cared (and know they existed) I would have used a sling it would have made it easier to get her in and out of the car. I think that kind of thing is what they are most useful for.

 

[furrykidmom]

Have you tried the rubber boots from Pawz? Cornelius wears them while outside on walks. They do wonders for him not getting scraped up when he knuckles that right paw. I don't put them on in the house because they do not breathe and I don't want him to wear them all day.

Have you tried the Vet Wrap? I put that on him when he goes to daycare and it seems to work really well for traction.

Thank you so much for the info. I thought I had seen it all. Pawz looks perfect. I hate that they do not breathe but they will be great for around the house.

He has Vet wrap on today. We left him naked yesterday and he has cuts on the back of his good leg from the bad leg crossing over.

I got such a bargain the other day at Big Lots. I went in for organic baby food to make dog treats. And to check out dog toys. In the dog section I found Vet wrap on sale for $2 a roll. JACKPOT!!! cleared the shelf. Petsmart charges $6/roll. Then I was in the human aisle and they had Co-ban (Vet wrap equivalent) for $1/roll. Cleared the shelf again. Not an impressive shelf clearing only three rolls left. but I also got 9 rolls of vet wrap. I need to go to another Big Lots for baby food and to check for more vet wrap. Huge score.

Received his Help em up Harness yesterday. Hubby wants me to return it. Daycare will not let him have it on. They are afraid the other dogs will latch onto it and pull him over. Makes sense. Hubby says he does not need it at home. And he does not. He is down to 54# with the muscle wasting so he is fairly easy to pick up. We still have the support band from Sable when she had her TPLO so I can use that for up and down steps when the time comes.

This thread has been so wonderful for me. I appreciate the support and info.

 

[Gunther]

Yeah it is pa pretty good thread. Sadly about three years to late for me. :( But if I get a rescue and it happens again, I won't be as badly "sandbagged" as I was the first time!

 

[furrykidmom]

second go around

This is our second time. The first time was with our GSD. We were fortunate that it did not advance like our Boxer. She had loose hips and would easily get knocked over. She had a little bit of knuckling but never needed any assistive devices.

This is our first and hopefully last Boxer to suffer from this disease. It is a horrible thing to watch. You feel so helpless.

We did pick up the Pawz the other day. I think he is much better with them. He is not crossing over his legs as much and gets better traction. He is still knuckling but he really has no feeling in his right leg. I sent him to daycare with them on today because that is where he gets cut. I think he gets rug burn from the carpet and their outdoor area is gravel and pavement so it is wicked horrible for him.

Thank you for the suggestion of Pawz. So far we love them.