Quad cart for GSD - Page 2

Shell,  
    I am sending you a PM with my contact info. if you do go the route with the cart listed on Ebay.

                                                                                                          JulieAnn

realmccoy- Thanks :)

The cart on E-Bay was pretty cheezy, plastic PVC pipe. It didn't look like it would even hold a 90 lb. dog, and the front wheels were way too small to traverse even a beautifully manicured lawn.  I think I can actuallly MAKE a better one with parts from the builder's supply store here in this little village. I'm going to contact an old friend of mine here in CA, who makes K9 Equipment, about making a sling/harness for my boy I can use to raise and support him without killing my back or dropping my dog, probably something compatible with whatever cart-thingie I come up with, suitable for swimming in. No shortage of places to safely swim a dog around here, although the water is pretty cold right now.

I also found a LOT of valuable information on the handicapped pets forum, much dealing specifically with FCE. Turns out my boy's tediously slow improvement is actually not slow at all, and the things I have been doing with him, standing him up, helping him take a few steps, massaging and moving his paws and legs, pretending his pedaling a bike even on his side, are exactly the "right" things, and are having the desirable results... just not as fast as I would like.

And... I found my boy 15' on the far side of the covered sun porch this morning, nearly out the back door, wagging his tail when I got there, obvously quite happy with himself. I guess he thinks its time he went outside to do his business again. He could never have done that a week ago. :-))))

S

Shelley, I think once you get him into some kind of supportive sling, you're going to find that you won't really be doing much 'lifting' of T (as in dead-weight raising of his hindquarters); it's going to be more of providing balance, some initial momentum and something stable to brace against, which shouldn't tax your post-surgery body nearly as much as it must when you're helping him up now.

The recovery from FCE IS slow--didn't realize you were thinking he wasn't progressing as fast as he should--but as long as there is steady improvement (which there clearly is, since he's managing to get himself across the sunporch under his own steam) the prognosis is generally considered to be good.  Is he on any sort of anti-inflammatory, such as Rimadyl or Meloxicam?  If not, you might want to discuss that with your vet as well--at T's age, he undoubtedly has some age-related arthritis, which might not have bothered him enough before to need medication but which at this point adds yet another obstacle to his mobility.  The 7.5 mg tablet of meloxicam used for humans can be used in large dogs at by giving one-half tablet daily, and a 90 day supply from WalMart runs less than $10 if your vet writes you a script for it--FAR cheaper than the cost of the veterinary version (over $100/100 ml bottle WHOLESALE price!) and a small enough tablet that one-half of it can be hidden in a dab of butter, peanut butter, meat, etc.

If you don't already have them, you'll also want to get your hands on a pair of good quality booties to protect the tops of his feet as he rehabs; if they're rubber-soled and toecapped, they'll also give him some needed added traction as he attempts to get his hind feet underneath his body and stand on his own.

Glad to hear he's following the normal course of recovery, even though it's too slow for any owner's tastes--at least with a little dog, you can scoop them up and carry them around everywhere with you; you feel so, so helpless when you have a big dog and he or she can't get around on their own!

I caught my boy taking a few steps on his own this morning! Yeah, clumsy, and he fell every other step (on the sand and grass outside) but he was very proud of himself, deliberate in his intentions and resolved to reach his destination... ME. I rounded the corner just in time to see him ambulating for the first time since the accident 2 weeks ago.

I ordered one of these for him today. http://www.petsupportsuit.com/index_files/ASTSupportSuitDogHarnessMeasureandOrder.htm 
It should be here by Tuesday. It was the only sling-harness that looked "just right" for an intact male GSD needing assistance fore and aft. Its the only rig that has 4 D-rings that look perfect for attaching to the cart I'm building him out of an old folks' walker I picked up at the thrift store. The aluminum walker is very stable, has two good wheels, all four leggs adjustable. It handles up to 300 lbs. of rickety human. The bed-sheet sling idea under the belly idea was a complete disaster, as was the contraption I rigged up out of various harnesses in my training equipment cache. If this latest brain storm works out, I'll post pix.

My vet said "No arthritis meds" for right now. Remember it hasn't been very long since we removed his spleen with a grapefruit-sized tumor. He's had a lot of medication these last 2 weeks, needs some time for his body to adjust before we pack more meds on board. This latest incident may well be a product of that surgery... Could it repeat itself? Probably. I'm just praying it doesn't.

Once the sling-thingie arrives, I will be able to do a lot more with my boy. I am having a steel X-frame welded up to attaching the d-rings to, which I can raise and lower with a rope-pulley hangin on the rafter about his bed, and tie-off with a cleat on the wall next to it. This way I can raise him up by myself, let the sling harness support him at a level where his feet can be on the floor, bear some weight, while I work with his feet, legs, do range of motion exercises, massage. My friend Jackie loaned me a doggy life vest, which we'll use for swimming at the boat launch lagoon off the river in Marysville, with its gradually-sloped beach. Its not a $50,000 underwater treadmill, but its close enough and not a far trek. I can take him to the river every day for two weeks for less than what it would cost to go to the nearest PT facility ONCE.

Thanks for the kind words and positive thoughts. I don't ever expect my boy to run and fetch a ball again, but comfortable and resonably ambulatory, able to enjoy life for awhile longer, would be much treasured. He is the only GSD I have these days, my best friend and constant companion for years. I would miss him terribly should he not recover from this.

But for now, I feel like playing loud music and dancing on the roof, celebrating my brave boy's first, trembling steps since the accident! Lucky for the neighbors I don't have a decent ghetto box, let alone a sound system.  The little speakers on this laptop will have to do.

BTW- T's wicked female chihuahua is doing her very best to make him feel like everything is back to normal. This kindness is typically accomplished by crawling in his mouth, biting his face, camping in his food dish when he's trying to eat, stealing his marrow bones, and using him for a launch pad on her way into the house.

I'm pretty sure those wierd noises her shameless antics elicit from my rough, tough working dog, 11-12 times her size, who could crush her with his tail, are cries of appreciation.

I'm sorry to hear about  "T" Shelley and what you had to go through also.  You look really GREAT for your age. 

Just sayin'  :)

All the best!

Thanks RS.
The good news is my tumors weren't malignant.
The bad news is that the surgeon didn't throw in a tummy tuck while he was at it there.
ROTFL

He got from point A to point B on his own--that's really significant progress from where he started out in this! Hell, at this rate, he damn well may not need a cart, and you may not need to do any hoisting of him by next week.  :) Old dogs rock!

Forgot about the splenectomy...hmm. Wonder if you could use Adequan to help reduce any friction in the joints? Might also help with the breakdown of whatever caused the FCE, if it was thrombocytic in composition (Adequan and other polysulfated glycosaminoglycans are heparin analogues, and therefore can affect blood viscosity; that's why they shouldn't be used in dogs with bleeding disorders, because they can interfere with normal clotting action).

Don't count him out on the running and fetching stuff yet, either, Shelley--it might not be as pretty a running, but there's a good chance he'll be able to do the 'old dog rocking horse' running gait once he's fully back on his feet again. 

I'll ask my vet about the meds next week. Meanwhile, I am giving T his usual natural joint supplements. Can't hurt him that way.

He has regained control of his bladder and bowels over the last couple of days. Last night he slept in my room, no leakage. :-))) I can't wait till the sling-thingie arrives.  Its true, he does go all limp on me sometimes when I pick up one end or the other, when I KNOW he could be helping.  Makes my heart glad that he's barking for me to throw his ball for a game of catch now.

My vet was MIGHTY GOOD to me on the treatment and 8 days in the hospital. The bill was about half what I expected. I thought it would be in the thousands. Need to make something nice for the clinic wall from T and Me when this is all over with. This Dr just bought the practice, his first, in the process of decorating. I'm thinking maybe a painting like the one my friend did of my old girl, only of my T.

Ugh. Need to lay down for awhile. My guts feel like they're going to fall out.
I think I busted something inside me last night or this morning moving him around.
Figures....

Thanks for the good advice and positive thoughts & words.

Geez, Shelley, I don't post here regularly anymore, just sporatically, so I hadn't heard of your problems. I hope you & T are both feeling better soon. I'm really sorry to hear of T's troubles, & of your own. Sending prayers & good wishes your way! jackie harris