Custom wheelchairs keep disabled pets moving More owners helping their furry friends whose hind legs don't work <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 15px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 25px" vAlign=bottom width="1%"><TD vAlign=bottom width="99%">Donay Queenan's 11-year-old auburn Welsh Corgi named Max is healthy except for the degenerative myelopathy progressively paralyzing both back legs. Elise Amendola / AP <SCRIPT>getCSS("3053751")</SCRIPT><LINK href="/default.ashx/id/3053751/" type=text/css rel=stylesheet><SCRIPT></SCRIPT><TABLE class=boxH_3053751 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300><TD class=boxHI_3053751 width="1%"><TD class=boxHC_3053751 noWrap width=*>Slide show <TABLE class=boxB_3053751 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300><TR vAlign=top><TD height="100%"> <INPUT class="mbox w77" onmouseover="swapbtn(this, 1)" title=Launch onclick="javascript:SSOpen('6020616','0');" onmouseout="swapbtn(this, 0)" type=button value=Launch> <TD class=boxBI_3053751> Animal Tracks From a scuba-diving dog to a slam-dunking parrot, find images of animals great and small. more photos <SCRIPT>getCSS("3088867")</SCRIPT><LINK href="/default.ashx/id/3088867/" type=text/css rel=stylesheet><SCRIPT></SCRIPT><TABLE class=boxH_3088867 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300><TD class=boxHI_3088867 width="1%"><TD class=boxHC_3088867 noWrap width=*>Pet health videos <TABLE class=boxB_3088867 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300><TR vAlign=top>‘People food’ can kill a pet May 12: Pet expert Sloan Barnett shares with TODAY's Natalie Morales tips on how to keep dangerous foods away from your dog. <HR style="CLEAR: all" align=center width="95%" color=#cccccc SIZE=1><TR vAlign=top><TD class=boxBI_3088867>Creatures invade TODAY studios A closer look at manta rays Pit bull found in man's engine The truth about dogs <SCRIPT>getCSS("3053751")</SCRIPT> <SCRIPT>getCSS("3053751")</SCRIPT><SCRIPT></SCRIPT><TABLE class=boxH_3053751 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300><TD class=boxHC_3053751 noWrap width=*> Most popular <TABLE class=boxB_3053751 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300><TABLE class=headlineList2 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TD id=boxB_3053751_tab1 style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FILTER: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; CURSOR: hand" align=middle evented="true">• Most viewed<IMG height=1 width=2 scr="/images/cleardot.gif"><TD id=boxB_3053751_tab2 style="FILTER: progidXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader(src='http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Test-Dev/sowmith/shadow.png', sizingMethod='scale'); BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(/images/cleardot.gif); CURSOR: hand" align=middle evented="true">• Top rated<IMG height=1 width=2 scr="/images/cleardot.gif"><TD id=boxB_3053751_tab3 style="FILTER: progidXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader(src='http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Test-Dev/sowmith/shadow.png', sizingMethod='scale'); BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(/images/cleardot.gif); CURSOR: hand" align=middle evented="true">• Most e-mailed<TR id=boxB_3053751_tab1_c vAlign=top><TD class=boxBI_3053751>The 10 smartest animals Check out these ambush makeovers! Obama accuses Bush of 'appalling attack' Saudi Arabia rebuffs Bush on oil production Aftershock triggers slides at quake epicenter Most viewed on msnbc.com <TR id=boxB_3053751_tab2_c style="DISPLAY: none" vAlign=top><TD class=boxBI_3053751>Woman who saved kids from Holocaust dies Girl's legs are amputated to gain freedom Quake’s force sealed fate for China students FirstPerson: Readers report on China quake Rocket man flies on jet-powered wings Most viewed on msnbc.com <TR id=boxB_3053751_tab3_c style="DISPLAY: none" vAlign=top><TD class=boxBI_3053751>The 10 smartest animals Winemaking patriarch Robert Mondavi dies Einstein's 'God' letter fetches $400,000 Sniff this! The shelf lives of 5 household items Obama accuses Bush of 'appalling attack' Most viewed on msnbc.com <SCRIPT> if (pop_tabBoxes) pop_pushTabBox('boxB_3053751'); </SCRIPT> <SCRIPT language=JavaScript>var tcdacmd="dt";</SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="http://an.tacoda.net/an/13015/slf.js"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="http://anrtx.tacoda.net/rtx/r.js?cmd=ADF&si=13015&xs=2&v=3.12&cb=60958"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="http://anrtx.tacoda.net/opt/r.js?cb=90850"></SCRIPT> updated 11:11 a.m. ET, Tues., March. 25, 2008<SCRIPT language=javascript> function UpdateTimeStamp(pdt) { var n = document.getElementById("udtD"); if(pdt != '' && n && window.DateTime) { var dt = new DateTime(); pdt = dt.T2D(pdt); if(dt.GetTZ(pdt)) {n.innerHTML = dt.D2S(pdt,((''.toLowerCase()=='false')?false:true));} } } UpdateTimeStamp('633420546804900000');</SCRIPT> SHELBURNE FALLS, Mass. - When Gary Mikus learned that an incurable nerve disease was starting to paralyze the hind legs of his German shepherd, he immediately dismissed the idea of putting the dog to sleep. Then he spotted an ad in a pet food store: “Eddie’s Wheels For Pets. Help for Handicapped Pets.” Now the dog named Bear, which has been Mikus’ constant companion for a decade, has a lot of living left to do — much of it in his new pet wheelchair. “He’s healthy in every other way,” Mikus said. “Until something tells me otherwise that he’s failing, I’ll do everything I can to keep him mobile and happy.” Story continues below ↓ <HR noShade SIZE=1>advertisement <SCRIPT type=text/javascript>dap('&PG=NBCMSH&AP=1089','300','250');</SCRIPT><IFRAME id=dapIf3Child src="javascript:void(document.write('<html><head><title>Advertisement</title></head><body id="dapIf3Child" leftmargin="0" topmargin="0"><script type="text/javascript">var inDapIF=true;window.setTimeout("document.close();",30000);</script><iframe SRC="http://ac2.msn.com/?adunitid=527" width="300" height="250" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" hspace="0" vspace="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" bordercolor="#000000">A</iframe>\n</body></html>'));" frameBorder=0 width=300 scrolling=no height=250></IFRAME><IFRAME id=dapIf3 src="about:blank" frameBorder=0 width=0 scrolling=no height=0></IFRAME> <HR noShade SIZE=1> A growing number of pet owners are turning to custom-built wheelchairs to restore mobility to furry friends whose legs, hips or backs don’t work. The owners’ goals are simple: to reward their pets’ unconditional love with whatever it takes for the animals to live normally. The two-wheel carts support the dog’s midsection with a padded saddle, and are secured with a shoulder yoke and chest strap. Most dogs have rear-wheel carts to compensate for lame hind legs, though a growing number of front-wheel carts are being ordered for animals with front-leg problems. Donna Blain’s 7-year-old Maltese named Gizmo hopped and hobbled on his deformed front legs before she adopted him a year ago. She ordered his cart after learning the odd gait had damaged his spine and would have required surgery. Now he wheels himself around for hours on sidewalks, in parks and anywhere he can find treats and praise. “He’s into everything,” said Blain, of Woodstock, Conn. “He just wants to live, after all those years of really hobbling and not being able to get where he wanted to be.” Medical advancements Eddie and Leslie Grinnell, founders of Eddie’s Wheels, built their first pet wheelchair in 1989 when their 10-year-old Doberman, Buddha, lost the use of her rear legs because of disc disease and spinal problems. Their veterinarian, impressed by Buddha’s revived mobility and vitality, started referring others to the Grinnells. In 1998, they started their own business. <TABLE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 15px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="1%" align=right border=0>Elise Amendola / APLeslie Grinnell, left, co-owner of Eddie's Wheels, and her employees create pet wheelchairs to help disabled animals recapture the mobility their limp legs, numb hips or bent backs can no longer provide. <HR color=#c0c0c0 noShade SIZE=1>Similar wheelchair makers can be found in Montana, Maryland, Oregon, Washington and elsewhere. Most dog carts start around $250 and can exceed $500 based on the size of the dog, while the cost of wheelchairs for other animals can vary depending on the type and size of animal. Since launching the business, Eddie’s Wheels has shipped carts worldwide — the largest to a 220-pound Saint Bernard in Great Britain — and has made wheelchairs for several cats, a ferret, alpacas, goats, sheep, a rabbit and a possum. They even keep a supply of tiny wheels on hand for a gerbil or hamster. <SCRIPT></SCRIPT><TABLE class=boxH_brl cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TD class=boxHC_brl noWrap width=*> Join the discussion <TABLE class=boxB_brl cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TR vAlign=top><TD class=boxBI_brl> How far would you go to care for a disabled pet? Veterinarian Derek Fox, a University of Missouri professor specializing in orthopedic surgery for dogs, cats and other small animals, said pets that once would have been irreversibly crippled are benefiting from a variety of advancements: improved hip and joint replacements, better physical therapy and wheelchairs. “Even if a treatment is expensive, these are people who say they’ll do anything to keep their pet moving, to keep them happy, to keep their quality of life up,” he said. Many of the dogs who need the chairs become disabled from degenerative myelopathy, a neurological disease common in German shepherds, golden retrievers, Labradors and other large sporting breeds. Others, like Corgis and Daschunds, are vulnerable to disc and spine problems that eventually leave them lame. 'Back to normal' “Dogs don’t understand why this is going on, but they’re very accepting: ’Oh, this is the way I am today.’ So when we put them in the cart, they’re like: ’Oh, now I’m back to normal. I can go where I want,” Leslie Grinnell said. That was the case with Max, an 8-year-old German shepherd whose owners, Gordon and Linda Landry of Granby, said his degenerative myelopathy left him dejected and hobbling behind their other dog, Molly. As he tried his new cart for the first time, the dog whimpered at the door to go outside and promptly wheeled his way down the walkway, around the parking lot and past Molly as she peered at him from the Landrys’ truck. “This just amazes me,” Linda Landry said as she watched him, laughing at his vigor. “We never get to see him like this anymore. It’s like having a younger Max back.”
Hi This accessory have given the pets a SECOND LIFE.What a buttering alternative. Happy Living!!!!! Is this limited only with Dogs?? Thanks
Don't know Saroj, but I think this invention might bring relief to other pets too, in the near future. Isn't that cute crazywriter! Sriniketan
