Every year in February for the last 14 years K9 Carts has exhibited at the Western Veterinary Conference held in Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the world. I am not a gambler but I usually throw away $10 each year playing the slots. Do I have a system for losing money? No, it depends on what Casino I am in at the time. However if I knew of a Casino or bank of slot machines that guaranteed that there was a 75% or greater chance of winning, then that is where I would put my money. While I’ve yet to find a way to raise my gambling odds, I’ve had great success raising the odds for mobility-impaired pets.
We can raise our odds in life every day by our personal choices and actions. There is no definite guarantee that our lives will be happy, healthy and successful but we can definitely raise our odds by knowledge and watching and learning from successful people. With our health, we can help maintain good health by diet and exercise and if surgery is indicated, seek out the best surgeons and specialists followed by the proper rehabilitation should surgery be necessary. We are raising our odds that we will be able to do what we want to do in life when and where we want to especially as we grow older, whether it be skiing, tennis, white water rafting etc. In Big Sky Montana the senior pass for skiing is 70!
We know by giving animals rehabilitation, we raise the odds for animals recovering in a safer, faster manner, whether it is pre or post surgery or those for whom surgery is not indicated. Of course there are pets with medical conditions such as degenerative myelopathy where we know they are not going to regain mobility but we certainly improve their quality of life by giving them a means of mobility with a K9 cart. I am sure you see daily results when you swim and massage pets in your pools.
If you have ever gone through major surgery usually the day after surgery, the nurses and rehabilitation staff have you up and walking either with crutches or a walker to keep your body functioning. Lying in bed is not healthy. The same applies to pets. Cage rest causes unhappiness and being confined may even do further damage. Just try keeping a young dog quiet after surgery! Placing them in a K9 cart will protect the injured back or limb and prevent further damage as they recover.
Molly, an 11 year old Golden Retriever, came in to see us for a cart rental. She had been run over by a car and her left femur was shattered. The femur had been repaired with a plate and now nursing care was an issue as the surgeon did not want her bearing full weight on that leg. Even after a couple of days, the owners were finding it difficult to care for Molly as she is an 85lb dog and of course they were afraid that she would re-injure the leg.
Options available were lifting her on and off stretchers and holding her up with multiple slings and always watching out for her falling when they took her outside to eliminate. Fortunately the surgeon had recommended they look into a cart for Molly. By renting Molly a cart, we have raised Molly’s odds of a faster, safer recovery and made nursing care easier for the owner. Molly will be happier in a standing position even if it is only for short periods of time and will remain healthier through her recovery.
Update on Molly: Two weeks later, Molly’s owner called to return the cart as to quote him “it did the job” What exactly did he mean by “did the job?” A K9 cart allowed Molly to be in a standing position for short periods of time, not constantly lying on her side possibly incurring sores and having to be bathed often due to incontinence as she could not get up and be taken outside as often as needed. She was able to eat, drink and eliminate in a standing position. The cart protected the surgery leg and took stress off the non-surgical leg and the rest of her body.
Molly was happy to get up on all fours, the owners could handle her in an easier manner and were happier seeing her recovering safely, which took some stress out of their lives. The K9 cart kept her safe while allowing the fracture to heal to a point where it was safe for her to be without a cart thus preventing the leg from further injury leading to possible amputation.
Squishy, a 7 year old Rex Rabbit, was brought to us by Dr Maya Bewig in Sequim Wa. She only had ½ of her left front leg and her back legs were extremely weak. She could only drag herself around leaving her susceptible to sores and infection. We placed her in a specially designed cart and off she hopped, munching grass along the way.
Squishy may or may not recover function. We shall see how she is doing when she visits us on August 6th at La Paws Spa in Sequim as I have invited her to be a guest when I give my presentation to Cindy Horsfall’s students. We will also have a five month old paralyzed Dachshund puppy, who was abandoned and adopted by Cecilia Newberg and shall see how this little pup is doing.
For every cart we ship out we raise that pet’s odds for either coming back to running around on all fours again or living a longer happier life while maintaining a better quality of life.
I strongly suggest that you raise your odds at your facility by calling us about our rehabilitative carts. You will then be able to rent out carts to your patients on a temporary basis. I promise you will be thrilled by the quick results and your clients will be happier knowing that you have gone that extra mile to ensure their pets a happier safer recovery, making nursing care easier for them and improving their pet’s quality of life during recovery.
If you wish me to come and give a demonstration and talk to your group about how to add this dimension to your facility, please call me. Don’t gamble without raising your odds offer your patients an additional rehabilitative aid – a K9 Cart
Barbara Parks
Pet Mobility Rehab Center
(formerly K-9 Carts West)
Langley, WA
1-360-321-2402
www.petmrc.com
petmrc<at>gmail.com