Helping hands (and rears)

by | Wednesday | April 1, 2009 | 5 comments

About 2 years after I adopted Mulan, she had a TPLO surgery. This is a pretty invasive knee surgery, and as part of the requirement she was on cage rest for 6 weeks. She had a very difficult time getting up, and I had to assist her.

We were pretty low tech in vet school, and whenever we needed to assist a pet in getting up we would use a towel looped around their abdomen. This is also what we do at work. It works fine, but getting the towel around a recumbent animal and then supporting 40, 50, or more pounds with your hands in that towel gets fatiguing pretty fast. There are some slings on the market to make it easier, but none of the ones I have used seemed to be any easier.

But this- this product looks awesome. I love how the sling loops around the legs, making it much easier to get on and off, and is long enough so that you aren’t hunched over the dog holding onto their weight while they walk around.

image

If these had been around when Mulan had her surgery, I would have definitely sprung for one. And towards the end of her life, when she could no longer make it up the stairs to my daughter’s room, it would have been wonderful. I wish I had known about it then!

Pssst….don’t click if you’re easily grossed out…

Well hello there sailor!

eyecu

Filed: Reviews
  • Chile

    I would have love to have one of those too for Blade in the last couple weeks of him being with me. I did the sheet trick because no towel was big enough to hold him. Then a few times I had to enlist a friend to help carry all 120 lbs of him. They did have something similar to that at the specialist that I would have invested in if surgery would have saved him.

    Is it wrapping around the dog’s tail though? I wonder how that would work on the docked tails?

  • http://www.pawcurious.com/ Dr. V

    Nope, it’s looped around the legs, but no pressure on the tail. It would work fine for cropped tails.

    That sheet trick is a bear. I think I got rugburn from holding Mulan up and she was only 80 or so pounds at the time. Especially since it supports them on the belly and not the hips, it’s hard to get them to walk that way, all hunched over.

  • Chile

    I’d move the sheet all the way to the back around the hip areas but I was having to help him out to pee so then it was a mission to move it up and still support him so he could do his business. But then again he was such a shy boy he didn’t want anyone to see him doing his business!

    I see now the back piece near the tail comes up underneath the leg.

  • macula_densa

    I think I’d worry a bit about the pressure that front strap is putting on the femoral nerves, though. I could see a dog developing a dropped hock after being lifted with one of those…

  • John

    i could find some different products in SeniorPetProducts.Com