Services | Cart/Sling
Therapy
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Precious in first
(homemade) cart
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Scooter-Boots in her Eddie’s
Wheels cart
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Sheba in her Eddie’s
Wheels cart
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Carts, or wheelchairs, aren’t just for the
pets that are no longer mobile on their own. They are a valuable
tool to strengthen weak
legs and keep
a pet from having to be in a cart for the rest of its life. It’s
kind of like water therapy, without the water.
In water therapy your pet gets the benefit of exercise without any of the weight of their body on their weak legs. A properly fitted and positioned cart can closely achieve the same benefits if water therapy is not an option. Your pet can walk or run until their legs can do no more and then they can sink into the saddle and let the cart take the weight of their body while their legs keep moving. It builds strength and stamina.
For smaller animals a sling can also work the same way. A woman with a Dachshund needed help because “Toroweap” had blown a disk in his back. He’d mostly recovered but his back legs were still weak and wobbly. Dr. Kathy Backus, our local vet, referred her to Healing HEART Sanctuary and we had a consult. She lived too far away for water therapy to be able to be done here on any regular basis and being on a fixed income a cart was not in the foreseeable future. So we got him a fitted diaper garment and with a few alterations, including very strong elastic straps to hold him in the right body position, he was off to the races. With a little practice his owner could determine exactly how much weight she wanted on his legs depending on how tired he was. She no longer had to carry him everywhere and they could get back to the long leisurely walks that they both enjoyed. Eddie’s Wheels offers a couple of links on “Carry Harnesses”.
As seen on the main image on this page, a totally different style
cart was built for when Precious was
a little puppy, and would outgrow any custom built cart in a matter
of seconds. A rectangle built of wood, with legs, caster wheels,
and bathing suit material was all that was needed to get her started
with walking.
There are many possibilities to help keep your pet mobile and happy.
Out of all the carts our Executive Director Laura Bradshaw has seen and tried, in her opinion and experience Eddie’s Wheels is the best. It’s easy to get the animals in and out of, the solid saddle prevents chafing and infection, and they are nearly indestructible. When you speak to them, tell them Healing HEART Sanctuary sent you.
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