Helping fit your pet into a cart
A dog wheelchair or dog cart is designed to assist dogs that have mobility problems, most commonly with the back legs. Dog carts provide walking support to allow your dog to continue to exercise and walk, enhancing their quality of life. Pets in need of carts often have mobility issues due to neurological (spine and brain) conditions, orthopaedic (bone and joint) injury and arthritis.
Light weight and Adjustable
We prefer the Walkin’ Wheels cart because they use quality materials which keep the cart light weight, have various sizes and are easily adjustable. In addition, the carts can be converted from a 2-wheel cart to a quad cart (4-wheel) if the individual pet needs (such as a pet with both a spine problem affecting the back legs and front leg osteoarthritis).
We also like the soft harness support systems which allows the dog more comfort and movement within the cart (especially if they are still willing to run!)
Carts are designed to assist dogs who have been affected with the following problems:
- Hip and elbow dysplasia
- Osteoarthritis
- Paralysis or weakness
- IVDD/ spinal problems
- Degenerative Myelopathy (DM)
- Surgery Recovery
- Amputations
- Many other mobility issues
That means we’ve done the training and had plenty of experience at evaluating and fitting dogs to carts. We can easily assess your pet’s needs, measure, order, build and fit your dog’s cart. We teach you the tricks of getting your pet in and out safely, as well as helping to create an exercise programme to help your pet. While some stock is available in Hong Kong, often, we need to wait for the correct size combination from the US, so time line from measure to fit can vary.
It’s important to consider the difference between humans and dogs when considering how long to put your pet in the cart. As humans, we tend to spend much of our day sitting, so using a wheelchair for extended periods (I.e. staying in the chair while not using it for mobility) is very normal. For dogs, when they are not walking, running or playing, they will prefer to sit or lie down. Hence leaving a dog standing in their cart for any length of time will be tiring and will quickly become painful or worsen their problems.
Rear carts -Most commonly, pets who need a cart will just require rear support. Adjustable dog carts work by holding the dog’s back legs in place with a rear harness and leg rings. Most dogs adapt to the leg rings very quickly. Check out the Walkin' Wheels 2-wheel cart below.
Quad cart (front attachment) -The carts can be easily converted to 4 wheels to support dogs that weakness or pain in all 4 legs. The rear cart is converted with additional small wheels at the front. Our staff help you to identify if or when this may be needed for your pet.
Here at Paws in Motion, we have helped pets into carts after spinal injury or surgery to help their recovery; with degenerative neurological conditions such as degenerative myelopathy; in cases of osteoarthritis in front and back legs; leg injury and amputations. Wheelchairs for dogs enable them to maintain their daily activities such as playing and getting the exercise they need for a better quality of life.
Lellie was adopted in China after a rail accident that took both her back legs. She had puppies at the time and despite her own injuries, she found ways to move herself with just her front legs to pull herself around, keeping her babies safe. In her new home she is very successful at moving herself about and really only needs her wheels to join on longer walks with her doggy siblings.
At just 4 years of age, Luna had a severe disc injury in her spine needing urgent spinal surgery. A perky little hard worker, we are using a cart to help to train Luna to continue to use her back legs and walk on the treadmill. This little girl does more gym work than the whole Paws in Motion team added together! With her dedication, our hope is to get those back legs able to work on their own again soon (we call this spinal walking).
14-year-old Scout became weak in his back legs with advancing stiffness of his legs, muscle loss and also loss of some spine reflexes. He had some previous knee problems which probably made things more difficult quickly. Now Scout is pretty cool on his wheels, still able to get out and about with his humans, mini-humans and dog buddies for walks, play and picnics!!!
When 13-year-old super fit Tess first showed signs of hind leg weakness, her owners knew it was not just aging. Tess was diagnosed with degenerative myelopathy, a progressing condition that affects the long nerves in the spine- first the back legs and then the front legs. She was quickly in her cart so she didn’t miss a beat in her active lifestyle, continuing her hikes and swims as long as she was able.
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