[Dailydrool] Homes with stairs

[Elizabeth Lindsey]

I'd avoid putting a basset in the position of having to navigate  
flights of stairs on a frequent, regular basis because you never know  
until it's too late whether or not your basset's back can handle that  
kind of stress over the long haul. This isn't something you want to  
find out because it usually costs the basset dearly, and you as well.

When we got our first basset, the late Jane, we knew keeping her  
weight down would help her back stay healthy. But no one warned us  
about stairs and not letting her jump in and out of the car or on and  
off the furniture. So she did all those things for her first five  
years with us. Then she ruptured a disk one Christmas Day jumping out  
of the car after a long walk in the woods. She ruptured two more a  
couple years later. She recovered only about 30 percent mobility  
after her second back surgery for those last two ruptures.

It was only *after* she ruptured a disk that a vet, her orthopedist  
at Purdue's vet school, told us what we should have been doing all  
along to try to prevent back issues. I remain angry with the regular  
vets we'd seen before this who didn't tell us what else we should  
have been doing and why. According to the orthopedist who repaired  
Jane's rupture, for long, low dogs like bassets, dachshunds, and  
corgis, the motion of doing stairs and jumping on and off things puts  
more pressure on the cushioning disks between the vertebrae than  
occurs with dogs of less exaggerated proportions. Over time, that  
kind of compression causes wear and tear on the disks. Many bassets  
are able to handle it, but some aren't, and one or more of their  
disks disintegrates, leaving little pieces on the super-sensitive  
spinal cord and causing tremendous pain. It usually takes surgery to  
resolve this situation, and the recovery period is months and months.  
You'll be out at least several thousand dollars, and your basset may  
never recover full mobility.

To my mind, it's easier and cheaper for human and hound to avoid  
stairs and jumping in addition to keeping a trim figure so that the  
basset's back doesn't have to carry any more weight than necessary.  
Keeping the nails trimmed also helps because it keeps the basset's  
weight evenly distributed across the entire foot surface, which helps  
spinal alignment (info I got from our veterinary chiropractor).  
Exercise helps keep the muscles around the spine strong.

Our Jane Basset did not come to us with the greatest genetics. We  
found her at a no-kill shelter, which told us she was a puppy mill  
rescue. It may be she came from a backyard breeder. Either way, her  
genes weren't her best friends. It could be that we could have  
carried her wrapped in bubble wrap for her entire life and she still  
would have had ruptured disks, But it could also be that she would  
have gotten through life intact if we'd known to take greater  
preventive measures. We'll never know if it was our fault, and guilt  
still niggles at me.

Once bitten, twice wary, so we don't allow Jane's worthy successor,  
our Elsinore, or young Charlie on the second floor of our house. We  
have ramps for the car and to get from the deck to the backyard, we  
lift them on and off the sofa when we want them to sit with us there,  
and we keep their weight down and nails trimmed. For extra measure,  
we give them regular chiropractic care. Elsinore clearly isn't the  
product of reputable breeders, and physical disaster is the only way  
to describe young Charlie with his twisted front legs. But if either  
hound should develop back trouble, at least we'll know we did  
everything we could to protect them.

I'll be happy to share photos of our backyard ramp with anyone who's  
interested.

Elizabeth