[Dailydrool] Dailydrool Digest, Vol 154, Bassets in Wheelcarts

[Rkbeard at aol.com]

If your basset girl has bladder and bowel control, and can still wag her  
tail, there is a very good possibility that she may fully recover.  I have  
had three experiences with bassets in wheelcarts--one of my own, and two 
friends  who had bassets that used them.
 
My girl first--She suffered a back injury at about age 3--was completely  
paralized, no bladder or bowel control, and could not wag her tail.  The  
only thing that showed us that she might respond to surgery was that she still  
had some feeling in her back feet.  We had surgery done, she was in a cart  
for several months,
was also on crate rest when she was not in the cart, and she fully  
recovered--to the point that she whelped a litter of pups at a little past age  4.  
She lived to be 15+ years old, and spent the last year of her life back  in 
a cart due to severe arthritis robbing her of her back legs.
 
The second girl was a beautiful bitch owned by friends of mine--she injured 
 her back at about age 5.  Her vet did not recommend surgery, but her 
owners  contacted me regarding using a cart.  To make a long story short, the 
first  time she was put in the cart, she immediately started moving with it, 
and within  a couple on months was back to her old self.  Her owners were very 
careful  never to let her jump down from anything, or climb stairs, but she 
is still  alive and doing very well.
 
The third one was a lovely old senior bitch who suddenly went down in her  
rear--could not walk at all, could not wag, could not control her bladder, 
but  could control her bowels.  She still had some feeling in one back  leg.  
She was almost 11 years old.  Her owners who going to have her  euthanized 
because she was not a good candidate for surgery.  My husband  and I 
insisted that they try a cart, and put her on glucosamine and  chrondroitin.  It 
took several weeks before she actually started moving her  back legs, but she 
is now out of the cart, walking on her own, and ruling her  household.  She 
is almost 12 at this time.
 
I firmly believe in all three cases that the cart played a major role in  
the recovery and survival of these three bassets.
 
Kathryn Beard
rkbeard at aol.com
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