Leg braces give Misty some much needed additional support
I talked at length about Misty's mobility issues in a previous post and how we desperately needed some new solutions to her growing problem. By February, Misty was having a lot of difficulty walking for even a short duration and the Help 'Em Up harness wasn't giving her enough assistance anymore. Her hind legs were weak to the point of sinking down and her front legs were also losing strength, and we noticed a lot of limping. Every outing/pee break was becoming a challenge, where she would lose balance to one side, or even refuse to take steps altogether. We were starting to seriously question how and for how long we can keep going this way.
Well, since then, we've done quite a bit of research and settled on trying some leg braces on her. I think leg braces are usually not the first thing most people think about when dealing with senior dogs, but rather it's more for dogs recovering from injuries or with degenerative diseases. At least I did. When I first came across it, I was immediately intrigued and once I started to read more about it, I found there were lots of people out there using them for their senior dogs with similar issues as Misty's, and having good success with it. We had nothing to lose, so we decided to try them. (I'll do a separate post on the actual products that we used and will give my thoughts on them later.)
When the braces came, we started with just one in the front to get a feel for it and to let Misty get comfortable with it, but it didn't take much time for her at all. I think it's partially because she's used to walking in boots, but also because it provided immediate support and relief that she liked. So, we continued adding other braces one at a time over the span of a week or so.
We noticed almost immediately that Misty started to walk with more confidence and with less hesitation. By the time all four braces were on, her walk looked so much more stable--her hind legs felt stronger and her limp in the front was gone.
We were quite happy with the improvements the braces produced, but we did run into one issue--while the front braces helped with stability, the stiffness of it hindered the range of leg movement and Misty's front paws were scraping the ground a bit. We noticed that one of her nails on left paw was filed down to the quick and there was a little bleeding. We put a sock on that paw to protect from further scraping and that worked well enough, but we still felt that her movements were limited, so we removed the front braces altogether. Thankfully, even without them, Misty continues to walk well enough with just the back braces.
Overall, I would say that the braces definitely help and it's an option worth exploring for other senior dogs with mobility issues. For misty and her advanced stage, the improvements are minor, but still significant enough for us. We are still having to support her hind legs quite a bit, but it's been a tremendous help in getting through our everyday routines. More than anything, I can see the change in Misty's demeanor and it's a wonderful thing.☺️
Here are some photos of before and after the braces and a video to follow. I realize I have a hard time taking pictures/videos of her when she's not doing so well, so I don't have too many "before" shots, and the “before” video doesn’t show nearly how bad Misty’s legs have gotten, but I think you'll still get the gist. **turn the volume up on the video to hear how her nails were scraping**
before the braces when each step was so difficult 😥
you can see just how much the back legs sink
first day with the brace, already showing improvement
with all four braces--look how much more straight her back legs are
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