Wheelchair for Misty, our initial thoughts and impressions

Misty in her new quad Walkin' Wheels wheelchair

In our ongoing saga of dealing with Misty's mobility troubles, we have some new developments to share. So, in the last post I talked about trying some leg braces on Misty and how that's been helpful to some extent. It does provide added stability to her weak hind legs, but we are still having to rely heavily on the Help 'Em Up Harness to support her while walking. The combination of the two is barely adequate in assisting her in and out to take care of her business three times a day, but it's way too hard now to go on any outings for an extended walk.

At the time of researching for the leg braces, we revisited the option of dog wheelchairs. We have considered it numerous times in the past, but at those times it seemed too specialized (for paralyzed dogs), and too complicated (for an urban setting) for our needs. Besides, we were managing well enough back then.  So, we looked more into it this time around and wondered if it may help a senior dog like Misty.

We had two main concerns with the wheelchair. First of all, since Misty's front legs are also quite weak, will she fall over and hurt herself in the wheelchair, and secondly, will she be able to take care of her business while in the wheelchair. We searched for examples of senior dogs with wheelchairs on the internet and I have to say, there aren't too many. Most successful cases are of younger dogs with hind leg paralysis who still have good use of their front legs and could thus support and pull themselves in the wheelchairs. Now, those dogs could fly in them!

Our decision to get the wheelchair was both difficult and easy. Difficult, because we had no idea to what extent it might help Misty and it's not a cheap device to invest in blindly. However, the decision was a simple one once we decided that neither one of us was ready to call it quits without trying everything we possibly can. We realized going into it that we might not get the results we're hoping for, but we still had to try.

So, here we are, about two weeks since the wheelchair arrived. Actually it's been more like three, because we first ordered and tried the standard wheelchair, but quickly realized (after a near fall) that we need the quad wheelchair after all. So we waited additional week to receive the front wheel extensions. It's been a slow and steady progress so far. We are taking it real easy to make sure that Misty doesn't tire out, so we've been doing about 5-10 min session at a time, all indoors in our underground garage where it's nice and flat. Making the wheelchair to fit her most optimally is quite tricky and we're still making micro-adjustments to both the length and the height. The first few days were pretty tough for Misty, but we feel that she's getting more comfortable in it and most importantly, she wants to keep moving in it. For us as her handlers, it's so nice to get a break from constantly supporting her weight with the harness, a much needed back relief. 😅

first day: Misty's back legs were nicely supported, but her front legs were unfortunately not strong enough

a week later with the new front wheel extensions--no more fear of her falling over!

I think it's way too soon to tell just what and how much we'll gain with the wheelchair. We're realistic and certainly are not looking to turn back time, but if we can improve the quality of life for Misty by even a little bit, we'll be very happy. Right now, we're just taking one day at a time and once we feel Misty is good and ready, we would like to take it outside to the park soon.

Here's a quick video of her in the wheelchair, taken about a week in. After a first couple of steps, she can keep a pretty good momentum, but we're still working on consistency and gain in the steadiness. More to come later...