Sit Down Dog Wheelchairs
5 Reasons Why Your Disabled Pet Needs Pet Boots
Conditions like osteoarthritis, hip dysplasia and degenerative myelopathy are just a few conditions that can lead to mobility loss. Many diseases that affect your pet’s mobility often begin with small signs, such as an awkward gait or dragging their feet when they walk. Whether your dog is just starting to show signs of mobility loss or dealing with paralysis, not only do pet boots protect your disabled pet’s feet, they can make their life easier.
Boots Provide Much Needed Traction
For most pet parents, the first signs of a pet’s mobility condition are often seeing them struggle to stand up or walk across a slippery floor. Protective footwear can help alleviate these struggles.
Dog boots with a rubber sole are designed increase traction on any surface. The non-slip sole helps disabled pets to get a better grip on the floor and to better control their movement. A better grip means it’s safer for them to slow down or take a corner and move around with ease. Pet boots not only lower the risk of a slip and fall accident, but they allow your dog to move confidently.
Wearing Boots Prevents Paw Injuries
Pets with loss of strength and weakened limbs can experience difficulties with paw placement. This can be caused from a loss of feeling in their feet or even a neural condition. Pets with proprioception issues, may walk on the tops of their paws or drag their feet which over time causes scrapes and sores.
For wheelchair dogs the problem can be even worse, especially for extremely active pets. Dragging paws can lead to painful wounds that worsen the more your dog walks and drags their feet. Additionally, your dogs toe nails can crack and break open as well. Having your pet wear dog shoes will lessen the occurrence of scraping injuries and prevent them in the future. Wearing pet boots gives your dog's wounds time to heal.
Tip: Is your wheelchair dog scraping the top of their feet? Flip the boot upside down with the rubber sole on top to protect the top of their paws from injury!
Protecting a Dog's Paws
Whether dealing with a permanent disability or temporary injury on a pet's foot or leg, pet boots can be an important part of the healing process. Open wounds need to be kept clean and protected at all times. Wearing a boot over your dog's leg prevents your pet from digging at or licking their wound.
It's common for paralyzed dog's to chew their feet, even dog's who can't feel their paws at the time of initial injury. Nerves regenerate over time and they can start to feel it, like pins and needles. Preventing them from chewing on their paws is incredibly important. Although nerve sensation may be returning, a paralyzed dog can cause severe injury to themselves without realizing it. Wearing boots can help protect the paws and lower legs from becoming damaged.
Boots Provide Additional Leg Support
The All-Weather Boots feature bootstraps that wrap around your pet’s leg. Providing additional light support around the leg joint as well as the surrounding leg muscles. This increased leg support is beneficial for dogs recovering from a lower leg injury or during physical therapy.
Protect Your Pet from Extreme Temps
As your pet ages, arthritis and joint pain can worsen, especially in colder weather. Dog boots are water resistant to keep your dog’s feet dry. Keeping your dog’s paws warm and protected from the extreme cold will keep your dog more comfortable during their daily walks.
Boots are especially vital if your pet has lost feeling in their feet from nerve damage or paralysis. Without feeling your dog will be unaware how cold (or hot) the ground is beneath their feet. This puts them at risk for frost bite in the winter and burns from hot pavement in the summer.
