Would you put your dog on wheels if he needed help moving around?
Believe it or not, but a few thousand dog wheelchairs are sold each year to people whose pets are in need of a little help moving around. For them, it’s one big way of helping pets overcome joint disease. There are a handful of companies in the U.S. that build such contraptions and they’re mostly run by mom-and-pop stores.
The Wall Street Journal’s Tim Aeppel wrote a wonderful article documenting the pet wheelchair industry, as well as the stories of some animals that use them. Everything from dogs and lambs use animal wheelchairs. But if you think your cat will use one, think again. Tim reports that cats are actually not fond of the machines and very few of them use one.
Using an animal wheelchair is one way of helping pets overcome joint disease, albeit a non-traditional one at that. A more optimal way would be the FlexPet dietary supplement. Unlike an animal wheelchair, which helps pets move around, FlexPet actually works to build back the lost cartilage in the joints. It has even been known to work on dogs who’ve lost much of their ability to walk because of massive joint discomfort.
Tim tells a wonderful story of a chicken that has been known to use one of the animal wheelchairs (although those who built the device aren’t sure of the animal’s progress). He also tells the story of a lamb named Spin who was born with crippled legs and now uses the chair for mobility purposes. Spin’s animal wheelchair cost between $500 and $1,000, which is the average cost unless there are special needs involved, pushing the cost to over $2,000.
Many veterinarians also quoted in the story said the animals actually adapt well to the wheelchairs, often forgetting that they’re even in the chairs. Common sense would say that many senior dogs have joint disease, but even younger dogs can have pet joint disease.
Helping pets overcome joint disease is a big focus for thousands of pet owners all across the country. Many of these pet owners have spent the last several years looking at alternative ways to help their pets overcome joint disease because traditional medicines and treatments are either too expensive or come with unwanted side effects. When pets have joint disease it can lead to poor pet health and even pet obesity.
FlexPet is far less expensive than the cost of a joint replacement surgery. In fact, a regular treatment of the dietary supplement pales in comparison to the thousands of dollars it costs for a joint replacement surgery.
Related articles:
- Swimming for Dogs to Reduce Joint Pain
- Pet Obesity Leads To Pet Joint Degeneration
- Physical Aids for Dogs
