Story by Rebecca West
What does it take to have a disabled pup that requires some type of mobility device in order for them to have some semblance of normalcy in their life? For the most part, the answer is a whole lot of love in your heart and a patient, giving nature. Adopting or fostering disabled pets is not for everyone, regardless of how well-intentioned you are going into it, but the rewards can be immeasurable.
Back in July 2022, we started communicating with Kim Kelly, who was working closely with
Bree Kishman of Hope of Deliverance. We covered Bree in our Women of Rescue series. At the time, Kim was working on starting her own 501c3 called Paws Without Borders when she contacted us about finding a home for a sweet little lady named Luna, who’d been repeatedly overlooked by potential adopters due to her special needs. This is what she messaged us at the time:
“Luna’s story is tragic but also miraculous…you see, she took a bullet for her owner and lost the ability to walk because of it. 3 years ago, Luna was in the car when, for some unknown reason, someone began shooting at the car. Her owner ducked and was unscathed, however Luna took the bullet that was meant for her beloved owner. Although they loved her through thick and thin, her owner could no longer care for Luna, as he has two young children and is a single dad who works full time.”
While describing her as a beautiful soul, she was not without consideration. Here is a condensed version of her bio’s backstory from that same thread:
“Miraculously, although shot in the spine, she did not lose control of her bowels!! She is currently being fostered by a local veterinary student but is looking for her forever home. We think Luna would do best in a home with another gentle, playful dog and people who are active and like to take long walks/hikes with their dogs. Luna a is border collie mix and is VERY active — she will play for hours with other dogs and walk long distances in her wheelchair and still have energy for more!
“Her vets suggest that acupuncture (which she is currently receiving) and physical therapy (which she is getting daily from her foster mom) would greatly help her. She gets around just fine without her wheelchair but comes with an Eddie’s Wheels brand chair. Very loving and playful, thousands of dollars have been spent on surgeries, aqua therapy, and other physical therapies, and she has come a loooooong way in her recovery.”
After many months with no takers in sight, eventually, that young U of A vet med student decided to keep her, and upon graduation, the foster fail and her new mom moved to Flagstaff, where they now happily reside.
When we reached out to Kim to do this story, she told us about many other cases she had seen since starting Paws Without Borders, a volunteer-based non-profit rescue that rehabilitates and rehomes abandoned, abused, and neglected street dogs from Mexico. One of those was Jazmin, who was hit by a car. She’d drug herself around for weeks before anyone stopped to help her in Hermosillo, where she spent 6 months at a veterinarian clinic following several surgeries. After a year’s worth of care there, Jazmin ended up being fostered in Canada for roughly another year, got a cool set of wheels, and eventually found her forever home in Upstate New York.
But not all dogs end up needing mobility devices due to tragic accidents. Take Junior, another success story brought to our attention by Kim. Junior was on an E-deadline when foster caregiver and PACC volunteer Lori Fitzpatrick’s son, Robert, decided to foster him. This is their story as told by Lori:
“Junior will be 2 in September. He was found on the side of the road at 2 weeks old. We suspect he came from a backyard breeder who realized he had a birth defect and dumped him. Junior was brought to PACC and diagnosed with cerebellar hypoplasia, a condition where part of the brain is underdeveloped or missing. CH is developed when the mother is exposed to certain viral infections while pregnant, like parvo. When Junior was found. he could only lay on his right side.
“He was with a foster for almost a year who worked with him to learn his wheelchair and physical therapy to help Junior to be able to lay on his stomach and roll over. He was placed on an E-deadline in November 2023. Originally, my son fostered him through Paws Without Borders. Junior wears diapers and uses pee pads, and it was difficult for my son to stay on top of the laundry without a washer/drier in his unit. At the same time, we were having issues with one of our older dogs and agreed to “trade” dogs.
“While Junior has thrived and progressed since being with us, he has a severe case of CH and will never stand or walk on his own. When we got him, he was in poor shape with very little muscle mass and experiencing tremors. Now, with his skin healed, he is a healthy weight and his tremors have stopped.
“A normal day for Junior is waking up and going outside in his wheelchair to eat and play for an hour. He loves to zoom around the yard and play tug of war. After his outside time, he comes indoors and hangs out to watch Bluey, chewing bones and playing with squeaky toys. At dinner time, he goes outside again to eat and play. Sometimes, he goes for wagon rides, weather permitting. Every night before I go to bed, I lay in his pen and cuddle with him.
“While some people think Junior doesn’t have the best quality of life, this is all he’s ever known. He wasn’t “able-bodied” and then injured. He has always been confined to his own space and has not been mobile unless he’s in his chair. He is happy. He wags his tail and loves to cuddle and give kisses.
“Junior definitely requires a lot of time and attention, but seeing him thrive is great motivation. It’s expected that he’ll have a normal lifespan. I’ve been very active with PACC ever since I began volunteering with them in 2023. I’m a dog walker/handler who focuses on shy, scared, decompression dogs. I also mentor new dog walkers, give new volunteer tours, and help with adoptions and other tasks at PACC. I also help two local rescues with home visits and working with dogs in boarding. Plus, I am part of various transport groups that transport dogs between rescues.
“Since Junior has come to live with us, we ended up foster failing two more dogs that were sick/injured when we took them in and ended up keeping them, bringing our total to six! Our house is hectic, but we have a schedule/routine and make it work. The love and laughs and companionship the dogs give us make all the work worth it!”
Next, we spoke with Kate Titus of OrthoPets Arizona – A Loyal Companion. Kate’s work with dogs centers around seniors experiencing mobility issues and those who are disabled. She stressed to us that she and her employee, Nikki Fahm, who’s got a Walkin’ Wheels Professional Certification, are not vets and do not make quality-of-life assessments. Instead, they bridge the gap between pet owners and veterinarians.
For her part, Kate is a certified canine fitness trainer, a FitPAWS master trainer, and a certified canine therapeutic and sports massage therapist. In 2008, she founded A Loyal Companion with the idea of providing massage, exercise, and mobility solutions for senior dogs. Then, in 2015, she opened the first canine fitness and mobility center in Arizona, featuring an indoor swimming pool and doggy gym.
The author of two books on canine mobility, Sit. Stand. GO! How to help your dog overcome mobility challenges and Emotion to Motion: How the mind impacts your dog’s mobility, Kate also lectures to groups on the subject of fitness, massage, caring for senior dogs, and canine mobility, so she knows a thing or two about the topic.
We wanted to know her thoughts on the benefits of the various therapies available and questioned her about wheelchairs or mobility devices and current terminology. Rather than referring to these animals as handicapped, mobility challenged is the broader term in use today.
Whether it is age-related, congenital, or due to injury, aqua therapy can be used in almost every situation to benefit range of motion, confidence, and joint conditions. The gym, on the other hand, is used for resistance training in muscle building. Kate’s “thing” is working with dogs with cranial cruciate ligament injuries and hip dysplasia, as well as those having femoral head ostectomy procedures.
As to mobility devices, she recommends you ask what your dog needs in deciding on a saddle-type chair or what amounts to a cart. Oftentimes, when we see or hear about dogs with a chair/cart, the name Eddie’s Wheels pops up. Known to be pricier, Kate agreed that while you get what you pay for and they are top of the line when it comes to quality, there is a less expensive option by the brand Walkin’ Pets, whose Walkin’ Wheels are generally priced more affordably.
Both Kim Kelly and Kate use them as part of their “rental fleets” and enthusiastically noted that one of Walkin’ Pets’ advantages is that they make an adjustable cart that can be adapted for the growth of the dog. Paws Without Borders has a lending program for people who come to adopt, and Nikki Fahm’s Walkin’ Wheels Certificate includes assessment, measurement, fitting, adjustment, and applications of Walkin’ Wheels’ adjustable rear-wheel and quad carts. FYI, Eddie’s does have used carts in stock that are available at steep discounts, according to their website.
Fortunately, not all conditions require wheels to get around. Instead, they may be able to use a prosthetic or some type of orthotic device. A lot of prosthetics are made using 3D printers, like the custom webbed foot crafted for a duck named Buttercup in the news in 2017 for its fancy footwork.
If you check out their website, OrthoPets has a pretty extensive line of mobility products that include a variety of braces and prosthetics, as well as over-the-counter adaptive devices for mild injuries. They also take advantage of remote telemedicine opportunities, allowing collaborating veterinarians to work together with Veterinary Orthotic and Prosthetic (VOP) case managers, and in 2022 they partnered with Certified Prosthetist Orthotists (CPOs) across the country in their continuing effort to take canine mobility care to the next level.
For questions regarding your own pet(s), you can message them at info@aloyalcompanion.com or call (520) 448-3548.
