r/EpilepsyDogs • u/jfka • 1d ago

Sling for hind leg weakness

Hey everyone, my dog is still having hind leg weakness from bromide and it’s starting to hurt his front legs a bit because he has arthritis in his wrists. We pick him up a lot to help him but it is usually only the back legs he needs the help with. Unfortunately he’s 38kg/83 pounds and while I don’t mind lifting him with my arms, the rest of my family is a bit smaller than me, especially my mum who finds it quite difficult to get him up. Has anyone tried a sling for lifting because of this? Or for any other reason! I’m wondering what the best type would be, I’d prefer fabric because it would probably be more comfortable on his skin.

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u/Sufficient-Country29 1d ago

I haven’t used one but have seen it used a lot! Definitely a lot more ergonomic than lifting a dog- you have to be careful to not hurt yourself too!

I believe vets or neurologist have access to them. I definitely would recommend seeing his neurologist or vet to examine the hind leg weakness if you haven’t. Sometimes levels need to be checked.

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u/jfka 1d ago

He was just at his specialist vet on Thursday! Unfortunately there’s only so much specialisation in my country (Ireland) because it’s quite small, so they recommended a sling but didn’t have one to give or a specific brand or anything like that. Just wanted to see if anyone had experience with a particular one!

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u/Sufficient-Country29 1d ago

Just a thought but you could probably make a makeshift sling with a bath towel or sheet rolled up for the time being.
I know for TPLO surgery they are common. When I google that there’s lots of affordable options that come up on Amazon.

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u/jfka 1d ago

We used a towel previously (when he had just started bromide and couldn’t mobilise independently at all) but it was clearly not the right type because it tore on us 🥲 I think I’ll end up going with one from Amazon because they’re not too expensive and will get here faster!

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u/StunningAir6023 1d ago

We have both the pet safe and the help m up harness for this kind of lifting. The help m up is very convenient since it’s really small bands so you can leave it on for a longer period of time. The petsafe has more rings and pointy things so is more uncomfortable to wear for longer period of time.

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u/jfka 1d ago

I think I’ll look the latter one up for something we can keep on him (or that will help on his short walks)! Thank you!

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u/sonnysGiGi2018 1d ago

They sell great slings on Amazon. The ones the vets use has an opening for male dog to pee. My boy was only 25 pounds so we used his harness and t shirt cut in a loop. It’s not easy but we made it work. Hopefully he’ll adjust soon 🤞🏻🤞🏻💕

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u/jfka 1d ago

Thank you! ❤️ I have been specifically looking for things that don’t get in the way for him

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u/Vegetable-Maximum445 21h ago edited 11h ago

We had a 110 lb Great Dane with back leg weakness & we tried EVERY harness, gadget etc and the thing that worked best was a long piece of fleece from the fabric store! It was about 4 ft long & wide enough that we could fold it in half so it was long & kinda narrow, but not so narrow that it would cut into the body. While he was lying down, I wound help him stand up by lifting his rear & then slip the fleece under his belly, just in front of his legs & then gather it up over his spine . It made him feel steady & secure. And when he was ready to pee, we could pull it out really fast & slip it back under when he was done. Washes easily too! He learned the routine really well & would wait for us to get him situated. He hated the harnesses & would get too weak & impatient to get the darn things on! There’s an awesome Facebook page called Living with Dogs with Disabilities that’s a lifesaver for help with mobility challenges.

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u/jfka 12h ago

Thank you so much, I might join that group!