Cat Wheelchair

I agree with Petra,quality of life is very important and to keep a cat alive for selfish reasons is very unkind.
Also cats do not like being peep shows in difficult situations.They are private animals but they have no say so it's very important to ensure they really are happy with wheels instead of legs.
Also that in this unnatural state they are protected from kids and dogs.

The cart is removed at naptime and then put back on when the cat is ready to do wheelies again.

I imagine there are a few creative cats out there who manage to prop themselves up to sleep somewhere even with the cart attached.

Fran, I couldn't agree with you more. That's the bad behavior I'm referring to. Thanks!

If Kat practices what she preaches and stops sabotaging other peoples articles for her indoor cat rants then she won't be jumped on.
Just as long as she doesn't insult Michael again or target our favourite writers with unjust comments.

Thanks again, Elisa, for a very well-written article on cat wheelchairs. Before long, those cats will be doing "wheelies" in their new-found freedom, LOL!

Petra is correct as to the quality of life for a cat, be it with wheels or otherwise. These vids are proof that some cats thrive. Not every cat may be so fortunate. From what we've seen here, these felines are having the time of their lives. Query - how do they rest? Don't tell me others here haven't wondered. I assume, since cats spend a great deal of time sleeping, their caretaker must oversee their chair use to allow for down time.

As for Kat - give her a break please. Sure, she's gone on a tangent in other posts and I am surely not a fan of such behavior. None of us are perfect, though. We do not know her story (other than what she's told us). Unless we walk in another's shoes, we cannot know their situation. Everyone deserves their say on PoC - that's what makes this site as great as it is. It is unfair to jump on her every time she contributes to a discussion - even if we disagree.

This is interesting information which everyone hopes they will never need. I'd only like to add that keeping a living creature alive at any price isn't always the kindest thing, be it a human, feline or canine member of the family please always consider the needs and the potential quality of life of the patient before the thoughts of the heartbreak that the loss of them would bring.

Thanks everyone. Your comments got me on the right track in a hurry. But Kat may be a total train wreck by the time everyone is done with her.

I think I've gone from being too bossy to too nice. I used to work with people other people hated so that tells you something.

The next story is a keeper too and there will be homework. I'm trying to do some helpful stories before I go back to gloom and doom again. There are too many of them.

This is great news for pets who are mobility challenged. These chairs can make such a difference in the lives of not only the cats and dogs, but their human companions as well.

I do hope that this article become widely circulated and that those folks who are caring for cats and dogs who can benefit from these wheelchairs and don't know about this resource will be thrilled that they exist.

Thanks so much for writing about it.

Thanks for including that as I thought it was ingenious and it seemed like one (reasonably) happy cat.

Thank you for a brilliant article Elisa which hopefully no readers will ever need to know about, but sadly awful things happen and the information is here if fate is cruel.
It used to break my heart nursing paralysed animals and it was so degrading for them to be helpless and to have to be 'wheelbarrowed' is the only way to describe it, for exercise. We had no wheelchairs those days to help them.
As long as an animal has quality of life is the main thing, they are wonderful how they adapt.

Hey talk about the kettle calling the pot grimy bot.

Here we have Kat Parker(who thinks we are all morons)sabotaging our Elisa's interesting and well written page to promote her indoor only cats rant.

Sorry Elisa a taste of do as you would be done by was needed for her.

And she'll zoom along like a speed demon once she gets her cart. I hope you'll shoot a little video and submit a story on her once she gets it. The first time she tries it out if possible. It would be great to see the look on her face right before she takes off at full speed.

Bless you for not throwing her away.

I adopted a handicapped kitten in 2007. She had suffered a severe back injury sometime shortly after birth - she was only 7 weeks old when we adopted her. Thanks to veterinary acupuncture, she has regained full sensation in her back legs, and can now potty on her own, but the development of her bones and muscles in her back end were stunted. Her hips sockets did not fully form, and though she has control of her back legs, she is unable to keep them beneath her. She is such an amazing girl, and though many people have told me that it is sad to see her, she spares no time to feeling sorry for herself! Her determined and proud little spirit is an inspiration. We hope to either make or purchase a cart for her very soon.

Have I ever learned. Between to dogs killing my cats and the cars killing them, the two beloved kitties I have now are totally indoor cats and NO ONE will ever change my mind on that. I'm through digging senseless graves!

These are very good resources, Elisa, in case of this need. Thank you for posting these. I would like to add to this that prevention is the best medicine, however, and if at all possible, it's best to keep the cats indoors where they won't get hit by cars or attacked by neighborhood dogs or cats, etc.... I know we all live and learn from our mistakes, although our cats are not always that lucky... so if we could learn from others' mistakes and not have to put our own animals through it, it would be awesome, don't you agree? But, yes, these sites are very good, especially since not all injury/accidents occur outdoors, and we do want to make our little kitties lives as enjoyable as possible. ~Kat~

My cat Smokey was the inspiration for this story. She was attacked by a neighborhood cat and could only drag her back legs for 3 days. I still remember the vet coming out at 11pm and telling us she may or may not recover. We waited on her hand and foot those 3 days.

I had no clue then as to where to find a chair or the cost. We didn't have internet in 1983. Smokey slowly recovered but it was a very scary time.

It's nice to know they're not in the $1000 price range

What a great and helpful article! I truly hope I don't need this information however I have indeed bookmarked it just in case. The websites are great and I love the little homemade cart! No I wouldn't necessarily use it either that took both human and cat ingenuity to make and use!

I am amazed that cats take so well to this equipment. I see many dogs using wheels etc.

Marvellous really.

Thanks, Elisa, for a useful article. You have put the best providers on one page and quite a lot of people search for cat wheelchairs, which I am pleased about because it means people are keeping and caring for severely disabled cats.