I was doing some research for an article the other day and came across a strongly-worded warning from a veterinarian against the use of protective booties on the rear feet of dogs with various types of neurological, disk, and spinal problems that affect their hindquarters.
Owners try these booties because their dogs seem to have little feeling in their feet and some lack of control of their rear legs, and as a result their feet, including the tops, are often scraped and bruised. But, this vet contends, the booties actually diminish what sensation they still have, and make them more likely to fall.
Which certainly sounds perfectly reasonable. But is it?
Like so much absolute advice, including, no doubt, some I've given out over the years, this is very much a "your mileage may vary" situation. My dog Rebel has the hindquarter weakness that seems to affect many senior Scottish Deerhounds, particularly the larger males. I've been lucky that only a few of my many hounds have had this problem, but in every case it's the same: it hits them in advanced old age, it progresses very slowly, it never results in anything like paralysis or an inability to get up or use their rear legs, but does make it hard for them to right their feet when they knuckle over, and they seem to have little control over, and sensation in, their rear feet.
As a consequence, their toes and the tops of their feet get abraded and sometimes even infected from scraping on the pavement or on rough surfaces like dirt, rocks, or dried leaves. It can be severe. And I've had excellent luck simply tucking their back feet into booties before taking them out for a walk.
The veterinarian on this website's advice was to walk your dog on grass instead of using booties, but that's a pretty tough prescription to fill for anyone who has to walk the dog on sidewalks, through parking lots, or even through a dry meadow or woodland path to get to a lawn. And even if you're going to put your dog in the car, it also assumes we all live near a suburban park or some other large, irrigated, mowed velvety greensward that allows dogs -- which many of us simply don't.
Then there's the reason she gave this advice, which was to minimize or avoid falling, but again: Rebel hasn't ever fallen. He has seriously injured his feet, so that's the problem the booties solve. His feet are fine, he doesn't fall, and we don't have to drive to the nearest soccer field every time he needs to potty.
Does that make her advice wrong? Of course not. I'd bet that many dogs would actually do much better being walked on plush lawns and not wearing boots. And if my dog was falling while wearing them, I'd be very grateful for this advice.
But there is no one-size-fits-all in veterinary medicine, and very few absolutes in life. I wish that more of us -- and that's not a rhetorical "us"; I'm guilty of this, too -- would remember to couch our advice in terms of our experience, and acknowledge that not every dog's circumstances are the same, nor are their needs.
Rebel's going to keep wearing his booties unless and until he starts to fall -- and then I guess we're going to have to drive to the grassy place for our walks. But that's going to be a bad day at our house, and not one I'm intending to get to any sooner than I have to -- if I ever do.
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