K-9 Cart Co East February 2011 Newsletter

Our name "K9 Carts" implies that we only make wheelchairs for dogs, but nothing is further from the truth.  In the past few weeks, we built a new cart for "Louie," a pot-bellied pig,  and "London," a siamese cat. Ferrets, chickens, and rabbit owners contact us as well for wheelchairs for their special pets.   There are many cats that could benefit from a K-9 Cart wheelchair, but for some reason most cat owners are reluctant to consider a cat wheelchair. One question that is always an issue is how will my cat use a litter pan.  Of course, this will require some adaptation since clearly a wheelchair cannot roll into a conventional litter pan.  London, however, was one of  the sweetest little kitten that suffers from cerebellar hypoplasia, and we understand why her owners found her so special.    about London on our K-9 Blog.

It seemed almost revolutionary when in 2004 Vet-Stem introduced the first veterinary stem cell service.  Dr. Robert Harmon, a veterinarian, conceived of the idea of translating stem cell therapies that were under development for human patients to horses and, ultimately, dogs and cats. However, several other companies

are now offering stem or progenitor cell therapies for our pets.

We met with a few of these companies at veterinary meetings and have tried to read up more online.  Three companies now offer cell therapies for osteoarthritis or degenerative joint disease using cells derived from your pet's own fat.

We affectionally have nicknamed our K-9 Cart Exclusive Catch-It-All as "CIA." Like the spy agency with the same initials, our CIA is designed to catch things we would rather not see.  The CIA is a small nylon pouch that attaches to the rear of a small- and medium-sized pet wheelchairs to catch feces (and urine in cats and female dogs.) Effectively, the CIA is a wheelchair diaper.  It offers a nice alternative to a diaper on a dog while in the house or even outside.  For those people that would like a catch-it-all for larger dogs, just call us at 1-866-K9-CARTS to discuss a custom CIA.  Prices starting from $20.