Remo, our awsome 8-year-old German Shepherd, has arthritis in his back and hips. He's been going through a particularly bad time lately, and he's currently on steroids (prednisone) and a fentynol patch to settle the inflammation down. My problem is that a few years ago, we finished our basement and that's where our TV room is. So, of course, that's where we spend a lot of time... And Remo has always come down and hung out with us. But the stairs are just too much for him and probably will be from now on... My brother was disabled for a period of time and had one of those stair lift systems in his home so he could sit on it, turn it on and it took him to the top of the stairs. So I thought I'd look into a stair lift system for Remo - but it looks like they're around $2000, then it would have to be modified so instead of a seat it was a platform for him to sit on. (They do make ones for wheelchairs, but they're even more expensive...)
So... I'm wondering if anyone here has heard of any kind of not-so-expensive system for getting a dog up stairs. Keep in mind that Remo is 120 lbs... he's not exactly "fat", but the doc says if he loses 15-20 lbs., that will help with his arthritis, so we're working on that. But even at 100 lbs., I can't do the "towel under the belly" routine and help him up the stairs. If I was an engineer, I could probably come up with some kind of pully system with a hand crank, but it can't be as simple as that... I'm looking for an answer because my husband goes to the basement every night to watch TV while I stay upstairs with Remo - dogs are social beings, after all, and I just can't bring myself to confine him upstairs all by himself.
Any ideas??
Denise in Omaha
