[Britster]

No more doggie wheelchairs? New drug offers hope - TODAY Pets & Animals - TODAY.com

Beanie the dachshund rocks her tiny wheelchair. The mere sight of it causes her to wriggle with excitement; she knows it means a walk or some other adventure is about to begin.



Even though she’s paralyzed from the waist down, Beanie is a happy little girl, and her owners are glad they’ve been able to meet her needs ever since she ruptured a disk in her back and severely injured her spinal cord in 2004. But life with a paralyzed dog isn’t exactly easy: Beanie’s owners must help her go to the bathroom manually four times a day, and going out of town presents a huge challenge because it can be so tricky to line up pet care.


That’s why Dr. Jay Griffin, who owns 14-year-old Beanie and also happens to be a veterinarian, is so intrigued by an experimental drug that’s being tested in dogs with spinal-cord injuries. Researchers are hopeful that the drug, dubbed Illomostat, may help dogs avoid paralysis if it can be administered very quickly — within hours of an injury’s occurrence. If successful, they hope their research will someday help people with similar injuries.


“Had Beanie been treated initially [with the medication] ... there is a chance that she would have regained the use of her legs and gone on to live a normal life,” said Griffin, 33, who works at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, where the drug is being tested.

Read more.... No more doggie wheelchairs? New drug offers hope - TODAY Pets & Animals - TODAY.com