Pet stairs/ramp for a senior girl Hi all! First time poster here. I have a 14 year old senior girl who loves to be on the bed and I'm looking for a good way for her to get on and off without my help. She's in excellent health; everyone assumes she's a much younger dog as she still runs around, plays fetch, and is extremely agile for her age. But because she's a senior I don't want to risk her jumping and hurting those joints. Any advice on stairs vs. a ramp? She's about 8 pounds with tall legs, and my bed is about 19" off the ground (worried a ramp would be too steep, but curious if stairs aren't a great idea for a senior). Anyone prefer stairs over a ramp or vice versa? Any product recommendations welcome! Thank you!!:) |
With my seniors, I gave them a choice. I had ramps and steps all over inside and out. I made my own steps as I found those sold in pet stores too narrow. Usually, they chose the ramps, but as they got older and had less eyesight, I added side rails. |
I have stairs for our bed. Either a 3-stair option that the 2 littlest ones mostly use. But then our Wylie refuses to use that one, so for him we had a one-step block made (from ebay) and he uses that to get up; Arthur uses that one a lot too. |
Thank you guys for the input! If you have any specific stair/ramps that you love, feel free to let me know. |
I use wide foam ramps, that are scalloped for traction going up and down. As they have gotten older, I have added "sides"....I had purchased garden items that came in LARGE cardboard boxes.......one of the boxes was almost the exact width of the stair ramp I use for my dogs. I cut one end out of the box, slid the box up to my bed, slid the foam scalloped ramp inside the box and with the end up to the bed.....sides were formed against the side of the scalloped wedge by the sides of the box.....with the sides of the cardboard box forming the enclosed sides next to the stair-wedge.....clear as mud, I am sure.....but it was a great solution for my stair wedge.....I did trim the sides of the box on an angle that matched the angle of the ramp, about 18 inches higher than the ramp....this made sides to keep them "on track" going up and down the scalloped ramp and not jumping/falling off the sides. |
My bed it tall and Cali is little so I have 6 step foam stairs up the side of the bed. Since it is near the wall I have cut foam to run along the side of the steps so she won't fall. Now that she is grown she probably does not need the foam sides but I leave them there. |
Our oldest girl is 14 and we have the 3-steps at end of our bed and also at one side of the couch in the den. She sleeps most of the time with us, so I put my cedar chest (that is padded on top) beside the stairs. This gives her more in case she fumbles for that first step in the dark. We added the stairs about a year ago and two of the girls use them all the time. Our littlest girl can't due to her surgery her knees. |
I got these soft steps that are rounded so they're more like a cross between steps and a ramp on the 1 800 pet meds website. They're for older dogs with arthritis. Mine are both only a year old but I liked them since they looked easier for a puppy to learn how to climb. They're really great. I think they would be great for an older dog. |
I use a cat lounging thing I found at TJ Maxx. It has 3 carpeted "stairs" on it. They are wider than the doggy step things. It was only around $20 if i remember correctly. They work perfectly. |
I got steps that are wooden and really sturdy for mine at E-bay. |
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