09 June 2017

Stairs and rumbles

In the middle of the night, I heard a loud crash. It woke me from a very deep sleep. I sat up in bed and said OMG! I don't know if I was in the middle of a dream, but my immediate thought was: a dog, probably Callie, has fallen down the steep loft staircase. The house was pitch dark. I heard Walt say: "Thunder!"


Whew! Only thunder. It was a very loud rumbling sound, though. I guess I have stairs on my mind, because of the puppy's recent struggles with them. One day I'll have my own struggles with stairs, I think. Age, you know. (Walt posted photos of the lower staircase yesterday.)
 
Fact is, at age 10, Callie has been having trouble with the steep loft staircase for the last few months. Her problem is going up them, not coming back down. She's still doing it okay, but with some serious hesitation before starting up. Tasha has shown no sign of being willing to try to descend these stairs, while running up them is easy for her.

It's still raining lightly this morning, but it's not storming. They're telling us to expect torrid weather over the weekend.


9 comments:

  1. You might ask your vet about glucosamine chondroitin for Callie. It's a joint health supplement. I give it to my 17 year old cat & it has helped her. I also take it for myself due to arthritis and the "aging process".

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    1. I think Callie's problems are more psychological than physical. She completely freaked out whe we bought a new sectional sofa for the loft and then took the entire room apart to do a thorough cleaning. She seems to think that furniture is or ought to be immovable. If it moves in a room, she runs to hide in a different room.

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  2. Could be that those stairs are too steep, and a slippery surface for both Callie and little Tasha. Carpet would give them more grip and confidence. we had the same problem with our older dogs.

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    1. For now, Callie has no problem going down the stairs. She hesitates and struggles before going up, trying to figure out which paw to start on. Then she does it. Once she stumbled and had to turn around and go back down to try again, but she didn't fall. We'll see how Tasha does.

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  3. A friend installed a staircase chair elevator in her home a few years ago. The specs were sent to England and the chair and railings and electric bits were sent from there to here to be installed and it was perfect. You can look very elegant as you descend from on high on a moving chair. Sadly, Callie is no longer so young and nor are you. Ease into older years with comfort.

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    1. We probably won't stay in this house if the stairs become a problem for me. Since I'm more than 10 years older than Walt, I'll be the one to need a change or some help. I'm not sure than anything would make me ever look elegant! But then Callie is older than I am now, by the conventional measure of 1 dog year = 7 human years. She's 70 or 71 now.

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    2. Saw recently some 'flash' architect, in the UK, had installed a fireman's pole in his house! Great for a speed descent but useless for dogs and the up direction.

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  4. You can always move to the lower levels of your house if need be. My brother thought climbing stairs was good for his health. My knee joints sometimes hurt going down the stairs.

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  5. Glucosamine works for dogs as well as for people.
    When my Siberian, who was about the same size as Callie, got on in years and had trouble with steps, I put friction tape across the treads so the edges wouldn't be slippery, and I'd walk behind her going up, give her back end a little boost when needed.

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