Animals slipping on floors that they are not able to grip

[SheriS]

My heart sinks everytime I see an animal slipping across a floor on a show as if it's perfectly natural, normal and fun for them.
We put runners, yoga mats and cut outs where the runners didn't cover the floors so Fibi did not hurt her back or legs slipping and sliding everywhere.
Am I the only one that feels strongly that this is not a good situation for them? What are the alternatives? I would consider another animal some day and want to know if my home can ever show the floors w/o harm to the animal.

 

[Dr. Christina]

Great question and I do not an answer for creating floors that look great and are not slippery.

I think that healthy dogs should be able to slide sometimes. Trimming nails every two weeks as Dr. Judith Shoemaker spoke about in her webinar on mobility can help, too. With age that can change & rugs may need to go back down.

This would be a great question (even on types of flooring for Dr. McCauley - [email protected]).

There are floorings used by veterinary clinics/groomers, etc, that are not slippery - sort of like linoleum, I think.

When needed for mobility issues (and could be used for life I guess) are Buzsby's toe grips. I emailed Dr. Buzby about your question, so will post when I hear back from her.

Dr. Christina

 

[SheriS]

Thanks for this Dr. Christina! I guess when I see them slide it looks destabilizing. In the long run their legs aren't meant to be splaying out like that. Would you agree? I'm very sensitive to seeing it. I think also bc I know it hurts them. They just do whatever is in the present moment to be with their families though. They do not think "This is bad for my future self." My two scents...
Turns out we are shopping for floors so I will definitely look into the linolieum some more. My membership is up on the 15th so hopefully Dr. Buzby will get back to you bf then

So much gratitude to you Dr. Jeff and the whole community!!

 

[Dr. Christina]

You are welcome, Sheri.
If you have questions, you can email me at [email protected]