NEW STUDY! Genetic analysis of dogs with acquired myasthenia gravis

Please visit the following link and have your dog participate in this study:
http://vetneuromuscular.ucsd.edu/cases/2008/Aug08.html

Thursday, October 15, 2009

The Bailey Chair - Essential for successful treatment - Directions on how to build

The Bailey chair is essential for successful treatment of mega esophagus. It allows your dog to eat completely vertical and allows you to do other things while feeding and elevating your dog after feeding. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT IF YOU HAVE NOT MADE YOUR BAILEY CHAIR, DO SO IMMEDIATELY. SHORT OF THE PYRIDOSTIGMINE MEDICATION, IT IS THE NEXT MOST IMPORTANT TOOL IN THE TREATMENT OF MG/ME.

Here is how to make a bailey chair this is a 1 hour process in all:
  1. Have your dog sit on his/her butt vertically. Measure from the floor to the dogs shoulders. Add 4 inches.
  2. Measure your dog from the shoulders all the way across and add 4 inches.
  3. Measure your dog from back to front when she is sitting vertically again.
  4. Now make a box with 3 closed sides and a base that your dog can fit in according to the measurements.
  5. By a closet hanging rod and fasten that about 3 inches from the top across the open front.
  6. Pad the box so your dog is comfortable.
This is pretty much common sense and none of the measurements need to be terribly precise. You are just trying to make a box that your dog can sit up in, comfortably, that supports her back. We used pine wood and sheet rock screws. We padded it with PVC insulation. We got the material at Walmart. My wife used a staple gun to secure the upholstery, which my daughter picked out at Walmart. The entire chair cost about $20 and took 1 hour to build. We are not carpenters, so if we can do it, so can you!

Here are some pictures:



My wife padded the chair so Sammie was comfortable. My daughter sat outside the chair and read books to Sammie for 30 minutes after feeding. Here is the chair in it's final version:




 My kids were so excited to show Sammie that we decked out her chair. Unfortunately, Sammie never got to use the newly decorated chair. See what went wrong to avoid this happening to your dog.

4 comments:

  1. Good Job! Looks nice-and that's coming from a carpenter! By the way, they only need to sit upright for 10 minutes. 30 minutes is way too long. If you are not sure it is going down just cup your hands and pound (lightly) on the chest while they are in the upright position. I have had no problems using this method and 10 minutes. They dont have the anatomy to sit comfortably for long, no matter if they are sitting on a pillow or not. It's not comfortable for them as you will note they will start to struggle with this position after a while.

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  2. Nice tips on how to create the bailey chair. Was looking to make one for my dog.
    http://goo.gl/ObefS2

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  3. Great tips, i love the fabric, chair looks awesome.Buy Beds and Mattresses from Supremebedz

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  4. I had myasthenia gravis since 2015. I got medically discharged out of the Army, a job I loved well. My heart had 5 myasthenic crises, 3 being severe enough to be ventilated or require CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) helmet. I have had countless plasma exchanges as my veins are bad. I also needed Hickman lines inserted. I have been on azathioprine, mycophenolate (CellCept), methotrexate and none have worked. I'm currently done with my herbal remedy I purchase from totalcureherbsfoundation .com which has totally cured my condition with a surprise after almost four months of their usage, I was discouraged and never thought I would be myasthenia gravis (MG) free ,to me the best to get rid of this condition is totalcureherbsfoundation com treatment because all medications I used never worked include mycophenolate (CellCept)

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