Pet Stair-Steps for Your Dogs and Cats

We happened across an interesting article recently at WSJ.com of all places, The Rise of Beds and Falls of Dogs:

Without fanfare or marketing, the bedding industry has been raising the altitude of its products, satisfying customer preferences for ever-thicker mattresses. Yet that preference is creating a hazard for a tall bed's shortest occupant: the dog.

Anecdotally, veterinarians across the country report among house dogs a rise in such disorders as elbow and shoulder arthritis, hip dysplasia and degenerative disk disease. As the lifespan of pets rises thanks to better food and medicine, the old dog that once leapt with abandon now hesitates on the edge of bed -- or jumps and hurts itself.

The peril is too new to have generated peer-reviewed veterinary research. But the problem is evident in the white-hot popularity of a relatively new product: pet stairs, specifically designed to lead Fido from bed to floor by land rather than air.

Pet stairs are one of the fastest-growing categories at national pet retailers such as Drs. Foster and Smith, which offers five models ranging from $40 to $170. Vermont-based Orvis, the upscale outdoors retailer, launched its first pet staircase four years ago and now carries four.

Dogs. Heavy Duty Carpeted Stair-Steps for Dogs are available in two and three-step versions, Merlot, Soft Sage and Oatmeal.

Cats. Steps are also for your kitty cats to help them up to a bed or sofa, or to see out the window. Stair-Steps for Cats are available in two and three step versions in Cocoa, Espresso, Forest Green, Merlot, Oatmeal, or Soft Sage.

Info. Pet stairs and steps put your pet's health and safety on the line--this is an area where quality is paramount. Soundly-constructed ramps and steps can be reliable workhorses for many years. Consider where the stairs will be used, how high it will need to reach, whether you want it to be portable, as well as the type of material used in its construction. Drs Foster and Smith Educational Staff provides a nifty Ramps & Steps Comparison Chart.

Read More in: Cats | Dogs | Ramps & Steps

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