Hi Axess 2, some history of our lift’s use may be of interest. My wife’s aged father was living with us since his wife (my mother-in-law) died in 2008. We had a stair lift installed in 2008 but this was becoming unreliable. In 2014, with extension works on-going, the decision was taken to remove the stair lift and install a proper lift instead. The Hydraulic 250 was fully installed by January 2015 and safety certification obtained April 2015. Unfortunately, my father-in-law had a stroke and passed away in February 2015. Thus, he never did get to use the lift. The lift was useful for either my wife or I when moving suitcases for holidays or when either of us had back problems.
We had two rescue Labradors, one black and one yellow, both suffering from joint problems. The black Lab, Henry, died a year ago (Apr 2019) aged 14. He was 11 ½ when we rescued him and, after 6 months of walking up and down the stairs, one day I went to use the lift, opened the door and Henry pushed past me and sat down. From then on until he died he used the lift without any encouragement.
Zack was 10 ½ when he was rescued 2 weeks prior to Henry joining us. Zack objected to the lift and continued using the stairs until December last year. His arthritis was quite bad and although going up the stairs was fine he really needed assistance whenever coming down. 4 ½ months ago at bedtime, he sat by the lift in the kitchen and would not venture into the hall for the stairs. He weighs (weighed) 12 kgs more than Henry and it was obvious he could not turn once inside the lift. He allowed me to turn him around and walk him backwards into the lift. He has never looked back! Every morning when it’s time to go down, he goes to the stairs, looks down and promptly moved across to the lift where he waits for me to reverse him inside. The picture attached was taking a few days after he started using the lift in December last year. He has a mat to stop his paws from slipping and a towel to sit on. Zack had his 14th birthday 2 weeks ago. I travel with him. He’s prone to use his nose at the door while moving which causes the ‘safety stop’ to activate. The lift is now a big part of Zack’s daily routine!
Mr C, Norfolk
