Peg-leg Pooh gets a spring in his step
TWO cats have been given a new lease of life in what is thought to be a surgery first for Europe, apart from Britain.
Bulgarian cat Pooh was given two new paws after losing his legs in an accident at just one year old. He can now walk and play normally, thanks to a veterinary surgeon giving him two artificial legs.
The leg implants are custommade and “peg” the ankle to the foot much like the way deer antler bone grows through skin.
Pooh and the other amputee cat, Steven, are both looking for new homes. They can balance as usual on four paws and are both in great health after their recovery from their accidents.
In 2010, a similar £50 000 (about R854 000) surgery was performed on Oscar the cat in England. His owners were referred by a vet to Dr Noel BEFORE THE OP: Bulgarian veterinary surgeon Vladislav Zlatinov examines Steven the cat this week prior to giving him bionic paws Fitzpatrick, a Surrey neuroorthopaedic surgeon.
The procedure to give Oscar new legs took three hours. During it, the surgical team drilled the pegs into one of his ankle bones on each leg.
They then coated the prosthetics with hydroxyapatite to encourage bone cells to grow onto the metal.
The skin then grows over an “umbrella” at the end to prevent potentially fatal infection, and the peg protrudes through the bone and skin, allowing custombuilt paws to be attached.
It seems this surgery is now being mimicked in other countries.
Perhaps in the future it could become more affordable so that cats who are hit by cars no longer have to limp or drag a set of wheels behind them. PLAYING FOOTSIE: Pooh plays with a toy and shows off his new bionic back paws this week