Lucky cat’s back on his two new plastic feet

A CAT called Oscar received the first two bionic leg implants fitted by Noel Fitzpatrick in 2009.

His plight won the hearts of millions of viewers when his case was featured on the BBC series The Bionic Vet.

Owner Kate Allan turned to the Supervet at his Surrey practice, Fitzpatrick Referrals, for help on the advice of her local vet.

The pioneering prosthetics were the two-year-old feline’s only hope of survival after he lost his back paws in an accident with a combine harvester.

Fitzpatrick said: “Cats walk on their toes. Oscar only had his ankles. Either we put new feet on him or we’d have to have put him to sleep.”

During a three-hour operation, the surgeon and his team drilled into Oscar’s ankle bones to attach the implants which connected to a pair of unique plastic feet.

The vet said: “To have Oscar running around on two skeletally anchored endoprosthesis was extraordinary and it blew people’s minds. It was like, why are humans not having this?”

Mr Fitzpatrick now holds a Guinness World Record for the successful surgery, while Oscar holds records for being the first animal to receive implants into its moving joints and the first to be fitted with bionic limbs.

Recovery was slow, but by April 2010 Oscar – then rehomed with the clinic’s project manager Matt Connor – was darting around on his new blade-like feet.

Kate, who continued to visit from her home in Jersey, said: “He walked almost normally, was steady and could move at quite a pace.”