Faux Paws for a British Bionic Cat
From: Product Design & Development - 06/28/2010
By: Maria Cheng

Oscar was given a pair of new artificial feet last November in a single
surgical procedure by the surgeon after his rear paws were amputated by a
combine harvester as he basked in the sunshine. The revolutionary design of
the feet uses custom-made implants to "peg" the ankle to the foot and mimics
the way in which deer antler bone grows through skin.  

Oscar the cat may have lost one of his nine lives, but his new prosthetic
paws make him one of the world's few bionic cats. 

After losing his two rear paws in a nasty encounter with a combine harvester
last October, the black cat with green eyes was outfitted with metallic pegs
that link the ankles to new prosthetic feet and mimic the way deer antlers
grow through skin. Oscar is now back on his feet and hopping over hurdles
like tissue paper rolls. 

After Oscar's farming accident, his owners, Kate and Mike Nolan, took him to
their local veterinarian. In turn, the vet referred Oscar to Dr. Noel
Fitzpatrick, a neuro-orthopedic surgeon in Eashing, 35 miles southwest of
London. 

Together with biomedical engineering experts, Fitzpatrick gave Oscar two
metal prosthetic implants, or pegs. Those were attached to custom-built faux
paws that are a bit wobbly, to imitate a cat's natural walk. But first, he
covered the brown implants with black tape to match Oscar's fur. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.pddnet.com/news-ap-faux-paws-for-british-bionic-cat-062810/

Links:
Oscar the Cat Gets First-Ever Prosthetic Feline Legs (video)
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/cat-prosthetic-legs/story?id=11013333

Oscar the cat gets two prosthetic feet after farm accident (video)
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/293858

Oscar the bionic cat: Pioneering surgery gives poor moggie TWO false back legs
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1289281/Oscar-bionic-cat-pioneering-surgery-gave-TWO-false-legs.html