Amputee cat gets bionic back legs and a new attitude
By Laura June 
posted June 25th 2010 1:25PM
posted June 25th 2010 1:25PM
When Oscar the cat got both of his back legs severed by a harvester, his prognosis was undoubtedly grim. Luckily for him, he was referred to a veterinarian, Noel Fitzpatrick, who had some pretty interesting ideas of his own. Dr. Fitzpatrick has successfully given the cat two back prosthetic legs, but they're completely unlike any prosthetic we've ever seen. Oscar's been given Itaps (intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prosthetics) which were developed at University College London. Itaps are custom made pegs which allow the bone and skin to grow to them, meaning that the "prosthetic" actually becomes part of the appendage itself. The surgery has been in testing for humans since 2005, and this one was the first performed on an animal. Hit up the BBC source link to check out a video of the kitty getting mobile.
What, no laserbeam eyes???
Srsly though, that is pretty amazing.
@Ambient80
He hasnt been updated with 2.2 yet.
@uckApple i can haz lazr?
It needs frickin' lazers!!
@uckApple I, for one, welcome our new feline overlords.
@Ambient80
I agree, that was amazing to watch. As a guy with two cats, it's always nice to see a medical professional placing so much time and energy into helping them out when hurt.
@Ambient80
titanium claws included*
@elijahblake
we call him peggles
A rather extreme way to declaw your cat.
@elijahblake Bah....if you are going to use a metal go with adamantium
That's pretty cool that this actually binds into your actual body since otherwise the cat probably couldn't even have gotten prostheses. Humans can learn to walk in regular prostheses but I imagine that it'd be quite a bit harder to try and train a cat to deal with normal prostheses.
@uckApple well it isn't a walking cupcake yet
iTaps, the bionic legs you can control with your iPhone!
@uckApple
oh. bad joke man. u r not at ur best today :)
@coolkams03
I know, i usually I have my iJoke Maker with me to make them up, but Im feeling adventurous today.
@uckApple Why is this downvoted?!
Allowing the body to not reject the metal is like...a seriously big deal. This story is awesome and all for the cute cat, but there's also a lot there in there for humans!
@Kilowattson
Not my area of expertise but when he said that, I found it interesting. So if we have metal sticking out, we get an infection but the cat bonds easily... very interesting...
@Kilowattson
RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!
@Plazmic Flame Well sort of. Any normal sort of metal would be rejected by ANY living organism. The idea here is that they're using a new method/material to allow the metal to not be rejected somehow. It's being tested in humans AND in animals (ie..in this video).
@Kilowattson Biocompatible materials don't usually cause the development of imune reactions (for example: titanium used in metal plates or screws in bone fractures or replacement joints).
The problem in this case is the fact that the material is creating a interface between the inside of the body and the environment which may lead to bacterial infection with cronic inflamation and, consequently, rejection of the implants. Don't know how they pretend to avoid that problem, but it will eventually lead to the rejection of the prothesis.
(PS: Still can't login using Firefox to comment. The login buttons don't seem to work. Does anyone have a solution for this?)
@Passarinhuu Yeah good comment. I way over generalized with the use of "metal" which is inexcusable in my case as I have tons of metal in my face from massive jaw reconstruction. Doh!
And as far as browser problems are concerned...I can only reply if I go to the original article and find the comment there. If I follow a link to the comment area from my email notification, the "reply" button doesn't work at all.
@GGG I can't wait to become a cyborg.
@Kilowattson
Over half my left shin bone is circa 1964 stainless surgical steel. I'm 50 now, and all that I have to show for it is a wicked scar. It does make for a great conversation starter at the pool~
@joelaf Ya, titanium bonds well, but I think the special part here is that the skin has fused to it as well, forming a tight seal against bacteria. =)
@Passarinhuu
re: "Don't know how they pretend to avoid that problem, but it will eventually lead to the rejection of the prothesis."
They're not pretending to avoid the problem. The whole idea behind this technology is to address exactly that issue. This implant allows the flesh itself to adhere to it, thus creating a seal against "bacterial infection with cronic inflamation".
They provide an analogy in the beginning of the article: "bioengineered to mimic the way deer antler bone grows through the skin." Much like how your cuticle creates a seal around your nails, so too does this implant allow tissue to bond to it (presumably because the surface is rough/porous enough to allow cells to grow into it). The material fuses to both the bone and the flesh.
Here's an older, but more informative article regarding this technology: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article682284.ece
It's still a problem with the technology though since unless your skin has wrapped around the entire prosthesis it's not going to be a great seal-which is why you see that the cat has the edge of where his flesh ends kinda taped in. And obviously if your flesh really grew all the way around it you'd be walking on your own flesh. Hopefully they'll figure out some way around this that results in a good natural seal.
@tekdemon
re: "... unless your skin has wrapped around the entire prosthesis it's not going to be a great seal ..."
Your skin doesn't wrap around your hair follicles, but it's a sufficient-enough seal for the majority of your life. The skin sticks to the implant just like a scab sticks to skin. You'd have to peal the skin off the implant by tearing connective tissue.
re: "... which is why you see that the cat has the edge of where his flesh ends kinda taped in."
I'm pretty sure those are only there because of the surgery. A recent video linked by evilbonsai shows the cat with no bandages on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmDqVN7vr8E
re: "... if your flesh really grew all the way around it you'd be walking on your own flesh."
We do that all the time. That's how feet work: we step on our flesh. If you're referring to the lack of padding for comfort, skin will gain callouses over time, or as in this case, the flesh just never grows that far.
The legs also act as dual antennas.
@shishi
What happens if you bridge them together?
Does the cat lose his... bars?
In antenna design, there's a technique called "diversity", where multiple antenna are used to maximize coverage. With dual leg antennas, the cat can be held by the owner with either the left or right hand, without completely losing wireless communication.
@shishi
QUICK! Patent that before Apple does!
Awesome!
Can't help but feel the prosthetics look a little long though..
Still bloody brilliant they were able to do this!
I watched the video... that was pretty good.
i shed a few tears watching this. man, i miss my cat :/
@182
I feel for you man, my dog was my life, he was like my best friend.
I cried for months, and at one point said, "BUDDY, wanna go for a walk?" because I was so used to it, only to remember he had died.
It was cute how he would get so excited and jump around and wiggle his little tail :)
Its hard to move on, but you will soon enough.
@uckApple thanks man. it's weird how close one can get to an animal damn. he just meant alot to me! his company got me through so much.
poor kitty :( at least it looks fine on these new legs :)
It seems to me the hind legs should have had a bent composite material instead, to more closely mimic the shape and action of a cat's real hind legs. Much like a human runner's:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/17/prosthetic-limbed-runner-disqualified-from-olympics/
@PhantomPower
I agree, the cat doesn't look very comfortable using them, it's like they are a bit too long or too straight.
Also if that cat is anything like our cat, it will start chewing on those rubber feet at the first chance it gets.
@GGG
Haha, true story! Those things'll be gnawed to stubs in no time. Wait, they're already stubs. What's do you call a stub that's been gnawed down further? :s
@PhantomPower
Yes, the leg design definitely needs to be worked on. However, it shouldn't be an issue since they can be changed quite easily. These guys probably just cooked something up quickly to test the concept.
@GGG
Are you ***** kidding me?
If you revive a blind mans sight so that he can see, he isnt going to try and complain..
Go to hell.
@uckApple
You don't seem terribly familiar with cats, or at least ones that have been injured. If a vet gives them stitches, or a bandage, or anything out of the ordinary attached to them (especially when under the effects of local anaesthetic), they will pick and gnaw at it until it is no more. This is why you often have to strap those cones around their necks - to keep them from chewing themselves into a fresh infection, or reopening a wound. Perhaps it's an evolutionary impulse to remove dead skin or bugs, but if they don't have sensation in it, they will rip it off.
@PhantomPower
I never thought an animal that is being helped out would complain... lol
Mis consumption on my part, sorry about that :P
@PhantomPower
He's got better feet now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmDqVN7vr8E
@PhantomPower
they would be the itap nano
@evilbonsai
Wow... thanks for linking that video. It's amazing to see how far things have improved from the initial test feet to something more naturally shaped. The cats seems to move almost completely normal in that video.
@evilbonsai Wow, those new legs look way better and the cat seems to be moving almost as a perfectly healthy cat. I am really happy for the poor cat that it can walk again and doesn't look like a cat equivalent of Frankenstein.
@evilbonsai
Thanks for linking that. Those new feet are great and he moves very natural now. I'm impressed.