Oscar may not be better than he was before – not faster, not stronger – but he is, indisputably, more bionic.
The cat, who took a nap in a sunny field unaware of the combine harvester steaming towards his hind paws, is back on his feet thanks to a world-first operation and state-of-the-art bioengineering.
His new kitten heels were designed with custom-made implants, which “peg” the ankle to the foot and mimic the way deer antler bone grows through skin. Oscar’s transformation, which has left him resembling a feline Ahab, has been described as a case of science copying the natural world.
The young cat’s road to recovery began after his local vet from St Saviour in Jersey referred owners Kate and Mike Nolan to Dr Noel Fitzpatrick, a Surrey-based neuro-orthopaedic surgeon.
“We had to do a lot of soul-searching and our main concern has always been whether this operation would be in Oscar’s best interests and would give him a better quality of life,” said Mrs Nolan.
Once the Nolans understood the treatment and discovered the operation could have an impact on human medicine, surgery was arranged. In a three-hour procedure, the veterinary surgical team inserted the pegs by drilling into one of Oscar’s ankle bones in each of his back legs. The implants, which are attached to the bone at the amputation site, were coated with hydroxyapatite to encourages bone cells to grow onto the metal.
The skin then grows over a special “umbrella” at the end of the peg to form a seal against bacteria and potentially fatal infections. The peg protrudes through the bone and skin, allowing the custom-built artificial paws to then be securely attached.
Oscar was trying to stand a day after the surgery and, despite some problems with infection, he was able to bear weight equally on all four limbs within four months.
Fitzpatrick said the patient had made a remarkable recovery. “Oscar can now run and jump about as cats do,” he said.
