Bionic Cat Gets World's First Implant Paws

Several readers send in the news of Oscar, the first bionic cat, whose hind paws got cut off in a harvester accident. In a world's-first operation, a neurosurgeon has now given him exoprosthetic paws that are implanted directly into his leg bones. The BBC artlcle has a video captured just after the operation, and PopSci has an apparently later one in which Oscar is walking and running almost completely normally.

Bionic?

[c0nehead]

bionic adj 1: of or relating to bionics 2: having particular physiological functions augmented or replaced by electronic or electromechanical components So, not a bionic cat. A prosthesisic cat.

And how does the kitty-kat feal about all this?

[PolygamousRanchKid]

I guess the press can't interview him. But I was just wondering if he accepted his new paws, or tried to bite them off? I mean, even some humans have some problems with new limbs, and they can understand what is going on.

What is going on in that cat's head right now?

Any cat psychologists on Slashdot?

"WTF!?!?! Where the hell did these come from!?!?! Oh, well, at least I can walk again."

"Hey, you, Walks-on-two-Legs! Where's my dinner! A tin of tuna would be a nice change from that dry stuff!"

Re:Meanwhile in Africa ...

[Anonymous Coward]

It pays to be adorable....

Heh

[moogied]

I don't know about anyone else, but this story really cheered me up. +1 to whatever admin approved it, thank you. You cheered up an otherwise crappy day with stories of kitty happyness. :) (....23 year old straight male.... NOT 80 year old lady)

Re:Darth Cat

[X0563511]

Don't quit your day job (Unless you edit photos for a living. In that case, quit immediately.)

Re:Meanwhile in Africa ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Do Africans pay taxes to the UK? Then shut the fuck up.

Re:metal sticking out of the legs

[nacturation]

I don't really understand why they needed to put the cat under to place the new legs onto the rods, then the cat walked and even jumped onto a pack of toilet paper.

Same reason you put a cat under to clean its teeth. Messing around with a cat's legs while it's awake is likely to cost you a few fingers.

Not Bionic

[DaWorm666]

Bionic = Biological + Electronic. Where's the electronic part of all this?

Re:And?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh come on mods, he's not a troll, just an idiot.

Re:Meanwhile in Africa ...

[Mister Whirly]

So you are saying no one or no creature should ever receive medical treatment becasue people are dying elsewhere? Sound logic.

Re:We can rebuild him.

[Mister Whirly]

That is akin to saying "Your child is injured, why bother fixing them? You can just adopt another one."

In case you hadn't noticed, every cat is not the same.

This is, kind of a big deal, actually

[s122604]

The through-the-skin interface is the real story

Huge implications if this can be approved for human use.

Getting something to anchor postively to the remaining bone and go through the skin, yet be sealed, so its not a huge source of infection would be a big big deal.

Getting a prosthesis to properly fit into a stump has always been hard, and expensive, and doesn't even work that great when its executed perfectly.

It often also being a source of lifelong discomfort, skin irritation, and annoyance.

What I'd envision is a permanent bone-interface protruding and few inches or so, with a strong locking mechanical interface on the other side, so that the user can tailor the prosthesis to the occasion

Re:We can rebuild him.

[Mister Whirly]

Well, at the Humane Society near me, adoption only costs around $100. And that isn't the "price" of the pet - it is to pay for the vaccinations, food and lodging costs, microchip implant, and also a deposit towards getting your pet spayed/neutered. If you go to one of the recommended low-cost veterinarians for the neutering, they apply some of what you paid in adoption fees towards the cost of the procedure. The last cat I had neutered cost me about $40 total out of pocket cost, which is pretty cheap. I would never personally "buy" a pet from a pet store - that is the only time you are really "paying" to "buy" a pet.

Re:We can rebuild him.

[Mister Whirly]

Yes, I can see that raising a creature that depends on you to feed, shelter, and keep it safe while teaching them how to do things for themselves is not even remotely analogous to raising a child. Thanks for dropping that knowledge bomb on me.

I didn't claim it was exactly the same. But your claim that it isn't "even remotely analogous" isn't even remotely analogous to logic. They are at the very least in the same ballpark.

Re:Meanwhile in Africa ...

[Locke2005]

Either that or cheap, easily manufactured mosquito nets, which have no environmental impact...