Bionic Cat

[celticpilgrim]

Did anybody se the beeb documentary about the vet who put new feet on a cat who'd had his back paws cut off by a harvester - his level of dedeication brought a tear to my eye!!

[magpie215]

Yes amazing but £4k+ to fix him up.........Afraid if that had been mine it would have been a £10 fix

[SPR2]

Yes it was amazing. What was the problem with the dog?

Edited by SPR2 on Thursday 1st July 00:06

[staceyb]

SPR2 said:

Yes it was amazing. What was the problem with the dog?

Edited by SPR2 on Thursday 1st July 00:06

Arthritus had rubbed away at his whole paw and it had collasped. He rebuilt it and fused bits together again so he could walk. Utterly amazing.

[magpie215]

SPR2 said:

Yes it was amazing. What was the problem with the dog?

Edited by SPR2 on Thursday 1st July 00:06

arthritis

[celticpilgrim]

Wolverine Labrador - love it!!

[Mobile Chicane]

That's just cruel. The cat will be forever kept indoors and only allowed outside on a leash: what kind of 'life' is that?

[celticpilgrim]

i was under the impression that the cat would have a full and active life - ok, big jumps over fences might be an issue, but otherwise, ok

[OlberJ]

celticpilgrim said:

i was under the impression that the cat would have a full and active life - ok, big jumps over fences might be an issue, but otherwise, ok

WTF?

I thought it would have been jumping over houses seeing as it had bionic legs?

[magpie215]

Mobile Chicane said:

That's just cruel. The cat will be forever kept indoors and only allowed outside on a leash: what kind of 'life' is that?

One of the reasons I would have chosen the £10 fix

[mybrainhurts]

magpie215 said:

Mobile Chicane said:

That's just cruel. The cat will be forever kept indoors and only allowed outside on a leash: what kind of 'life' is that?

One of the reasons I would have chosen the £10 fix

You can't get a microwave for £10....

[anonymous-user]

My dog ruptured her cruciate ligament in October last year. I was referred to Fitzpatricks. They cut off the top of her leg, rotated the bone so that her femur sat on a flat surface as opposed to a sloping one, then pinned it while she healed. She was up and running within weeks!!!

Their skill is amazing - the incision was so small I was amazed they had done anything but as my vet told me, what they do not know about animal physiology is not worth knowing.

Fitzpatrick is currently trying to get vets and surgeons (those working on humans) to work together to share data because some of the techniques he has invented actually surpass human medicine capabilities.

The guy is superbly dedicated and started all this from a small shack with hardly any money. I know of many animals who would not be here today but for him!

[Original Poster]

Does "bionic cat" not make anyone else snigger? It did me?

I have the programme Sky+'d, due to watch it after Eastenders, Peter Andre, Big Brother and all the other drivel the mrs will be subjecting me to (again) tonight.

Although I do like the Peter Andre programme...

[anonymous-user]

becksW said:

garyhun said:

My dog ruptured her cruciate ligament in October last year. I was referred to Fitzpatricks. They cut off the top of her leg, rotated the bone so that her femur sat on a flat surface as opposed to a sloping one, then pinned it while she healed. She was up and running within weeks!!!

Their skill is amazing - the incision was so small I was amazed they had done anything but as my vet told me, what they do not know about animal physiology is not worth knowing.

Fitzpatrick is currently trying to get vets and surgeons (those working on humans) to work together to share data because some of the techniques he has invented actually surpass human medicine capabilities.

The guy is superbly dedicated and started all this from a small shack with hardly any money. I know of many animals who would not be here today but for him!

Seems quite extensive procedure for ruptured ligament, did she have any other issues with it? I see plenty of cruciate repairs and they to are up and running in weeks, just wondering what the benefits are with the technique you have described.

The trouble with westies is the angle of the top top of the lower bone - very steep, mine especially so. You can repair but the liklihood is that it will not last long. With TPLO there is no ligamenet needed anymore so it's a permanent fix.

[becksW]

garyhun said:

My dog ruptured her cruciate ligament in October last year. I was referred to Fitzpatricks. They cut off the top of her leg, rotated the bone so that her femur sat on a flat surface as opposed to a sloping one, then pinned it while she healed. She was up and running within weeks!!!

Their skill is amazing - the incision was so small I was amazed they had done anything but as my vet told me, what they do not know about animal physiology is not worth knowing.

Fitzpatrick is currently trying to get vets and surgeons (those working on humans) to work together to share data because some of the techniques he has invented actually surpass human medicine capabilities.

The guy is superbly dedicated and started all this from a small shack with hardly any money. I know of many animals who would not be here today but for him!

Seems quite extensive procedure for ruptured ligament, did she have any other issues with it? I see plenty of cruciate repairs and they to are up and running in weeks, just wondering what the benefits are with the technique you have described.

I've recorded this program as really interested in the work he's doing

Edited by becksW on Thursday 1st July 16:28

[The Beaver King]

garyhun said:

Their skill is amazing - the incision was so small I was amazed they had done anything but as my vet told me, what they do not know about animal physiology is not worth knowing.

This is because vets have spent years cutting furry animals into little chunks to see how they work.
If we all just grew a spine about these things and let doctors disect orphans like God intended, we could cure any human ailment.

Edited by The Beaver King on Thursday 1st July 16:36

[anonymous-user]

The Beaver King said:

garyhun said:

Their skill is amazing - the incision was so small I was amazed they had done anything but as my vet told me, what they do not know about animal physiology is not worth knowing.

This is because vets have spent years cutting furry animals into little chunks to see how they work.
If we all just crew a spine about these things and let doctors disect orphans like God intended, we could cure any human ailment.

That's actually missing the point. My own vet has seen many many operations over the years and was amazed at the accuracy and deep understanding of the underlying physiology the surgeons at Fitzpatricks had. He's seen identical operations done by them and other apparent orthopedic experts and said the difference in precision, and therefore incision, was startling.

[Fats25]

magpie215 said:

Yes amazing but £4k+ to fix him up.........Afraid if that had been mine it would have been a £10 fix

It wouldn't have been a £10 fix if it was yours. Sorry - but I would have agreed with your statement until I got cats of my own!

[markoc]

Incredible dedication from the vet in question. I caught the end of the program and was really impressed. Bionic cat was a proper little tearaway, although it did look like he was walking on wine bottle corks that had been duck taped to his feet.

The part of me that has never had a pet would lean to the £10 option - but I recognise a degree of naivety there as I know my friends would give pretty much everything for the wellbeing of their pets.

[becksW]

garyhun said:

becksW said:

garyhun said:

My dog ruptured her cruciate ligament in October last year. I was referred to Fitzpatricks. They cut off the top of her leg, rotated the bone so that her femur sat on a flat surface as opposed to a sloping one, then pinned it while she healed. She was up and running within weeks!!!

Their skill is amazing - the incision was so small I was amazed they had done anything but as my vet told me, what they do not know about animal physiology is not worth knowing.

Fitzpatrick is currently trying to get vets and surgeons (those working on humans) to work together to share data because some of the techniques he has invented actually surpass human medicine capabilities.

The guy is superbly dedicated and started all this from a small shack with hardly any money. I know of many animals who would not be here today but for him!

Seems quite extensive procedure for ruptured ligament, did she have any other issues with it? I see plenty of cruciate repairs and they to are up and running in weeks, just wondering what the benefits are with the technique you have described.

The trouble with westies is the angle of the top top of the lower bone - very steep, mine especially so. You can repair but the liklihood is that it will not last long. With TPLO there is no ligamenet needed anymore so it's a permanent fix.

ahh it is a TPLO procedure, I've not actually seen results of this technique but have heard of it, to be fair I've seen plenty of dogs, esp the small ones last with cruciate repair techniques for years, not very common it needs repeating except in bigger heavy dogs sometimes, however usually new techniques are an improvement on the old so if it speeds up recovery and doesn't put animal through so much then it is all good