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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / April 2005Prosthetic Paw Could Give Cat Second Life
Raleigh, NC -- George Bailey has never taken a step in his life, but that could soon change because of a groundbreaking surgery by North Carolina State University veterinarians. The tuxedo cat was born a year and a half ago with only part of his hind legs. His owners said he made up in personality what he lacked in physical size. "George Bailey is the runt of the litter, so he's very small. But he fights, knocks around. He doesn't know he's this little bitty runt," Al Simmons said. But the Simmonses wanted to make his life a little easier, so they called Dr Denis Marcellin-Little at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine to do something that had never been done before - attach a prosthetic paw to the cat's actual leg bone. The surgery is so rare it's been performed on just 70 humans worldwide. The inner core of the prosthesis is made of porous metal - material that actually allows the bone to grow into the new foot with the help of tiny screws. Prosthetic limbs usually act as sleeves and are attached on the outside of the skin. Marcellin-Little, an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery who operated on the cat for more than two hours Tuesday, said that would be nearly impossible with a frisky feline like George Bailey. "After a month, the bone will have grown into the prosthesis. I will place the lower part of the leg, and then we train George Bailey to walk on his new foot," Marcellin-Little said. It could take four to six weeks to figure out how well the cat's paw heals. If all goes well, Marcellin-Little might perform surgery on the other leg. The vet school picked up most of the tab for the initial surgery. "We've gotten so used to his little cock-side pirouette dance he does. You'd say we might miss that, but not really because he'll be able to actually walk," Simmons said. Copyright 2005 by NBC17.com  SignatureMoses.DukeOfUrl@gmail.com Cliologist, Philanthropologist, Prothonotary Wibbler, Paleoconservative, Surface Warrior Squid That's pretty cool. Forgive me, but in the context of the story, when I read "The surgery is so rare it's been performed on just 70 humans worldwide," I thought, well, duh, how many people would want prosthetic paws instead of feet? > Raleigh, NC -- George Bailey has never taken a step in his life, but > that could soon change because of a groundbreaking surgery by North [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > > Copyright 2005 by NBC17.com Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca > That's pretty cool. > > Forgive me, but in the context of the story, when I read "The surgery > is so rare it's been performed on just 70 humans worldwide," I > thought, well, duh, how many people would want prosthetic paws instead > of feet? LOL Well, if it includes feline anti-gravity devices it might be cool :) Jill > > Raleigh, NC -- George Bailey has never taken a step in his life, but > > that could soon change because of a groundbreaking surgery by North [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > > > > Copyright 2005 by NBC17.com Here is a news site with a video and some pics of George. It'll be interesting. I guess the reason they wanted to do it is because walking on just the one stub is going to cause hip problems later. He's awful cute. http://rdu.news14.com/content/headlines/?ArID=66023&SecID=2 >> That's pretty cool. >> [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Jill True. Plus there are those people who get cosmetic surgery to make themselves look more like cats ... Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca >>> That's pretty cool. >>> [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > True. Plus there are those people who get cosmetic surgery to make > themselves look more like cats ... REALLY? How strange is that! I was being facetious. I can jump out of my skin without feline anti-gravity devices, thank you ;) Jill >> True. Plus there are those people who get cosmetic surgery to make >> themselves look more like cats ... > > REALLY? How strange is that! I was being facetious. I can jump > out of my skin without feline anti-gravity devices, thank you ;) Incredibly, yeah. Google "Jocelyne Wildenstein". There's also a guy whose face is shown on the Ripley's ads -- he has facial tattoos, a split lip and implanted whiskers to make himself look like a tiger. I guess it takes all kinds ... Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca > Incredibly, yeah. Google "Jocelyne Wildenstein". There's also a guy > whose face is shown on the Ripley's ads -- he has facial tattoos, a > split lip and implanted whiskers to make himself look like a tiger. > > I guess it takes all kinds ... In some indiginous cultures (I believe in the Amazon) people often do things to make them look like their spirit animal. Those whose spirit animal is the jaguar, for example, wear cheek piercings of plant spines to imitate whiskers, paint spots on their foreheads and shoulders, etc. Of course in those cultures it is socially acceptable to go around looking like a jaguar...on days other than Oct 31 As for the kitty, I hope his prosthetic paw works out and his operation is a success. HE looks like a sleek and happy boy who's already making the best of his life. When he is able to run and jump, I bet he starts getting into /everything/. --Fil >>> True. Plus there are those people who get cosmetic surgery to make >>> themselves look more like cats ... [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >I guess it takes all kinds ... Yeah, I saw a story about the guy from the Ripley ads a while back. Just googled "Cat Man" (the guy changed his name from Dennis Smith to Cat Man) and here's a link http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_365440.html?menu=news.latestheadlines That's just the first link - google found over 15,000 hits SignatureSteve Touchstone, faithful servant of Sammy and Little Bit stouchst@JUNKsirinet.net [remove Junk for email] Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html >>>> True. Plus there are those people who get cosmetic surgery to make >>>> themselves look more like cats ... [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_365440.html?menu=news.latestheadlines >That's just the first link - google found over 15,000 hits I doubt that grafting tiger pelts onto his skin, as he wants to have done, would be possible. In the first place, grafts have to be done with living tissue, not with preserved pelts. In the second place, even if he did have living pelts available, his immune system would reject the foreign tissue. Scientists may someday come up with such grafts, but it would require a very fine control over the immune system in order to get his body to accept tiger-skin grafts while at the same time resisting infections. SignatureJohn F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria > I doubt that grafting tiger pelts onto his skin, as he wants to have > done, would be possible. In the first place, grafts have to be done [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > system in order to get his body to accept tiger-skin grafts while at > the same time resisting infections. And of course he would have to skin the tigers alive to get the skin...... Lesley Slave of the Fabulous Furballs > And of course he would have to skin the tigers alive to get the skin...... > Lesley It depends on how much he needs - don't they do human skin grafts using small enough pieces that it doesn't endanger the donor (who is often the recipient, anyway)? Of course, he would still need a way to avoid rejection, a tiger, and someone willing to given the whole idea a try! I can't see it happening, myself, or wanting it done but I'm not into surgery and pain unless absolutely required medically, personally. There are a lot of people who are, though. SignatureCheryl > I can't see it happening, myself, or wanting it done but I'm not into > surgery and pain unless absolutely required medically, personally. On THAT, you and I can agree! I find tatoos and body-piercing (other than ear-lobes - and it took me until forty to do that) equally undesireable, however fashionable they seem to be among the younger people, now. >>>>That's pretty cool. >>>> [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > REALLY? How strange is that! I was being facetious. I can jump out of my > skin without feline anti-gravity devices, thank you ;) Unless we're just talking about slantier eyes or something like that, it's hard to believe a reputable surgeon would be willing to do such an operation. > Unless we're just talking about slantier eyes or something like > that, it's hard to believe a reputable surgeon would be willing to > do such an operation. Frankly, I think a cat face is a lot less extreme than a lot of the more accepted cosmetic surgery procedures. Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca > >>>>That's pretty cool. > >>>> [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > like that, it's hard to believe a reputable surgeon would be > willing to do such an operation. Some of this -- and some even stranger things, like voluntary amputation -- gets done by less-than-reputable surgeons in countries without strong medical oversight. >>>>>> That's pretty cool. >>>>>> [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > amputation -- gets done by less-than-reputable surgeons in countries > without strong medical oversight. I hate to say this, but a long-time online friend had a radical mastectomy because she was afraid of getting breast cancer. Her mother had died of it (it went way too long undiagnosed). She had NO hint of cancer, not even any benign cysts, but the surgeon agreed to do it anyway. I cannot IMAGINE any surgeon with a hint of ethics agreeing to remove a woman's breasts on the basis of anything other than a fear of what "might happen". Jill "jmcquown" <jmcquown@bellsouth.net> wrote in message news:eWz4e.27215 > I hate to say this, but a long-time online friend had a radical mastectomy > because she was afraid of getting breast cancer. Her mother had died of [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Jill Depending on the kind of cancer her mother had and her family history, this is not uncommon. We had a good friend when we were in Alaska who was very anxious to get back to the lower 48 because she wanted the surgery. There are some types of extremely fast spreading familial breast cancer that have a really high rate of occurrence. There may be genetic testing now that give someone a better idea of their particular odds. Its also very common for someone with one of these types of breast cancer to go ahead and have a double mastectomy when they are first diagnosed in just one breast. Jo >"jmcquown" <jmcquown@bellsouth.net> wrote in message news:eWz4e.27215 >> I hate to say this, but a long-time online friend had a radical mastectomy [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] >go ahead and have a double mastectomy when they are first diagnosed in just >one breast. If any type of abdominal surgery is done, doctors now normally go ahead and remove the appendix, in order to prevent a future case of appendicitis being misdiagnosed because the abdominal scars look like the appendix has already been removed. Certain forms of bowel cancer are genetically linked; a person with these genes has a close to 100% chance of getting the cancer, so that some doctors now suggest that these patients should have their bowels removed ahead of time as a preventative measure. SignatureJohn F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria > Certain forms of bowel cancer are genetically linked; a person with > these genes has a close to 100% chance of getting the cancer, so that > some doctors now suggest that these patients should have their bowels > removed ahead of time as a preventative measure. LOL! (But not everyone appreciates that kind of "sick" humour!) >> Certain forms of bowel cancer are genetically linked; a person with >> these genes has a close to 100% chance of getting the cancer, so that >> some doctors now suggest that these patients should have their bowels >> removed ahead of time as a preventative measure. > >LOL! (But not everyone appreciates that kind of "sick" humour!) Actually, that wasn't a joke. My former boss' wife had such an inherited cancer, so I did some reading on the subject. There are several forms of such cancer, and I don't remember now precisely which type she had, but I do remember reading that, if you inherit the gene for the cancer, you are all but guaranteed to develop cancer, so some doctors recommend having the bowel (large intestine) removed once a patient has been shown to have inherited the gene in question. That way, you avoid the risk of having the tumors metastasize before they are found. SignatureJohn F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria >>>Certain forms of bowel cancer are genetically linked; a person with >>>these genes has a close to 100% chance of getting the cancer, so that [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > way, you avoid the risk of having the tumors metastasize before they > are found. And live the rest of your life with a colostomy bag, and little digestive function to speak of? Thanks, I'll take my chances with the organs God gave me! (Did someone mention "quality of life"?) > There may be genetic testing now that give someone a better idea of their > particular odds. There is genetic testing for certain types of breast cancer as well as some intestinal cancers. Also some brain cancers seem to have genetic links. Rob's mom had brain tumors, but of a different type and benign. Hers formed on the lining of the brain and are reoccurring. Since her last (fourth) operation for them, she has had radiation and chemotherapy. Needless to say, Rob's sister now has cancer insurance since MIL's biological mother died from breast cancer (MIL is prone to cysts there) and MIL's first adoptive mother died from cancer, though I can't remember what type. One thing to remember, the location you've lived in may have a bearing on if you get cancer as well. Parts of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho are known as "Down Wind," as they are in the path of the prevailing winds that blow through Handford Nuclear Reservation and until the sixties (if then) radiation leaking from Handford was not controlled. There is a much higher incidence of thyroid disorders among the down winders (I have two sisters with thyroid disorders) as well as increased cancers. BTW the normal occurrence of thyroid disorders among any population (including related) is something like 1 in 20. With my family, it is 2 in 7. Pam S. > I hate to say this, but a long-time online friend had a radical > mastectomy [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > surgeon with a hint of ethics agreeing to remove a woman's breasts on the > basis of anything other than a fear of what "might happen" Was there a genetic test for the BRCA2 gene? Some reputable surgeons will do prophylactic mastectomy IF the gene is present AND there is reasonably close family history (as her mother in this case). > I hate to say this, but a long-time online friend had a radical mastectomy > because she was afraid of getting breast cancer. Her mother had died of it [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Jill Frankly, if obsessing about getting cancer was ruining this woman's quality of life, and removing her breasts could put her mind at ease, and she accepted the risks and was willing to pay the cost, I don't see a problem with it. I don't see it that much different from preferring tubes tied/vasectomy to use of birth control pills/condoms. It is not a decision to be made /lightly/, but I also do not see how it could harm anyone save the woman herself, who also stands to benefit from it. Of course I also have a ring in my nose, so maybe I've been influenced by all that stuff about body-mods I read before getting said ring done. (I will happily agree that people who effect changes to their body casually, irresponsibly, and without consideration to risks, are morons.) --Fil >>Some of this -- and some even stranger things, like voluntary >>amputation -- gets done by less-than-reputable surgeons in countries [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > surgeon with a hint of ethics agreeing to remove a woman's breasts on the > basis of anything other than a fear of what "might happen". I have to agree with you, Jill - I've known a few women whose "hobby" seemed to be having surgery, but usually there was SOME medical argument for it! Nowadays, they seem to be much less eager to perform radical mastectomies than they used to be - unless it's clearly indicated, the patient has a certain amount of choice in the matter. > That's pretty cool. > > Forgive me, but in the context of the story, when I read "The surgery > is so rare it's been performed on just 70 humans worldwide," I > thought, well, duh, how many people would want prosthetic paws instead > of feet? We-elll ... if I can have a nice cat tail to go along with ... something Siamese, I think. SignatureMoses.DukeOfUrl@gmail.com Cliologist, Philanthropologist, Prothonotary Wibbler, Paleoconservative, Surface Warrior Squid
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