Oscar is an all-black

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

owned by Kate Allan and Mike Nolan who lives on the Channel Island of

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

. In 2009 Oscar had both hind paws severed by a

combine harvester The modern combine harvester, also called a combine, is a machine designed to harvest a variety of cultivated seeds. Combine harvesters are one of the most economically important labour-saving inventions, significantly reducing the fraction of ...

. Since then he has undergone a pioneering operation to add prosthetic feet. The treatment has since been considered for use with humans. A book about Oscar's story, ''Oscar the Bionic Cat'' was published in 2013.

Accident

In October 2009, at the age of two and a half years, Oscar had both the paws of his hind legs severed by a

while in a maize field near his home in Jersey. The legs were cut between the ankle and the foot. Oscar was later found by a passing cyclist who then brought Oscar to his owners' home. Mike Nolan was at home when the woman brought Oscar; he said that at this point Oscar was covered in blood, and he was convinced the cat would have to be put down. He and Oscar's other owner, Kate Allan, took him to their local

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...

Peter Haworth.

Treatment

Initial treatment

Peter Haworth, a vet at the New Era Veterinary Hospital in Jersey, dressed Oscar's wounds and administered painkillers making him comfortable within minutes. Haworth then referred Allan and Nolan to the

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

-based neuro-orthopaedic surgeon

Noel Fitzpatrick Noel Fitzpatrick is an Irish veterinary surgeon, based in Eashing, Surrey, who came to prominence through the television programme '' The Supervet''. Originally from Ballyfin, in County Laois, Ireland, he moved to Guildford, Surrey, in 1 ...

. There was a lot of communication between the Irish surgeon and the Jersey owners. After looking at

X-ray An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...

s and pictures, Fitzpatrick decided Oscar would be an ideal patient partly due to his young age. Oscar was then flown to the United Kingdom mainland by air cargo although he had to stay in his box for eight hours during the journey.

New feet

Oscar's owners did a lot of "soul-searching" before deciding to go ahead with the operation. Kate Allan later said that the cause for her uncertainty was that the kind of operation planned had never been done before. Although the operation carried out by Noel Fitzpatrick was a world first, it mimics a natural process, being similar to the way deer grow antler bones, in the manner that the implants grow through the skin. The implants were both custom-made to fit into holes drilled into Oscar's ankle bones. They are known as intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prosthetics (ITAPs) and were developed by Professor Gordon Blunn and Dr. Catherine Pendegrass of

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

's Centre for Biomedical Engineering. They have a

honeycomb A honeycomb is a mass of Triangular prismatic honeycomb#Hexagonal prismatic honeycomb, hexagonal prismatic cells built from beeswax by honey bees in their beehive, nests to contain their brood (eggs, larvae, and pupae) and stores of honey and pol ...

structure which enables skin to bond with the implant to prevent infection. The implants are placed into the drilled holes which then allow for a "sock" to be fitted over them. The ITAP technology is currently being tested on humans and a prosthetic has been made for a woman injured in the

July 2005 London bombings July is the seventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. It was named by the Roman Senate in honour of Roman general Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., being the month of his birth. Before then it was called ...

. Fitzpatrick has said he would welcome a collaborative approach with other surgeons working on human amputations.

Snapped prosthesis

In August 2012, as a result of a reoccurring infection in Oscar's right ankle, the ITAP snapped at the point where the titanium rod exits his stump. Peter Haworth of New Era Veterinary Hospital, Jersey, once again made Oscar comfortable while possible treatment options were explored. Oscar returned to Fitzpatrick Referrals in 2013 where veterinary surgeon

performed a 2-hour operation to implant a Perfits (Percutaneous Fixation to Skeleton) amputation endoprosthesis directly into Oscar's shinbone. A new exoprosthesis – or foot – needed to be developed for Oscar, as the removal of his ankle meant he could no longer wear a blade.

Television

''The Bionic Vet''

'' The Bionic Vet'' is a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

documentary following the work of Fitzpatrick which aired on BBC1 on 30 June 2010. The programme showed Oscar walking with prototype feet made for him by engineers at Salford University. Footage not shown on the programme of Oscar with a later set of better-designed feet was uploaded on to YouTube on 18 June 2010. An update video with the vet involved showed Oscar's new feet and explained how they are designed to snap at a break point on the 'blade' rather than within the foot if he gets into difficulty.

''The Supervet''

An update on Oscar's progress was given in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

television series '' The Supervet''. The television series follows the work of veterinary surgeon

and his practice Fitzpatrick Referrals. In Episode 1, broadcast on 7 May 2014, Vet Noel Fitzpatrick was shown fitting Oscar with his new foot following his recent surgery to replace the snapped ITAP.

Guinness World Records

Oscar holds two

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

, one for being the first animal with two bionic leg implants, and the other for being the first animal to receive implants into its moving joints.

References

External links

Purr 'n' Fur: Oscar, the 'Bionic' Cat from Jersey
{{Authority control 2007 animal births Animal amputees Individual cats Jersey Prosthetics Veterinary medicine in the United Kingdom