A ginger cat named Ryzhik (meaning Redhead) was found with severe frostbite and gangrene an all four limbs in Tomsk, Russia. Veterinarians felt the only option to treat the cat was to amputate his paws. According to an article in the Siberian Times, Ryzhik was then taken to a clinic in Novosibirsk, which specialises in implanting artificial limbs.
Computer tomography and 3D modelling were used to manufacture artificial limbs for Ryzhik. Now Ryzhik is alledgedly the only cat in Russia with four functioning artificial paws.
Surgeon Sergey Gorshkov says in the Siberian Times article that Ryzhik is the first cat in the world to have undergone such surgeries. ‘The limbs have fully connected with the skin and bone. The part of the limb that goes inside the body is spongy, the bone tissue grows inside it. […] We have secured the function of the limb, although part of it has been removed.’
The clinic where the surgery was carried out will patent its specialist technique for attaching artificial limbs to birds and is also working on ways to rebuild beaks for parrots and hooves for cattle.
[Image Preview of video: Close up of body of ginger cat, held up by human hand, front paw amputated, with grey ‘bootlike’ shaped artifical paw attached to paw, upheld by a human finger]
In the article it is said that as Ryzhik is not trying to remove the limbs, it suggests he is content with his new mobility.
Is this truly the case?
Crip HumAnimal 
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