When Vincent showed up at the Story County Animal Shelter in Nevada, Iowa, he’d been through something awful. He had been found injured at a camping site, back legs missing from the shinbone down. The shelter had no idea how he’d gotten that way, but the little guy was in luck. At three years of age, Vincent has been fitted with a pair of titanium back legs that allow him to wander about, almost like a normal cat. The veterinary school at Iowa State University along with the veterinary orthopedics company BioMedtrix, used 3D modeling and printing to build Vincent titanium-alloy rear legs. BioMedtrix, a donated its time and materials.
The first surgery took place in February 2014, with the titanium shafts inserted into Vincent’s thigh bones. The shafts then emerge from his skin. A second surgery followed in February of this year, and since then The Iowa State University team have been gradually lengthening the titanium shafts.
Only about 25 animals around the world have received the same sort of prosthetic as Vincent, Bergh estimates, which meant no one knew quite how the procedure would go, or how he would recover. His bone is looking great. The implants are stable, and he’s walking really well on them.
Sources: huffingtonpost.com; beyondwindows9.com; cnet.com