Good for Oscar! He looks just like the the cat we used to have, the late Otis (Mr. Puddy), who recently passed on at the ripe old age of 13. He was the most mellow cat. posted by Daddy-O at 5:40 AM on June 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
Tape! Ugh, that's going to look like crap in two days. Put some heat shrink on those things for dignity's sake.
So wait, the last link is dated today and shows completely different feet than the "custom engineered" ones in the first video. Did they redesign them? posted by Popular Ethics at 5:47 AM on June 25, 2010
Dear askme: What's the easiest way to chop off my cat's legs? Also, best online store for tiny roller skates? posted by orme at 5:51 AM on June 25, 2010 [4 favorites]
Dude, have you even TRIED cat feet? Yowza! posted by blue_beetle at 6:02 AM on June 25, 2010
This post is useless without that buhnuhnuhnuhnuh bionic sound. posted by DU at 6:03 AM on June 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
The opening to this show would never work:
Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic cat. Oscar will be that cat. We can make him better than he was before. Cuter, cuddlier, ...you're a kitty! Who's the cutest little cyborg feline? You are!" posted by griphus at 6:13 AM on June 25, 2010 [8 favorites]
I heard the movie version of this story will feature Arnold Schwarzenegger as the cat. posted by ZenMasterThis at 6:16 AM on June 25, 2010
Poor kitty. posted by Artw at 6:18 AM on June 25, 2010
If that was my cat I would change his name to Jack (Sparrow), Blackbeard, Pegleg, Stumpy, Hop-a-long, or Steve (Austin). posted by Daddy-O at 6:18 AM on June 25, 2010
It's amazing that they got the cat to rebuild tissue over the implant like that. Very cool! posted by Mister_A at 6:44 AM on June 25, 2010
Questions:
1. How has this affected his cornering ability? Curious mice need to know.
2. How is acceleration / braking on hard surfaces affected? Mice and other small creatures need to know this too.
3. Are his footsteps (pawsteps?) now audible? 3 blind mice need to know. posted by markx2 at 6:48 AM on June 25, 2010 [4 favorites]
Is this technology expected to be successful on cloned kitties and has the Olympic Committee commented? posted by downonthebayou at 6:50 AM on June 25, 2010
Awww, bionic kitty!
However, watching a man in surgical scrubs reach for a roll of duct tape is surprisingly unsettling. posted by xthlc at 6:59 AM on June 25, 2010
A combine harvester? I believe he spent 8 of his 9 right there. Also, I'd be looking at some sort of zero-entry litterbox for ol' Oscar. posted by jquinby at 7:16 AM on June 25, 2010
Cats are fairly adaptable when it comes to missing paws, legs, and such. At one point a friend's cat had showed up at the house, minus a limb, but once healed, he still continued to slaughter wildlife and bring it home. I had to make a little jazzy tune to sing to him:
Sid, Sid, the three-legged cat
Nobody knows where the fourth leg is at
He hops and he bops and he stumbles around
It's not four on the floor
But three on the ground
O Sid's a mighty hunter
Slayer of rodentkind
Bloody mangled rabbits
Left on the floor for you to find!
Sid, Sid, the three-legged cat ...
I don't think he appreciated it too much, but cats are fairly fickle about the whole appreciation concept. I couldn't find anything about the inside of the implant used on Oscar, but there's a chance that under the hydroxyapatite they could use a titanium foam, instead of solid titanium, for the implant. Not only is titanium foam lighter, but its modulus of elasticity is similar to that of actual bone. One problem with current titanium implants is that the implant is so strong, it dominates the load bearing and so the surrounding bone dies off because it "isn't needed." This causes a loosening of the implant, which, you know, bad. posted by adipocere at 7:17 AM on June 25, 2010 [11 favorites]
Whatever, my pets' vet put death-ray laser eyes in my budgie. posted by Mister_A at 7:22 AM on June 25, 2010
is it just me, or did anyone else get something in their eye while watching this video? its just the darndest thing... posted by lisawin at 7:51 AM on June 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
is it just me, or did anyone else get something in their eye while watching this video?
As a cat lover, I'm not ashamed to admit I shed a few tears when that frisky kitty started scooting around on his little prosthetic feet. posted by Verdandi at 8:02 AM on June 25, 2010
I love the part where the vet chokes up when Oscar jumps up onto the barrier.
This is very touching.
And yay for duct tape.
All that aside, the technology in this is amazing. It makes me wonder how dental implants work. Is it something similar-and this group is just expanding the technology- or is this groundbreaking stuff? posted by SLC Mom at 8:03 AM on June 25, 2010
The duct tape was actually the thing that sold me on this being up and coming technology. everything I know about being around engineering labs says that the prototype is never pretty. All the projects I've seen look like the sort of repair job you find in slum apartments, with little filaments of wire tracing off everywhere and gooey silicone sealer hand smoothed into the cracks so there's fingerprints.
All this needs is a bank of Iranians in the corner doing computer modeling, while the hands on engineers make snide comments.
I'm wondering if they used that honeycomb structure mothboy's friend is working on, to replace lost bone tissue in a way that causes the bone to grow into it. posted by Phalene at 8:04 AM on June 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
"modulus of elasticity" may be the coolest phrase I'll read today. posted by jquinby at 8:10 AM on June 25, 2010
This is awesome, but they're going to regret requesting the laser eyes and killer bee breath for Oscar. posted by Joey Michaels at 8:10 AM on June 25, 2010
From his bio:
Noel believes fervently that “all animal guardians should be given all treatment options and that evolution of technique and device must go hand-in-hand with evolution of the acknowledgement that animals are sentient creatures and as such we have a moral and ethical responsibility to ensure compassionate care, which is the cornerstone of a civilized society and is integral to our progress as a species. Just because something can be done does not make it the right thing to do – it must be in the interest of each individual patient. Our aim is functional pain-free quality of life for a single patient and if that contributes to advances for all animals and all humans, then that can only be a good thing.”
As someone that formerly used animals in research and is an animal lover, I've always had a conflict between the science side of me that understands the need for using animals and the sympathy side of me that rejects causing pain and death to animals for our own benefit. I've tried to reconcile my thoughts a thousand ways - nature is cruel and research is no worse, it's all for the best, you eat meat so don't be a hypocrite, etc. The justifications help you get past the issue, not make you feel terribly better about hurting specific animals for your research - your benefit.
Once recently I was talking to a researcher that used dogs to develop what is now a very well established medical device. In my heart I had a hard time looking at data regarding these dogs, subjected to surgery and injury, then repair and ultimately death, all in the name of product design. This was especially true when I came home to my own dogs, playing fetch with them, rubbing their tummies, and realizing that in another world I wouldn't have adopted them from the humane society - they might have ended up in the lab. It brought back too many memories of my own past research, and for a while I felt that old sense of conflict and guilt even though I was not performing the research, I was just reading about it.
Sensing that discomfort, the researcher turned me and told me the stories of how the vet school was now using the device from time to time in dogs to save their lives. I brightened up a bit. Then I thought of all the wonderful medicine and technology that have gone into caring for my dogs and how that too likely came from animal research. These justifications help, but they are still justifications for hurting and usually killing an otherwise healthy animal.
As, I watched the video of Oscar, I couldn't help but think he was part medical experiment and part humanitarian effort to help a fellow creature. Judging by Dr. Fitzpatrick's bio, that seems to be true. Those legs he's standing on are undoubtedly built on a long history of research by those other than Noel where fellow animals suffered and died to bring medical advancement. I applaud this "bionic vet" for his efforts to develop and use this technology for the benefit of the animals he sees as well as for humans. That idea - the use of animal research for our mutual benefit right down to the level of the animal used in the experiment - represents a revolution in scientific research. posted by Muddler at 9:01 AM on June 25, 2010 [6 favorites]
this was freaking awesome. big ups to dr. fitzpatrick. (and oscar looks like a slightly burlier version of a cat i used to know and love, which made for a sweet little emotional gut-punch. awww, kitties.) posted by palomar at 9:03 AM on June 25, 2010
I wish there was a way to teach that cat to say "Come with me...if you want to live!" posted by ignignokt at 9:36 AM on June 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
This is super cool. I totally admit to getting weepy when the cat jumped up on the barrier. It must have been a long time since he could do that. Go Science! posted by troublewithwolves at 9:56 AM on June 25, 2010
Sid, Sid, the three legged cat...
Have you / will you put that on MeFi Music? If not, can I? I had a cat named Sid, although he doesn't quite fit the description. But really adipocere, gnarly song, I'm gonna sing it. posted by randomyahoo at 10:03 AM on June 25, 2010
adipocere, I don't know how I could favorite that Sid the Cat song any harder (but if I did, you can be sure I would)! posted by S'Tella Fabula at 10:07 AM on June 25, 2010
"modulus of elasticity" may be the coolest phrase I'll read today
A troll wouldn't come up with a name like Teacup. A little girl would ... mmm, Modulus. posted by Faze at 1:30 PM on June 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
Seriously? Nobody has made the "cat now has faux paws" joke yet? posted by madmethods at 8:43 PM on June 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
And if you throw the cat in the air, not only will it land on its feet, it will spring up and rip your face off for doing that in the first place. posted by bwg at 2:53 AM on June 26, 2010
posted by Daddy-O at 5:31 AM on June 25, 2010 [12 favorites]