With the dead cold winter in Siberian Russia that happens every year, people must have been prepared for themselves certain things to get warm. With cats, which can’t be resilient like us, they have to suffer from harsh weather. Unfortunately, a kitty named Ryzhik (Ginger or Redhead in Russian) lost all his limbs, which led him to the very first cat who had prosthetic paws in Russia.
Ryzhik lost all his paws to frostbite and was fitted with artificial ones
Back in January 2019, in Tomsk, Surgeon Sergey Gorshkov who was working at a clinic in Novosibirsk, received a special case: a poor tabby cat had his severely frostbitten paws. The owner of the cat didn’t give up on his life, so he brought him to the vet hoping Dr.Gorshkov could solve the problem. The surgeon couldn’t have another choice but to amputate the limbs and implant the artificial ones.
To explain more about the progress of implanting, Gorshkov used computer tomography and 3D modeling to create limbs that would be most comfortable for Ryzhik. They were made of titanium and linked neatly to the bones. And seemed like the kitty was comfy with the new paws.
Surgeon Sergey Gorshkov said: “He is definitely the first cat in the world who experienced 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.”
After the operation, the cat didn’t feel in pain. In another word, “We achieved a good result. We have secured the function of the limb, although part of it has been removed.”
Ryzhik was used to his new prosthetic limbs since he didn’t ask for taking them off. He could hobble and go down the stairs, he will absolutely better his walking and running skills in the future.
