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Bionic Cat Gets World's First Implant Paws
Several readers send in the news of Oscar, the first bionic cat, whose hind paws got cut off in a harvester accident. In a world's-first operation, a neurosurgeon has now given him exoprosthetic paws that are implanted directly into his leg bones. The BBC artlcle has a video captured just after the operation, and PopSci has an apparently later one in which Oscar is walking and running almost completely normally.
True, it was per Dr. Evil's special request:
"You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads!" - Dr. Evil
No, but it means PawSense will need an update.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
Cats in a farming environment generally seem to be considered disposable and people who grew up on farms rarely seem to be cat lovers.
Cats apparently like to hang out and hide in fields of grain, and after any harvesting/mowing operation you end up with a lot of cut grain and a field full of legless cats.
My father once described having the job as a kid of going out into the field with the .22 rifle he got for his birthday and having to shoot all the maimed cats to put them out of their misery.
So this is one damn lucky cat.
G.
DDT probably could, but no one is quite sure what that would to their environment over there so no one is willing to give it a shot. People forget that malaria was a problem in the Americas too until the mosquito population was decimated by pesticides massively slowing the infection rate; combined with rapid quarantine and treatment of infected individuals it all but eliminated malaria from two continents.
I mean, even some humans have some problems with new limbs
Some humans don't even like the ones they have...
DDT is still used today to combat malaria. It's just not indiscriminately carpet-bombed all of the place like it was in the '50s.
I was involved with a company who did this work on a Siberian Husky in 2007. CBS News in Colorado: http://www.cbs4denver.com/video/?id=28412@kcnc.dayport.com Triumph's website: http://triumphthedog.net/
There's a pretty big difference between spraying DDT on interior surfaces (to kill misquotes that are entering the home) and using it on breeding grounds (to massively reduce the mosquito population). Yes, killing the bugs that enter homes is nice, and probably reduces infection rates, but destroying the breeding population is the proven way to (nearly) eradicate malaria.
My cats would let me know when they are in pain, either chronic or acute. On chronic pain I'd see 'meow' movements of the mouth without sound, curling up on me, or increased keading. Massaging the back of the neck always helps since it triggers serotonin release and calms the cat down. Works on older cats too. I've never seen any cat making sounds on chronic pain. But this doesn't mean that the signs aren't in there if you look for them.
Carefully crafted sig.