14 DAY TRIAL // There are pooches whose food is much more expensive than yours and they also get more love and caring. So why not using the most expensive technologies for fixing them?
This is a first: a pet dog has been successfully fitted with an artificial paw. Storm, a Belgian Shepherd, had his paw partially amputated after being detected with an aggressive form of cancer in his foot. This is the first registered case when skin has successfully grown into metal, forming a resilient seal against infection.
The implant, made of titanium alloy, is fixed to the main bone of Storm's foreleg. A plug-in carbon-fiber prosthetic paw is inserted into the implant, making the fake paw.
"The miraculous thing for Storm is that the bone has grown into the metal, and the skin has grown into the metal, so now he has a resilient seal which cannot break down and he cannot get infected through it. That's been the holy grail of amputee research for years." said vet Noel Fitzpatrick of Farnam, Surrey (UK), who made this surgery and who is a specialist in repairing the damaged limbs of pets.
Before operating the dog, the scientists investigated how deer antlers have evolved in order to see how skin could mold to another substance. Storm's prosthetic paw permits him to balance and use his leg more naturally. The most important fact of this surgery is that it could act as a model for human amputees.
"The technology is not just the first time that the implant type has been used outside the human finger. Because it has been implanted into the radius of the forearm of the dog, it will act as a model for human amputees in the future and provides hope for people without feet or hands." said Fitzpatrick, who believes the pioneering operation will help victims of July 7 bombings and soldiers returning from Iraq.