Frostbitten Cat Becomes First in the World to Receive Four Titanium Paws

There are a lot of misfortunate animals out there that have lost one or several limbs, and most of the time they get euthanized to save them from a miserable life. Most such cases are the result of permanent limb loss due to frostbite, but thanks to new technologies these animals can still have a chance to live a normal life.
This cute ginger kitten, name Ryzhik, was the first one in the world to receive four prosthetic limbs after suffering severe injuries due to the low temperatures in Tomsk, Siberia.
Ryzhik, was left out in last January on a freezing winter night (with temperatures below -40 degrees Celsius), but a kind person found and took him in. His condition started to worsen as he stayed a lot of time out in the cold and Ryzhik was in a lot of pain.
The only solution to save him was to amputate his four limbs. Even though his owner was in deep pain too, seeing the poor kitten suffer, he refused to give up on Ryzhik and looked for ways of improving his life. That’s when he got in touch with a prosthetic clinic in Novosibirsk, where they managed to build 4 titanium limbs for the poor kitten. The most problematic part in fitting prosthetic limbs to animals is trying to make them get used to these.

So the clinic used 3D modeling to create the most comfortable limbs for Ryzhik and attached them through surgery to the cat’s bones. According to videos and the kitten’s owner, Ryzhik seems to be comfortable with his new paws and does not try to remove them.

Thanks to this new technology, animals affected by frostbite can still live a normal life after such a horrible accident. But to make sure that your pet does not get affected by frostbite, you should avoid walking them in freezing temperatures or cover their paws so they are protected from cold and snow.