Nobody knows how a stray cat named Pooh hurt his rear legs. It’s probable that he was hit by a train, or maybe a car, in the little Bulgarian village where he lived. Whatever happened, Pooh was seriously injured and required medical attention right away.
Pooh didn’t truly belong to anyone, though a local woman placed food outside for him on occasion. When the woman saw Pooh was injured, she hurried him to the Central Vet Clinic in Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital. Pooh was examined for the first time by Vladislav Zlatinov, a surgeon who worked there.
Pooh suffered from serious soft tissue injury as well as open, septic sores. Zlatinov was well aware that he needed to act quickly.
Zlatinov first believed he had just two options: amputate the rear legs high up on the limbs or, if it didn’t work, euthanize Pooh to end his suffering.
But Zlatinov refused to undertake either of these things. He’d read about Dr. Noel Fitzpatrick, a celebrity vet in the United Kingdom, who’d performed a difficult surgery on Oscar, mending his broken back legs and implanting permanent prosthesis – tiny “peg legs” – into the cat’s ankle bones.
“I had a hazy notion that this was done, but it sounded impossible for our practice,” Zlatinov explained. “But I wanted to give it a go.”
It wasn’t an easy procedure. Zlatinov had to undertake numerous procedures to save Pooh’s upper legs. Then Zlatinov arranged for custom-made prostheses, which he drilled into Pooh’s ankle bones and permanently attached to Pooh’s legs.
“So far, he’s doing remarkably well,” Zlatinov remarked. “Pooh is able to move freely on level surfaces, including walking, sprinting, and even tiny leaps. He can’t make greater jumps for the time being. What matters is that he does not appear to be in discomfort.”
Pooh may appear awkward, but Zlatinov believes this has nothing to do with his mechanical legs. “He’s simply an overweight, lazy lad,” Zlatinov added. “Eventually, he’ll be able to move freely… if he removes the big tummy.”
Pooh appears to be growing used to his new legs and treating them as if they were any other part of his body. “He grooms them and keeps them clean,” Zlatinov explained.
“We’re quite proud,” Zlatinov said, according to Reuters. “It was a huge success… It offers other patients hope.”
Link to Paws Daily