The Bionic Cat

 

A cat that had its back feet severed by a combine harvester has been given two prosthetic limbs in a pioneering operation by a UK vet.

The new feet are custom-made implants that "peg" the ankle to the foot. They are bioengineered to mimic the way deer antler bone grows through the skin.

The operation - a world first - was carried out by Noel Fitzpatrick, a veterinary surgeon based in Surrey.

His work is explored in a BBC documentary called The Bionic Vet.

The cat, named Oscar, was referred to Mr Fitzpatrick by his local vet in Jersey, following the accident last October. Oscar was struck by the combine harvester whilst dozing in the sun.

The prosthetic pegs, called intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prosthetics (Itaps) were developed by a team from University College London led by Professor Gordon Blunn, who is head of UCL's Centre for Biomedical Engineering.

Professor Blunn and his team have worked in partnership with Mr Fitzpatrick to develop these weight-bearing implants, combining engineering mechanics with biology.

Mr Fitzpatrick explained: "The real revolution with Oscar is [that] we have put a piece of metal and a flange into which skin grows into an extremely tight bone."

"We have managed to get the bone and skin to grow into the implant and we have developed an 'exoprosthesis' that allows this implant to work as a see-saw on the bottom of an animal's limbs to give him effectively normal gait."

Professor Blunn told BBC News the idea was initially developed for patients with amputations who have a "stump socket".

"This means they fix their artifical limb with a sock, which fits over the stump. In a lot of cases this is sucessful, but you [often] get rubbing and pressure sores."

The Itap technology is being tested in humans and has already been used to create a prosthetic for a woman who lost her arm in the July 2005 London bombings.

"The intriguing thing with Oscar was that he had two implants - one in each back leg, and in quite an unusual site," Professor Blunn told BBC News.

He said that the success of this operation showed the potential of the technology.

"Noel has some brilliant ideas," he added. "And we're continuing to work closely with him to develop new technologies."

 

Text *pinched* from BBC

iPhone Geeks, Help Required!

If anyone has any idea why this keeps popping up on my my iPhone and how I can fix it I'd be very grateful.

I have tried all my email passwords so it's not that.. grrr..

I have tried Googling for the answer but only found references from 2008 and stuff I did not understand :(

I'm stuck and it's annoying!

Help!!!!

The Moth

A couple of days ago Mabel (my cat) was playing with or should I say tormenting this amazingly huge moth!

I took a quick video but it's quite difficult to tell how big it was, but believe me it was BIG. I picked it up and was surprised at how heavy it was!

Pity the video isn't better quality..

Big Yellow

Big Yellow, originally uploaded by LadyBanana.

Took this photo yesterday, fiddled about with it a bit in Picnik and like the result.

So as I am tired and uninspired to blog anything else I decided to post this..

Big Yellow is a storage facility if you have too much junk!

Recycling Food

These days I’m sure we are all very much aware of the drive to recycle just about everything.

Whether you have 15 different bins or not you cannot escape!

I recycle some of the time, I’ll be honest, I am a bit lazy and as of yet I am not burdened with sorting out things into those 15 bins.

We do however have large bins at the end of the road, each labelled clearly with what they want in them, clear glass, green glass, brown glass, paper, plastic bottles and tin cans.

So I might stand there for 10 minutes or so carefully plopping the right item into the right bin.

Then once a week a lorry comes along to take it all away, they carefully empty each of these bins into ONE BIG CONTAINER!!!!!

Can you believe it after all that sorting!!!?

Well now we have been given notice that we will soon be expected to recycle food waste!

 

Where will it go?

To the homeless and under privileged no doubt  lol

 

No… I am joking, it will, instead of going to landfill, be sent to be composted.

The reason being that when it goes to landfill it apparently produces gases that contribute to global warming.

Are these gases not produced when it is composted? I have no idea.

But how are we going to save this rotting food for collection? Can you imagine the stench, the flies, the maggots, the rats and foxes it will attract?

It sounds horrendous!

 

Do you recycle food in this way yet?

Freaked Out Kitten

This is so cute.

My cat Mabel has never ever shown the slightest interest in her own reflection.

Does your cat get excited by what he/she see's in the mirror?

 

Feeling Dirty

Today is day 7 of having no hot water in the house.

I am to say the least, utterly pee’d off at this situation.

I have made many phone calls and moaned and groaned long and hard to anyone and everyone I can, but to no avail.

I live in a rather strange block which has a communal hot water and heating system which seems ever so terribly difficult to fix.

So not having had a proper bath or shower for an entire week now, I feel dirty.

I’m not really, as I am a resourceful lady and there are ways to keep clean and fresh without these modern day luxuries but I still feel a bit dirty.

Meanwhile I crave this:

Now This is A BIG Arse!!

I really could not think of an appropriate title for this post - but just had to share this! LOL

 

Saturday Centus – My Hero

I was 17, partying on the hill in the late evening sun, drinking wine and having fun.

All was well with the world, the effect of the wine no doubt!

I danced, I toppled head over heels down the hill, noticing as I came to a halt that my new white shorts were covered in cut grass.

I stumbled as I tried to get to my feet and there he was, helping me up – my hero!

 

 

Now here I sit 40 years later, on the cemetery lawns, tears quietly rolling down my cheeks, I had not been there for him...

It’s true, the smell of freshly mowed grass can stay with you for years, for decades..

Ban These On The Motorways!!

 

This is a very familiar sight these days, England flags flapping from cars.

Today we had a journey up the M1 motorway to Leicester and back and saw several cars flying the flag.

I also saw several flags that had flown right off the cars laying in the middle of the motorway.

It occurred to me that if one of these flags flew off and decided to land on a windscreen it would be very difficult to drive at 70mph with that obstructing the view!

I think they should be banned particularly on high speed roads!

Can’t Be Bothered

Just a couple of days away from the laptop and it’s all gone mad.

I try to keep up with reading the blogs in my Google Reader but I can’t, well not when some have posted 21 posts in those few days.

That doesn’t include all the non-blogs I like to keep up with, but can’t.

Going through a patch of “can’t be botheredness” at the moment.

Here’s hoping it will soon pass..

Saturday Centus – The Stranger

It had been a rough day, in fact a rough week. I needed sometime to zone out to forget what had happened if only for a couple of hours.

A movie seemed a good idea, to lose myself in another world.

It was only the second time I been to the movies alone, I still felt quite conspicuous..

I bought my ticket, some much needed refreshment and went inside.

I settled into the comfortable movie theater seat with awkward 3D glasses perched on my nose, a small tub of popcorn on my lap, and a bottle of water lodged into the seat holder, I felt a quiet relief until he sat down beside me.

The stench was awful. I glanced toward him and noticed as he opened his jacket he was not human..

Relaxing In The Bath - Photos

Haha, if you thought you were going to see me in the bath – well, sorry!  lol

 

Mabel often spends some time relaxing in the bath, as long as there is no water!

(Not the best quality pics as the lighting is odd)