From My Modern Met we have the story of Vituzzo Superstar, a ginger tabby who lost his hind legs a year ago after he was run over by a car. But they fixed him up just a month ago! Click on screenshot to read the story:
But kind humans took on his case. As the site says:
He was immediately taken to the hospital and operated on, but the veterinarians were unable to save his hind legs. During this time, Vituzzo’s humans were on their honeymoon and unable to comfort him through the scary ordeal.
December 2019 was a different story for Vituzzo and his pawrents. Though it was a difficult year, the brave cat was fitted for prostheses and started to use the sleek, robotic legs to move around like his other four-legged friends. There were, however, some immediate differences. “It was not easy to get back on my feet with these stilts,” Vituzzo said on his Instagram, “or get used to not jumping anymore and not being the boss of the neighborhood.” But with the love and support of his moms and the people close to him, he’s proven that nothing is holding him back from living his best life.
Vituzzo:
You can see more photos at the site, as well as videos (none are on YouTube, and the bionic cat has an Instagram page. A bit more of Vituzzo Superstar (he doesn’t walk perfectly normally, but he does get around on his prosthetic legs):
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Bored Panda shows a gazillion photos of cats forcing themselves into small spaces. I’ll put up a few of the more humorous photos (click on screenshot to see them all):
And a gif. . .
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From the Bolde site we have an article and a video about a Japanese company (of course) that will make a giant replica of your cat’s head that you can wear. It ain’t cheap, but look at the results!
An excerpt:
1. THEY’RE WEARABLE AND THEY’RE TERRIFYING.These masks, made by creative planning office Shindo Rinka and modeling workshop 91, are both incredibly impressive in their realism as well as sorta terrifying because they’re so true to the original. Not only that, but you can actually wear them, though I’m not sure what occasion would be appropriate for a giant cat or dog head.
2. THE PROCESS IS PRETTY SIMPLE.You fill out your information on the Shindo website (tick the “My Family” box) and submit a photo of your pet in which you can see its face and features clearly and up close and the craftsmen behind the masks get to work making the replica for you. The results, as seen in the photos, are mind-blowingly good.
3. IT’S NOT CHEAP.Getting a giant replica of your pet’s head that’s incredibly detailed and realistic as well as hand-crafted doesn’t come cheap. In fact, they cost about 300,000 JPY ($2,712.60 USD) plus shipping, which is both really expensive but also seems like a total bargain given how good it is and how unique. After all, where else are you going to get anything remotely like this?
4. THIS IS SUCH A FUN PRODUCT.While it’s admittedly more than a little creepy, it’s also pretty fun and SO Japanese to make a giant wearable replica of a beloved pet’s head. It’s exactly the kind of amazing weirdness we love the country for and that makes it so creative and interesting. Will you be buying one? (If you’re rich enough to justify the purchase, can you get me one too?)
Isn’t this worth $2700? Imagine the hit you’d make if you showed up to a party or at work wearing a cat head? The video shows a narrator wearing the head, and it’s freaky, let me tell you. (I wouldn’t mind having a Hili head, but don’t want to cough up the dosh.)
h/t: Michael, j.j., Matthew
We visited my daughter at vet school and met a researcher doing work on dog prosthetics. He explained that dogs are so active they break prosthetics pretty quickly and if they join to the bone, the opening in the skin is subject to infection. Cats are probably not as tough on the materials and may do better.
Infection is a bane of prosthetics. Has been since surgery depended on several strong men to hold the patient down. And hold their own stomachs down, too,
I’m more than half-tempted to start a Instagofundmekicker (other crowd-funding websites are available) to fund a HiliHead for PCC(E). Delivery to the university office … in time for some major faculty meeting, or doing some poor PhD candidate’s viva.
The paws are rented? Surely not!
Interesting that there seems to be an adjustable connection to the tibia (?). I’m guessing the prosthetics are still in the process of being sized for comfort/ utility. Or … maybe the laterally-oriented bolts are less liable to infection. Ball-&-socket joint at the “ankle”, too, for angle adjustment.
That would be an average of $0.40 each.
Also, follower #70k will be signing up in … what – a few months?
That gif at the bottom brings to mind the scene in the opening chapter of Ken Kesey’s final novel, Sailor Song, wherein the protagonist encounters a cat with its head stuck in a mayonnaise jar.
Many years ago, our cat came back in one morning with her head stuck in an empty cat food tin – a story which pretty much told itself. Fortunately we had a pair of tin snips in the garage, so no long term harm done – just some cuts to the cranium and jaw angle where she’d got caught on the torn edges of the opening. She’d got worse from fighting with the neighbours. But we got, pretty damned quick, into the habit of stamping or hammering tins flat before they went into the bin. That was decades before the “recycling bin” was a thing ; these days tins go into the dishwasher (in those houses that have one) then get flattened, then go into the bin.
🐾🐾