Cat receives 'groundbreaking' replacement knee

A successful complete knee replacement operation has been carried out on a cat in the US.

A ten-year-old cat in the US has undergone a groundbreaking operation to repair a leg weakened by cancer.

The pet, known as Cyrano, was given a total knee replacement by doctors in a treatment that is believed to be the first of its kind to be carried out on a cat in the US, the Huffington Post reports.

He was left with severe pain in his left hind leg as a result of cancer treatment last year but the operation, which involved fitting a plastic and cobalt chromium alloy implant, gives Cyrano improved mobility.

However, he will not be free to play with cat toys and enjoy other forms of exercise for around three months after the surgery.

Denis Marcellin-Little, the surgeon who carried out the procedure, said the size of Cyrano - who weighs over 20 pounds and has large bones - made the replacement easier.

He described it as "the most complex implant that … anyone has built for any situation that I know of".

Cyrano's size may have been beneficial in this instance but his weight could have been a contributing factor in him suffering from cancer, as weight gain caused by feeding cats anything other than specially formulated cat food can lead to this and other diseases.

Posted by Tim Pinnock
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Wednesday, 1 Feb 2012, 4:37pm