Rishi, a 10-year-old Australian terrier, is no stranger to morning walkers on the Marina. Heads turn when this dog-with-wheels walks by with his owners M. Marimuthu and his wife Saraswathy, covering almost two kms every day.
“He used to walk along the entire stretch between Anna Mausoleum and Light House till a year ago. But problems in the spinal cord paralysed his back legs,” said Mr. Marimuthu, a former deputy commissioner in the Commercial Taxes Department. There was not a veterinarian in the City the Marimuthus did not visit for help with Rishi till Dr. N. Srikumar suggested that they opt for a wheel cart.
Today Rishi is one of a select band of pets who have been fitted with prosthetics that allow them to lead normal, active lives. So active that Bandit, a cat, needed to have her prosthetic hind legs replaced last year, five years after she was fitted with specially designed limbs following a horrific accident as a six-month-old kitten.
Rishi’s cart was designed by Gagarin Singh, owner of Global Technology Solutions LLC in Delhi and a specialist in animal prosthetics.
The couple brought the dog from Madurai after their two Lhasa Apsos died of liver problems. “Rishi was very active till he was suffered a paralysis and doctors gave up on him. It was veterinarian N. Srikumar who suggested that we could opt for wheel-cart,” recalls Ms Saraswathi.
“The deformity is caused by spinal cord compression and happens due to old age. I took the measurements for the wheel-cart and sent it to Mr Gagarin Singh, whose expertise in the field is well known,” recalls Dr. Srikumar. “It cost Rs 17,000 and the cart reached us in four days,” said Ms Saraswathi.
Mr Gagarin Singh, a mechanical engineer by training from IIT Delhi, says the prosthetics are made of aeronautical aluminium. “We design prosthetics for all animals — from rats to elephants. The material is strong but lightweight. It is also rust free,” he said, recalling that late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had ordered a similar cart.
And so Rishi is back on the Marina.
After his paralysis, Ms Saraswathi switched to an almost entirely vegetarian diet for Rishi and took to Ayurvedic medicines to treat him. Rishi gets boiled okra with ghee in the morning and boiled beetroots after the morning walk. “We also give him a boiled white of an egg. We treat him with Vaadha mudakki and Pala Arishtam. He is in good health,” said Mr Saraswathi.
Bandit bounces back
When an accident severely crushed her hind paws, Bandit was rescued by a volunteer and brought to Dr. Afzal.H. Mohamed, chief veterinarian at Doctor Cat Feline Speciality Clinic in Thiruvanmiyur in Chennai, for euthanasia as it seemed she would never walk again.
However, Dr. Afzal and his junior decided Bandit must not only live but also get back on her paws. The duo then developed special prosthetics called the Intraosseous Transcutaneous Amputation Prosthetics (ITAP) for the cat. And on January 30, 2013, after a procedure lasting about an hour, Bandit got her new feet.
Restored to health and normal activity, Bandit’s owner brought her in last September for a replacement of the external prosthetic pegs, which had worn out!
U.K. precedent
“When I heard her case I was reminded of Oscar, an all black feline, whose legs were chopped in the UK and later veterinarians there helped him get back on his feet applying the same procedure,” said Dr. Afzal.
Unlike Rishi’s strap-on prosthetics, ITAP involves insertion of a small titanium rod in the medullary cavity of the bone. Once the metal is in and forms a direct interface with the bone, the outer prosthetics are attached, enabling the animal to walk.
“We decided to not to speak about it, till we were convinced that she was normal again. And now she is,” Dr Afzal said, showing a video where Bandit is seen was rushing up the stairs in her new titanium paws.
Convinced about its use and longevity, Dr. Afzal performed a similar procedure on another cat, Napoleon, a month ago. His fore paws were severely burnt and needed amputation after an electric fire caused injuries all over his body. The implantation of the ITAP took about half an hour for each leg.
“He was brought to us on June 24 last year. One leg was implanted in November and the other in January this year,” Dr Afzal said. A healthy and very active Napoleon is recovering under medical supervision at the veterinarian’s clinic.
Bandit is unaware that she has made history as the first animal with ITAP in the country. Unlike the surgery on Oscar in the U.K., which cost £50,000, Bandit’s surgery and implants cost less than Rs. 10,000. “It has zero complications and is normal in every sense. If something like happens to pets, this will provide them with a new life; they do not need to be euthanised. I hope more pet owners become aware of this procedure,” said Dr. Afzal.
