American Bulldog gets a bionic paw replacement. Saw him on Channel 5 news using the implant just like a paw Incredible !

How amazing!!! That is a LOT of money though!! So pleased for the doggi and his owner, its fantastic!! :)

Not something I'd consider for mine - human amputees often have ghost pains :-(  not to mention the actual pain at the time of the op and rehabilitation. Sometimes I think we go too far in trying to prolong an animals life for our own benefits.

Actually it isn't just dogs & animals this is aimed at. A further article explains more about the benefits to humans as well as animals

Yes, I've read about it before, and spoken to the guys at touch bionics which are just up the road from me. I think the technology is wonderful (for people) - but wouldn't consider it for any of my dogs.

Looks painful.  Not something I would ever do but the advancements can only come from them trying.

Emma

imo he would have proberly been just as active on three legs without going though the pain of having this fitted.
but have to agree they have to try these things so they can make improvments in the further, just not something i would have put my own dogs though.

Wasn't there a reason why they couldn't just leave him with 3 legs? I'm sure something was said on the TV about the reason why it had to be done, if not then he wouldn't of survived for very long..

Maybe i was tired when i was watching and didn't take it all in.

Yes they said his weight would have meant he couldn't manage on three legs especially as it was a foreleg, the hind legs are more able to bear extra weight than the fore legs

>the hind legs are more able to bear extra weight than the fore legs

That's partly true, but also 60% of a dog's weight is taken by the forelegs (because of the extra weight of the head and neck) and only 40% by the hindlegs, so a dog copes better with the loss of a hindleg than it does the loss of a fore.

I think they also mentioned that the dog had serious arthritis in his hind quarters and that by losing his front leg his other legs would not be able to hold his weight

Actually I was of the same mind of some of the poster that attached limbs can cause considerable pain and sores so would not put my dog through it, but I think the technology here is amazing, the limbs are attached to the bone by a pin and real skin actually grows over the joining, it is almost perfect or as near to perfect as we could get, I would think that the pain would be quite minimal in this inst (once post op) and movement would eventually feel quite normal being attached to the bodies skeleton. Wow! absolutely amazing.

Coal, (owner obviously has a sense of humour - white dog :-) ) would have needed to be PTS his 3 legs would never have held his body weight and muscle, the dog looks to be in tip top condition and healthy, I absolutely think I would have given this technology a try, the dog hopefully will lead a pretty normal life, hopefully with no pain, though of course it will need researching and documenting a little more, but I actually think they have created something wonderful here, that may well be a life saver for many animals and humans alike.

> I absolutely think I would have given this technology a try, the dog hopefully will lead a pretty normal life, hopefully with no pain, though of course it will need researching and documenting a little more, but I actually think they have created something wonderful here, that may well be a life saver for many animals and humans alike.

Totaly agree :)

I think it is fantastic. Buster has ED and there is a chance in the future that if it bothers him he may need an elbow replacement, the thing that worries me is if anything was to go wrong  with a replacement (I do look on the bright side, don't I LOL), he is far to big to lead a decent life with only 1 front leg, a bionic limb -FANTASTIC :)

Also my dad has an arm amputated, he's struggled for many years with a near useless hook. He can't use the hook as the bone in the arm was left too jagged and has caused a 'nuroma' - a mass of nerve endings - to form, which means he can't take any pressure to the end of his stump without being in extreme pain. He's 65 now and has had far too many ops on the arm (50+) to go through another for the nuroma to be sorted out or for a bionic limb to be an option for him (he couldn't afford it to start with), but what fantastic posibilities amputees face in the future :)

> but what fantastic posibilities amputees face in the future :-)

I think it is great for humans, who after all, can chose if they want to go through the process of achieving this but, personally, I would never chose this for my dog.  Their lives are simpler, they have no notion of the future.  For a dog, there are worse things than being put to sleep.

> Coal would have needed to be PTS his 3 legs would never have held his body weight

Of course a dog doesn't know it's being put to sleep. All it knows is it's being help by the person it loves, they're stroking it and talking to it and then...nothing...no pain

I would chose that option for mine rather than the pain of an op, the recuperation, getting used to a prosthetic and the possibility of ghost pains for the rest of their lives.

the vet that did this op works and lives near me.
he did pagan elbows.hip. x rays for the bva,
and he help me out with blue.
he has a passion for his job works  very long hour,
if you get a chance to go to one of his semiars go  worth it.