This is a great story - having just got back from Jersey myself - I learned about Oscar the cat, a native to the island who was having a lovely nap in a field when a combine harvester came along and cut off his hind paws....poor Oscar!
Oscar was immediately referred to Dr Noel Fitzpatrick, a Surrey-based neuro-orthopaedic surgeon by his local vet in St Saviour in Jersey But owners Kate and Mike Nolan were unsure whether to risk the surgery.
Kate said: "We had to do a lot of soul-searching and our main concern has always been whether this operation would be in Oscar's best interests and would give him a better quality of life."
Once the Nolans understood the treatment and discovered the operation could have an impact on human medicine, surgery was arranged.
His new kitten heels were designed with custom-made implants, which "peg" the ankle to the foot and mimic the way deer antler bone grows through skin.
Oscar's transformation, which has left him resembling a feline Ahab, has been described as a case of science copying the natural world.
In a three-hour procedure, the veterinary surgical team inserted the pegs by drilling into one of Oscar's ankle bones in each of his back legs.
The implants, which are attached to the bone at the amputation site, were coated with hydroxyapatite to encourages bone cells to grow onto the metal.
The skin then grows over a special "umbrella" at the end of the peg to form a seal against bacteria and potentially fatal infections.
The peg protrudes through the bone and skin, allowing the custom-built artificial paws to then be securely attached.
Oscar was trying to stand a day after the surgery and, despite some problems with infection, he was able to bear weight equally on all four limbs within four months.
What a brave kitty!
