Missy becomes world's first feline recipient of artificial knee!

London, January 25 (ANI): A cat in the UK has become the world's first feline to receive a total knee replacement with a custom-designed implant in a pioneering new operation.

Missy suffered severe injuries after being run over by a car that left her in need of surgery.

The eight-year-old had one hind leg broken in eight places and the other with a completely dislocated knee after owner Louise Morris, from Petworth, Sussex, England, found her.

Dr Noel Fitzpatrick fitted the three-inch long implant, made out of stainless steel, at his clinic in Guildford after working on its design with the help of Professor Gordon Blunn and Mr Jay Meswania of OrthoFitz Implants.

"It was a case of putting Missy to sleep forever or developing an artificial knee, which had never been done before. Amputation was not an option since the other hind leg was broken in eight places," The Telegraph quoted Dr Fitzpatrick as saying.

Dr Fitzpatrick added: "The most difficult thing about the operation was miniaturising the implants and matching the hinge motion to allow walking, running and jumping, which cats do a lot of. A human patient with a knee replacement would probably walk and maybe even run but would rarely expect to jump." (ANI)