Bionic Eyes For Abyssinian Cats

There is an incurable genetic disease in humans called retinitis pigmentosa. This disease destroys the retina over time, leaving one out of every 3,500 Americans visually impaired or blind. A researcher at the University of Missouri-Columbia discovered a similar disease in Abyssinian cats and is working on a fix for both felines and humans. In both cats and humans, the retina is the thin film at the back of the eye that makes sight possible. If the retina is destroyed, you can’t see. Plain and simple. What retinitis pigmentosa does is attack and destroy the rods and cones — the … Continue reading

Oscar the Robo-Cat

Bionic surgery for animals is becoming more common It must be cutting edge veterinary surgery week, because I come bearing yet another story about futuristic procedures being performed on domesticated cats. This time, MSNBC has the scoop on a story straight out of “The Bionic Woman” or “Star Wars”: Oscar the Robo-Cat. Black cat Oscar may have had some bad luck in October 2009 when he lost his two back feet in an accident with a combine harvester, but this past summer he reversed that by being one of the first cats to receive metallic limbs. When Oscar, who hails … Continue reading