Prosthetics for animals?

[Cara Petricca]

Respectfully inquiring whether anyone knows where I can find someone to make a prosthetic Foot for a Canada Goose. I am a wildlife rehabber in Western MA. I am interested in having this piece made for an amazing little creature who was found a year ago, badly tangled in fishing line..Unfortunately she lost her foot. SHe seemed to manage okay and could eat etc. and fly so she was released back into the wild. SHe migrated successfully but now has returned to the same farm, looking for help. She had a rough year and her flock deserted her. SHe's been picked on and driven off. I'm taking her in in hopes she will bond with my other rescue Geese and that she can live out her life with me. The leg has now worn down to bone and she won't last much longer. Respectfully, I am looking for help. I would like to take her to my educational programs, in schools- so that kids can learn some great life lessons.She has so many valuable stories to tell the world, and I think with a prosthetic foot she will have a great quality of life... If anyone can help, I thank you....Cara Petricca, Bluebird Farm, Rescue for Animals in Peril...

[Wayne Renardson]

Hello Cara:

You asked:

C> Respectfully inquiring whether anyone knows where I can find someone to make a prosthetic Foot for a Canada Goose. I am a wildlife rehabber…

The site "Love Canada Geese" has this:

And we have Speckles, the goose with the injured foot. He will probably always limp. Speckles is not a well goose and he is very tame. He always sits on the grass shore and I feed him separately. I bring him a large tin of water daily, which he loves. He is my baby and I can sit beside him and talk to him. My husband feels that everyday that he's alive is a gift. Speckles has been worked on. He has a partial prosthetic leg. He can swim and slips into the water for the night. He hangs out with Melvin and Sweetie. Some days I don't see him at all.

You can find it here:

http://fwd4.me/16xh

Veterinary Surgery has an article here:

Prosthetic Coxofemoral Joint Replacement in the Goose
n order to study failure modes of fixation of artificial hip joints in man, an animal model was needed that had similar loading conditions concerning the hip joint and a life expectancy long enough to allow for fixation failures to occur. Femoral components of a hip joint were implanted into domestic geese to evaluate their suitability for long-term in vivo studies of femoral implants. A prosthesis was developed. It was implanted into mature geese under general anesthesia using a lateral surgical approach. The animals were sacrificed 5 to 11 months after implantation. The results indicate that prosthetic hip joints could be implanted and that joint function was restored in all cases. There was no postoperative morbidity or mortality. Prosthetic loosening was observed in three out of the nine implants

The article and PDF file can be found here:

http://fwd4.me/16xi

"Prosthetic leg for Canada Goose" can be found here:

http://fwd4.me/16xk

One lady even has a duck on wheels:

Good luck to you. I am Canadian and appreciate the bird. You might check with your local prosthetist(s) and some will take on the task of fabricating a prosthesis for an animal.


Wayne Renardson

[Cara Petricca]

Thank you so much Wayne, I was unable to bring up the links you so kindly posted, but I will try to look them up by title search. -Cara

[Wolf Schweitzer]

Get a 3D scan of her intact foot. Reverse the shape using software. Get a 3D scan of her bone / stump. Then use CAD software to design the 3D shape for a passive prosthetic foot. Get that printed on a 3D rapid prototyping machine ("3D printer"). That is the fastest way I can think of. Then go to a vet to get the prosthetic fixed to the leg in a good way (silicone tube?).   -- To get that done, best to ask for help locally. To identify these services close to you, ask around, use Google, whatever. Silicone tube is available in various sizes also at McMaster-Carr. Good luck. 

[Cara Petricca]

Yikes, okay I'm trying to follow..;-) A 3-D scan: where  might I get one of those done..Is it an x-ray? Or literally part of a computer system... I follow the reverse image...And where might I find a 3-D printer...I'm afraid this might be over my head... Thank you so much for your time, I appreciate the input..-Cara

[Carolina Waterfowl Rescue]

We are fitting a goose right now for a prosthetic leg.  I found this thread while researching proesthetic legs in geese. To my knowledge one has not been done (by a vet) we have had several temporary fixes we have tried to make sure that Cosmo was a good candidate. Here is his picture and some of his story.

http://www.facebook.com/cwrescue/posts/579066212108833?comment_id=7...

We recently fitted a prosthetic beak on a crow and have other birds with Prosthetics.  You can read more about them as well on our facebook pages. http://www.facebook.com/cwrescue