She added, "He deserves every chance to live." Tiny Tim, everyone soon discovered, needs a wheelchair, WMBF reports.That's when Subproto, a self-described "experimental learning collective" stepped in to help the kitty.Joe Stewart, founder the group, said, "Even though there's existing pet wheelchairs out there that you can buy on Amazon even, there was nothing that you could scale down this small. This was a unique situation."The SubProto team is making a prototype using a 3D printer to make the wheelchair. The chair is expected to be complete in the next couple weeks.Meanwhile, Tiny Tim zips around, unaware of his limitations. But the wheelchair is becoming more essential each day, according to his caretakers.Salmons said, "Now that he is growing, his legs are tending to stay a little bit irritated too. It'd be like dragging your own feet along, you know?She continued, "We don't put people down if they go blind, and we certainly don't put people down if they're paralyzed. Now, this little guy is just beginning to live."
We can’t resist a heartwarming cat story, especially when it has a technology angle to it. In this case, IFLScience points us to a story from GlobalNews.ca about a disabled feral kitten named Cassidy who was taken in and given a chance to walk thanks to a 3D printed wheelchair created by a pair of high school students. FROM EARLIER: Video explains why the iPhone 6s’ power isn’t quite as impressive as we thought Students Josh Messmer and Isaiah Walker heard about a notice on Facebook from non-profit cat sanctuary Tiny Kittens that asked for help in building some kind of sling or wheelchair to help make a disabled kitten’s life easier. The teacher who showed them the notice started drawing up designs for building a device that could support the kitten and the students took over the project from there and used the school’s 3D printer to build a custom wheelchair designed just for the kitten. “We were trying to think of how other people have done it, obviously not with 3D printers,” Walker explained.
“With printing it went through two designs and with modeling it went through a couple of phases.” When he’s strapped into the wheelchair, Cassidy can use his front legs to motor himself around, as you can see in the adorable video below. While it’s obviously not as good as having his hind legs back, it’s a major improvement from where he was before. The rise of 3D printing technology also gives hope for better lives for lots of disabled animals and we hope these students are willing to share their blueprints for this device with other animal shelters.Headline: Cops Clamp Down on a Cat in a Wheelchair. Here’s the rest of the story… Yvonne Steel of Melbourne, FL, has a cat that is reliant upon a wheelchair to get around. The feline, named Pooh Bear, has the use of his front legs, but his back legs are paralyzed. Steel acquired a device on the Internet that consists of a harness and two wheels, which she refers to as a wheelchair, that enables Pooh Bear to get around.
Every day, she takes both Pooh Bear and her Chihuahua, McKenzie, for a walk in nearby Wells Park, an activity that she maintains is important for Pooh Bear’s exercise. However, she has reportedly ignored local ordinances which require all pets in public areas to be leashed. According to local codes, owners of animals are responsible for their animals while in public and must keep pets restrained when the pets are off the owners’ property. The rule applies regardless of whether the animal in question is able-bodied or has a disability. Brevard County Animal Services claims that Steel was aware of these laws. Capt. Bob Brown of Animal Services says, “She had been warned that it was not legal. Basically, we have someone that is just not getting the fact that you have to be in control of your animal when it’s off your property.” He goes on to say, “Your animal could be injured. It could be hurt. It could run out in the street. It could be attacked by another animal.
It’s just the law that we follow.” It’s also important to note that such laws are often about keeping control on the number of stray animals wandering around—the vast majority of which are dogs and cats—and such stray animals are the leading contributors to the problem of pet overpopulation. Steel was issued $230 in fines for having both Pooh Bear and McKenzie off a leash, and for violations of rabies shot requirements. Pooh Bear’s owner contends that she was not previously warned. “That was my very first knowledge that cats could not be allowed off the leash,” she says. “I wouldn’t even know where to put the leash, to be quite honest.” Advocacy group Alley Cat Allies has spoken up in defense of Steel, claiming that such ordinances are not always in the pets’ best interest. They point out that mandates such as this often lead to more pets being euthanized in shelters, as they claim that animal control agencies set out to target any feline they see, and when these felines are deposited in shelters, those that are not adopted are often put down.