Oct 29, 2006, 8:07 GMT
Singapore - A beloved cat who nearly lost her hind legs is on the mend with her bones growing again after a stem cell transplant, The Sunday Times reported.
An accident left Fifi, the pet of Singaporean teacher Lim Yi Xian, with the fractured legs which veterinarians said would have to be amputated.
Lim, 28, told the newspaper she was not prepared to give up.
First, vets put pins and screws into the feline's legs. When that did not work, they tried bone grafts which failed as well.
Finally they resorted to a stem-cell transplant.
Fifi 'has really been through a lot,' Lim was quoted as saying of the white feline. Her family members helped pay Fifi's medical bills, which amounted to 20,000 Singapore dollars (12,820 US dollars).
'We are Buddhists,' Lim said. 'We cannot kill something so if the need arises, we will go all the way.'
Dr Jean-Paul Ly, the first veterinarian in Singapore to try stem-cell transplants on domestic animals, said the operation involves extracting bone marrow and injecting stem cells back into the animal.
Stem cells have the potential to grow into any kind of tissue, even bone.
In Fifi's case, the marrow was extracted, processed at a stem cell research company, and then re-injected into her ankles, the report said. The new bones began to grow after a few weeks.
Lim has six other stray cats that she has adopted.
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