In October 2009, at the age of two and a half years, Oscar had both the paws of his hind legs severed by a combine harvester while in a maize field near his home in Jersey.
[1] Peter Haworth, a vet at the New Era Veterinary Hospital in Jersey, dressed Oscar's wounds and administered painkillers making him comfortable within minutes.
[4][6] They are known as intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prosthetics (ITAPs) and were developed by Professor Gordon Blunn and Dr. Catherine Pendegrass of University College London's Centre for Biomedical Engineering.
[8] In August 2012, as a result of a reoccurring infection in Oscar's right ankle, the ITAP snapped at the point where the titanium rod exits his stump.
Peter Haworth of New Era Veterinary Hospital, Jersey, once again made Oscar comfortable while possible treatment options were explored.
[11] An update video with the vet involved showed Oscar's new feet and explained how they are designed to snap at a break point on the 'blade' rather than within the foot if he gets into difficulty.
In Episode 1, broadcast on 7 May 2014, Vet Noel Fitzpatrick was shown fitting Oscar with his new foot following his recent surgery to replace the snapped ITAP.