Even though stretching didn't help Izzy regain function of his hind legs, Izzy walks again with the help of prosthetics and his loving owner.
A baby goat who lost his back legs to frostbite has learned to walk again with the help of prosthetics and a loving owner.
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Izzy the kid, who lives in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, got his name due to his troubling birth, according to The Happy Animal Project sanctuary: "Is-he going to live? Is-he going to walk?"
Breeders don't schedule the births of baby goats for the winter, but in January, Izzy was born unexpectedly in -25 degree weather. His sister is thriving, but Izzy was born with a muscle paralysis that caused him to have trouble tucking his back legs under him, according to the sanctuary.
Because Izzy's back legs were exposed to the freezing weather, he suffered from minor frostbite and his owner considered putting him down.
But Roy Clow, a friend of Izzy's owner, adopted Izzy instead, helping rehabilitate the baby goat back to life. Clow built Izzy a set of custom braces and helped stretch his legs so until he regained use of his hind muscles, CBS4 reported.
Izzy faced another close call with being put down when he was transferred to a larger pen, and the stress of the new environment caused him to suffer a more serious bout of frostbite. According to the sanctuary, the dead tissue on his hind legs would separate completely from the living tissue within two weeks.
Clow knew Izzy faced amputations and would have to be accustomed to prosthetics. So before Izzy lost full motion of his hind legs, Clow got him accustomed to putting weight on his paralyzed hind legs so he would transition naturally to using the prosthetics too, according to The Happy Animal Project.
The amputation was successful, and Izzy began walking with the support of his prosthetic instead of soley on his front legs.
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Izzy will eventually need new prosthetic hind legs, since he could grow to 200 lbs from the 9 lbs he currently weighs. According to his GoFundMe page, his new prosthetics could cost $1,500 each.
Just last Monday, Izzy walked 600 feet on his temporary hind legs, his GoFundMe page reports.
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