Aug. 12, 2014
TurboRoo, a tiny Chihuahua who was born without his front legs is getting help from people all over the world.
TurboRoo was only 4 weeks old when he wa brought into a vet clinic in Indianapolis, Indiana. When he was a baby, he gets around with handmade wheels created from toy parts. Personnel at the Downtown Veterinarian in Indianapolis knew that he would need more one on one attention so they launched a fundraising campaign on YouCaring.com to help pay for a specialty wheelchair that is suited just for his size and needs at the age of 6 months old.
Mark Deadrick, a mechanical engineer in San Diego read about TurboRoo's story online and decided to help him. Deadrick is president of 3D design company 3dyn, an aerospace and high performance vehicle fabrications shop.
"We have capabilities to make just about anything, but we lean toward things that we find interesting," Deadrick told NBC news. "Usually that's something that either flies, has wheels and goes fast. TurboRoo meets that requirement (sans the fast part I suppose) and I thought I'd spend a small amount of time coming up with an interim solution."
He designed a small wheeled cart using 3D rendering program, from photos he found on the internet and then printed out the cart using a Makerbot 3D printer.
"I just did some thumbnail measurements from photos and spent about 20 minutes designing a cart, hit print on one of our 3D printers and let it run for 4 hours," he said. "I figured some inline wheels would have the least amount of resistance and would be easily obtained, so a trip to the sporting goods store was probably the most time consuming part."
He then attached a pair of skateboard wheels to the front of the cart and sent the new contraption to TurboRoo's owner.
Deadrick has up to now made three versions of the cart. Since the second version was too small, TurboRoo is still using the first prototype. But the third one is currently in the mail on its way to Indianapolis.
Images: Instagram
TurboRoo is now adopted by one of the technicians, Ashely Looper at the Downtown Veterinarian. Looper said TurboRoo is getting faster on his cart every week. He's getting healthier too, now weighing 1 pound, 3 ounces.
Their fundraising campaign has raised over $3,600 for an initial goal of $600. The fund will be used to buy a cart for TurboRoo when he is 6 months old, as well as paying for carts for other dogs with disabilities.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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How do I go about getting one of these for my little Pom. She has one back leg amputated plus has grade 3 (at least) luxating patella in her other hind leg. She mostly scoots using her front legs because her other leg gives out on her. Poor baby used to be so very active and now she's not. Breaks my heart to see here try to walk. She had 2 surgeries on the leg before finally amputating. We're retired and the surgeries have really set us back. I hope someone out there has some ideas to help our little girl.
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