A man has gone viral on TikTok and left users horrified after showing them a rather odd piece of décor in his home – his cat’s amputated leg.
Chris Callan, 25, has lived with his feline friend, Artemis Callan, for four years after taking the then stray kitten in.
The teacher from Sydney, Australia, recalled the moment that his beloved ‘Arte’ was caught up in a savage attack with the two family dogs that left his leg dangling off.
"I heard the most gut wrenching sounds coming from the front yard, I knew straight away it was Arte,” Chris told NeedToKnow.online.
“I saw both dogs in the corner of the yard on top of Arte, biting and pulling at his legs.
"I pulled the dogs away and scooped him up. His leg was pretty much dangling off at this point.
"I rushed him to the vet and they tried their best to reattach it, but because his hip joint had snapped there was nothing really to support it."
After a difficult three months of trying to save Artemis's leg, vets decided that they had to give up and amputate it entirely.
But they were stunned to find that owner Chris had a rather unusual request – asking to keep the leg, as he is fascinated by all things skeleton.
Chris said: "They were a bit unsure at first but eventually agreed.
"I think they [skeletons] are the most beautiful and natural works of art.
"I’ve always loved collecting and articulating animal skeletons in a way that isn’t gross, but is instead beautiful.
"So when Artemis lost his leg, I knew I had to do something special with it.”
Chris spent around $50 (AU) on a glass dome, copper wire, acetone and hydrogen peroxide in order to make the display.
He said: "The process took almost a year in total. I had to soak the leg in warm water for about eight months to remove all the flesh from the bones, you end up with hundreds of tiny little bones that need to be sifted, cleaned and sorted.
"I then soaked these bones in 3% hydrogen peroxide for about two weeks to whiten and oxidise them.
"Lastly, I soaked them in acetone for another two weeks to dissolve all the yellow fat and marrow.
"Once dry they look and feel like chalk."
Like a puzzle, Chris then had to reassemble the leg.
He said: "I drilled holes in the ends of each bone and fed copper wire though them, this way you can actually articulate and move the leg into whatever position you like.
"I love the look of the gold base against the white and copper in the leg, I wanted it to look similar to the rose in ‘Beauty and the Beast’.
"Most people are very creeped out when I tell them I kept my cat’s leg, but when they see it, they say it’s nothing like what they pictured in their head and that it, in fact, looks quite beautiful.
"Surprisingly I haven’t received many negative comments at all, apart from the odd person thinking I cut my cats leg off, just so I could display it."
Chris took to TikTok (@bluedabadeez) to share his creation with his 10,000 followers, where the post garnered over 622,000 views as well as 87,600 likes.
Viewers responded with mixed opinions.
One shocked user said: “Wait what’s in that little bottle???”
“The fact that the cat is still alive is sending me,” another person said.
Another added: “Like yes... tad weird... but dam that looks Hella cool!” [sic]
“Does your cat ever just sit and stare at it like it knows????” one follower asked.
Another surprised viewer said: “Ummmm is that real...”
“Wait, where’s the rest of the cat?” someone else said.
One person commented: "My grandpa got his leg amputated and got a cane made out of his bones, was the coolest thing ever."
Another user added: "The poor cat every time he has to see his own leg sitting in a jar though lmao." [sic]
But other users took to the comments to share their own similar experiences.
"I have two horses that had their eyes removed, I have them in a jar, my vet told me everything I needed to keep them and encouraged it," said one person.
"Ohh! I missed an opportunity here! my dog recently had his eye removed! I should have asked to keep it!" commented someone else. [sic]
Another user added: "As a vet tech I 100% approve and now I really want someone to ask me this!"
Since releasing the video, Chris plans to share more of his love around dead things, as he wants to break the stigma of them being ‘gross’ or ‘creepy’.
He said: "Some people like to hang up artworks for display, I see the same value in displaying skeletons or specimens.”
Since the attack, Artemis has been glued to Chris's hip.
He said: "Thankfully, he’s still got eight lives left, but he would’ve lost all of them if I wasn’t home that day.
"He walks just fine with three legs and is a very happy and pampered little guy.
"Some people can argue that I should’ve kept him indoors, however, because he was a stray, I didn’t want to lock him up like a zoo animal.
"And in regards to the dogs, because whippets are naturally blood hounds, they have an instinct to chase small animals, [and] the husky just joined in because he thought it was a game.
"Both dogs are extremely placid and well behaved, but you can’t blame a dog for having natural instincts."
Artemis now lives away from any dogs in his outdoor annex with Chris.
