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3D printing has a wide range of practical applications Reuters

In case you didn't know, 3D printing is all the rage right now. Additive manufacturing has transformed the process of building objects. While still a niche product, 3D printers are already in use in a wide variety of fields, ranging from fashion to automotives to healthcare.

Now a couple of secondary school students in Vancouver, Josh Messmer and Isaiah Walker, have used the technology to make a wheelchair for a handicapped kitten. Cassidy, a 12-week-old cat, was found without its hind legs, battling for survival near Aldergrove, British Columbia, by Shelly Roche, the owner of Tiny Kittens Society.

She appealed for help through the internet and her call was answered by the two students from Walder Grove Secondary School, who used their school's 3D printer to furnish Cassidy with a set of wheels.

Here's what Roche had to say about Cassidy:

Tiny Cassidy lost his back legs shortly after birth, but he never lost his remarkable will to survive. Born to a feral mom and a dad that is someone's pet, Cassidy spent his first nine weeks fighting to survive. By the time he was rescued, he had nearly starved to death and his depleted body had stopped fighting a horrific E Coli infection in both stumps.

Despite a grim prognosis, we knew this little survivor wanted to live, and we were determined to fight to give him that chance. With each passing day, our Cassidy is showing the world just how remarkable he is, and that even the most broken "throwaway" feral kitten still deserves a chance to know happiness and love.

Roche told Huffington Post Canada that the tiny feline was adapting well to its new means of locomotion, but added that there were no plans for the time being to put it up for adoption.

"He has such a little fighting spirit," she said. "He's remarkable."

Follow Cassidy's progress through a live stream here.

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