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00:01One, two, three, whoa!
00:05Hello, mate. You understand Irish?
00:07Animals from all over the world
00:09Ah, bonjour.
00:11Come to see one extraordinary man
00:14who's known as the Bionic Vet.
00:16High five. Yes!
00:18Professor Noel Fitzpatrick.
00:21You only get one shot at this. Here we go.
00:23Noel and his team offer some of the most advanced treatments available anywhere.
00:28The perfect marriage of mechanics and biology.
00:31This is what we have now. A brand new knee.
00:33Oh, wow!
00:35For some, it's a last chance.
00:38It is a life or death situation because we cannot leave him like he is.
00:42I just want you to do anything you can for him, really.
00:45Sorry.
00:46As Noel continues to devise new ways of healing...
00:49You're going to be Bionic. Thank you so much.
00:52He transforms the lives of his patients.
00:55That is just unbelievable.
00:57He's raring to go.
00:58Against all the odds.
01:00Boom!
01:01One small step for a dog, one giant leap for mankind. Well done.
01:10It's Monday midday.
01:13Come on, sausage. We need to get wakey up.
01:16Shall we go see Mummy?
01:18And already 56 animals have been welcomed through Fitzpatrick referrals doors in search of specialist care.
01:27The 57th to arrive is an emergency.
01:30That actually knows he probably won't be ready yet.
01:32He's back there.
01:33So you know she's waiting.
01:34Thank you, darling.
01:35Thank you, darling.
01:36Oh, he's so good.
01:42Yesterday, Lucy and her mum Angie took four-year-old French bulldog Otis to the park.
01:48Just after bringing home the newest member of the family, eight-week-old Olive.
01:55We brought Olive home, which is Otis's little sister.
01:59On the same day, we took Otis out for a walk just to give him a bit of a break.
02:03And a dog went for him, tried to attack him, and in the process he ran backwards trying to get out of the way.
02:11We are thinking he's now slipped a disc in the process.
02:15Otis was kind of my first dog when I moved out of home.
02:18I've had him for four years and he's like my baby.
02:21Otis is now unable to walk.
02:24It's not nice seeing him like this. It's heartbreaking.
02:27Sorry, looks like we're moving in.
02:37Hi, girls. How you doing? Hello, mate. Are you Otis?
02:40Yeah.
02:41Hello, Otis. Hello.
02:42Oh, who's this?
02:43Hello, Liv.
02:44Oh, can I have a good little cuddle?
02:46Yes.
02:47Oh, man, look at that. Hello, Olive.
02:49He can stay on your knees if that's okay with you.
02:51You're gorgeous.
02:52Now, I've got to spend time with Otis as much as I'd love to cuddle you.
02:55Wow, gorgeous, gorgeous. What happened?
02:59A dog went for him. He went to jump. He was on the lead. The other dog wasn't.
03:04He just screeched in pain and kind of collapsed on the floor.
03:08All right, big fella. Let's see what you're doing.
03:12Oh, man. He's wobbly as hell, isn't he?
03:16All right, big fella. Okay, okay, buddy.
03:20Okay, just hold him there.
03:21Okay, so he's knuckling in, falling down on the left floor, okay.
03:25So he does not know where that foot is.
03:27Yesterday he did.
03:29Right.
03:30It was delayed, but he did.
03:32Is he nauseous?
03:34Yeah.
03:35All right, I'm just going to give it to Francesca.
03:37Um, so all the evidence is pointing to the fact that he's injured his neck.
03:41So clearly it's an emergency and probably it's a surgical emergency. Probably.
03:48But we won't know till we get the MRI.
03:50There's tissues right there.
03:52There you go. Yeah.
03:53I'm sorry.
03:54That's all right.
03:55I'm sorry. That's the way it is. I know he's your mate.
03:56Okay, so give him a big cuddle, girls, because he's going to go away now and I'm going to get the paperwork ready.
04:03Good boy.
04:04All right, big fella. Be brave.
04:06Good boy.
04:08Okay, thank you, Francesca.
04:10There you go. That's for you.
04:13All right, look after yourself.
04:15Thank you very much. Look after him.
04:17All right, I will do. See you later, girls.
04:18Thank you. Bye.
04:19Bye.
04:20An MRI study will produce a detailed picture of bone and soft tissue structures in Otis's neck and hopefully find the cause of his inability to walk.
04:31All Lucy and mum Angie can do is wait for the results.
04:40Hello, Fitzpatrick of Aero's Orphopaedics and Neurology. People speaking. How can I help?
04:45Most cases referred to Fitzpatrick's are not emergencies.
04:50For some families, the practice offers a last chance for an ageing pet.
04:55Hello.
04:57What have you got there?
04:58This is Bailey.
04:59Bacon Peacock.
05:00That's the one, yeah.
05:01Take a seat. I'll let them know you're here, okay?
05:02All right, thank you so much.
05:04Today, Jason has come in with Bailey.
05:09This is Bailey.
05:10He's my ten-and-a-half-year-old cock spaniel.
05:12And this is a friend's dog, Pippa.
05:15About 18 months ago, Bailey was chasing a ball and pulled up in quite a lot of pain in one of his hind limbs.
05:22Bailey was diagnosed and treated for a spinal condition, but he has never managed to regain his full fitness.
05:29So Jason's come to see Noel to find out what the current problem is.
05:33Jason got Bailey when he moved to Surrey with his wife 11 years ago.
05:43Now divorced, he shares looking after the children.
05:46I live at home here with obviously Bailey, but also my two children. My daughter, Amelie, who's nine, and my son, Ollie, who is seven.
05:57We got Bailey about seven months before Amelie was born.
06:02This way. Come on. Come on.
06:06Jason's given up his career in advertising and now works as a dog walker.
06:11A lot of people might argue it was a bit of a midlife crisis, but with the children growing up and having spent a number of years saying goodbye to them in the dark in the morning and hello to them in the evening if they're still awake, it was a concerted effort to spend time with the children while they're growing up.
06:28Jason has noticed Bailey has slowed down and isn't as sprightly as he once was.
06:36Unsure of the cause, he's keen to give Bailey back his quality of life.
06:42Paco Spaniels can live 14 years upwards. He's 10. So actually when you look at it, he's two thirds of the way through an average life expectancy.
06:51He is absolutely integral as part of the family. The children have never known time in the house without a dog being there.
07:02He's smiling.
07:08Bailey Peacock.
07:10Thank you very much. Come on then.
07:12Hello.
07:14Double trouble.
07:15Hello mate.
07:16Hiya.
07:17How are you?
07:18I'm alright.
07:19Who's Bailey then?
07:20This is Bailey and that's Pippa. Bailey's ten and a half, Pippa's five.
07:22Oh, okay.
07:23So Pippa's absolutely fine.
07:24She's just along for some morals.
07:25Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:26I'll just get my assistant in and we'll have a little look.
07:29Noel needs to diagnose Bailey's current problem and assess his level of pain.
07:35Alright big fella. Good boy.
07:36Sorry, I'm going through it as quick as I can mate. I'm going through it as quick as I can.
07:43Okay, almost done now. Almost done.
07:47Okay, you're good. Good boy.
07:51Alright.
07:53I think the two problems in my view are that he has severe hip arthritis on both sides.
07:58Yeah.
07:59And that's causing him to hunch forward and that's putting more pressure on his lower back.
08:02So that brings us to indeed the crux of the matter.
08:07Which is, is it morally right, you know, to put him through stuff at this age?
08:13I mean he is a dog that, you know, does...
08:16Runs about, yeah.
08:17Climbs stairs.
08:18Sure.
08:19You know, to climb the tree after the squirrel.
08:20Still at ten he's not alone, he can't do that.
08:22Yeah.
08:23But I think we're morally bound to try and do something.
08:27For me, for him,
08:29surgery is, is...
08:32Absolute last resort.
08:33Kind of the point of last resort.
08:34Yeah, yeah.
08:35Okay, fine.
08:36Bailey will have an MRI study of his lower spine,
08:39plus CT scans and x-ray pictures of his hips,
08:42to establish the extent of his problems.
08:45Bailey.
08:47Yes.
08:48See you later mate.
08:49Alright big guy.
08:50See you later.
08:51Off you go.
08:52Good boy.
08:53Come on big guy.
08:54Off you go, good boy.
08:56As Jason lives locally,
08:58he will go home to wait for the results,
09:00in the hope that he won't need to resort to surgery.
09:04I know, you were sat in there weren't you thinking,
09:06glad it's not you.
09:18It's 6pm.
09:20Otis, the French Bulldog, has had an MRI scan,
09:23to assess the severity of his injuries,
09:26after his dog attack.
09:28Hi, are you with Otis?
09:29Yeah.
09:30Do you want to come through?
09:31Yeah.
09:32The results are in.
09:34Noel is in theatre,
09:36but senior neurologist Jeremy will update Lucy and Angie straight away.
09:41So I've got the MRI images up here.
09:44Oh okay.
09:45And the discs here,
09:46can you see there's like a mushroom above it?
09:48Yeah.
09:49And it's squeezing the spinal cord up,
09:51and that's basically a disc extrusion in the neck.
09:54So you see all the white that's in the spinal cord either side,
09:57that's stopping the electrical signals passing up and down,
10:00and that's what's stopping his legs working properly basically.
10:03Mm.
10:04The discs in all dogs will degenerate to a certain degree,
10:07but certain breeds, Frenchies, Dachshunds,
10:10all these kind of breeds,
10:11they all degenerate a bit earlier on.
10:13Mm-hm.
10:14And so ultimately,
10:15going in and removing that compression,
10:18should then hopefully allow the swelling to come down in the cord,
10:21and recovery.
10:22Okay.
10:23But we can't affect this white,
10:25this sort of bruising in the cord.
10:27That's an injury that's really down to nature.
10:29Okay.
10:30With the surgery like this,
10:32there's several risks.
10:34The risk is obviously one, an anaesthetic.
10:37The second risk is that you have some bleeding, some hemorrhage.
10:40The other option that's available to you is not to operate, okay?
10:44And there is a chance that he could still recover.
10:46I think the issue that you've got is that there's been deterioration.
10:49I don't think that's an option for me,
10:51because seeing how he was today,
10:53he's in pain, he's in discomfort.
10:55It's heartbreaking to see him like that.
10:59Just do what you've got to do, yeah.
11:01That's fine.
11:03Thanks very much.
11:04You're all right.
11:05Otis will be prepared immediately for the spinal surgery
11:07that will hopefully allow him to walk normally again.
11:12Otis, it's going to be all right.
11:15Prognosis is better then.
11:19See you later.
11:20Bye.
11:28Bailey, the ten-year-old cocker spaniel,
11:30has had images taken of his lower back and hips.
11:35And it's not good news.
11:38Hello there.
11:40Noel has asked Jason to come straight back to the practice
11:42to discuss the options with him face to face.
11:45Right, so let's look at the spine first.
11:48So there's no question that you've got a dynamic intermittent occlusion
11:54of the nerve roots by certain motions.
11:58However, I would definitely not consider that severe.
12:02OK.
12:03I have no issue with managing that pain relief at all.
12:06I would definitely, definitely not be recommending surgery for the spine.
12:11OK.
12:13So this is the radiograph of the pelvis and this is the left hip.
12:17Now this is horrendous.
12:19But this side also is very bad.
12:21Yeah, yeah.
12:22If we look at that on CT, to show you just how aggressive that is,
12:28there's massive holes in it.
12:31So I think that what you're getting there is a conversion from a degenerative
12:34joint disease to an actively inflamed joint disease.
12:38Yeah.
12:39That's incredibly painful.
12:42Now I can't, with absolute certainty, rule out a tumour there.
12:49Option one is continue on medication.
12:51Frankly, that is entirely possible.
12:54But I do not think it will control the magnitude of the pain.
12:58No.
13:00It also doesn't stop that degenerating.
13:03Option two is go in and get some samples.
13:09OK.
13:10And at that point you could chop off the femoral head completely,
13:13which is called a femoral head and neck excision.
13:16Option three is you go in, you take out all that disease tissue,
13:19all of it, the cup and the head, and you put in a total hip replacement.
13:23Yeah.
13:24But all those samples would then go off to the lab
13:26and ten days to two weeks later, they might come back as bad news.
13:31And then, of course, option four is the unthinkable.
13:37That's euthanasia.
13:38Yeah.
13:39Yeah.
13:41OK.
13:43The condition of Bailey's back and hips has come as a shock.
13:48Especially the suspicious deterioration in his left hip.
13:52Jason will need time to make a decision about what to do.
13:56He's such a lovely dog, isn't he?
13:58He's a sweetheart.
13:59Yeah, no, he's super.
14:00Come on, you.
14:01Hey, hey, hey.
14:02All right.
14:03OK, I'm going to bid you farewell.
14:04Look after yourself.
14:05Thanks, buddy.
14:08We discussed originally that surgery would be a last resort
14:10because he's an older dog.
14:12But it seems that surgery might be the only option now.
14:18Absolutely devastating to think that he's been in a level of discomfort
14:23that nobody, nobody has seen.
14:27With Bailey's multiple problems, Jason may still need to consider euthanasia.
14:33Hopefully we can keep it as the elephant in the room.
14:36But, you know, I'm mindful that it is a sad reality of an ageing dog with significant arthritic problems.
14:44Jason will take Bailey home whilst he decides whether to go ahead with surgery.
14:49It's 7pm.
14:50Otis, the four-year-old French bulldog, has damaged a disc in his neck triggered by a dog attack and is unable to walk.
15:06He's now ready for his emergency surgery.
15:08Sadly, this is quite a common situation.
15:14Very popular dogs, Frenchies, but they get a lot of spinal problems that are genetic.
15:20So, it's not all a bed of roses.
15:24OK, here we go.
15:27First, Noel will cut down into the neck to access the spine.
15:33We just push the food pipe, which is the esophagus,
15:37and the windpipe, which is the trachea, out of the way over that way.
15:43Noel needs to remove the exploded disc material compressing the spinal cord.
15:49I prefer to space the vertebrae using a spreader.
15:55Just push them apart a bit and then scoop the stuff out.
15:59So, this is called a pin distractor.
16:02By using this technique, he removes minimal bone to access the exploded disc without drilling a slot or needing metal implants for support.
16:13You'll see that the space of the vertebrae opens up like so.
16:16Oh, yeah, mama. That's what I want to see.
16:23That's it right there. That was compressing the left nerve root. That is it.
16:27You get that out, you feel very, very happy.
16:31And now I'm just going to release these two handles and I'll go back together again.
16:36But this material is gone.
16:39So, very simple op.
16:42Gets rid of pain.
16:44Very effective.
16:46The hope is, with the compression removed, Otis's bruised spinal cord will recover and feeling will return to his legs.
16:53Hmm.
16:54Gets rid of pain and down.
16:55Gets rid of pain.
16:56And to his legs.
16:57Hmmm.
17:26In reception this afternoon, Dr. Diane Greenwood, a retired theology lecturer, is waiting for
17:31an appointment with her five-year-old rescue Labrador.
17:36Tom, my dear boy.
17:40Tom has a serious wound on his paw which is refusing to heal, and Noel has agreed to
17:45see him immediately.
17:47He injured his offside hind very badly by tangling it up with some wire and a gate while
17:53he was playing with his girlfriend, a rather nice daffy bitch.
17:59I got him to a vet within an hour and he did a lot, he did all he could, but he thinks
18:04and I think that it isn't successful and there's a strong smell of gangrene.
18:10Diane was advised to amputate the leg, but she's not giving up hope that it can be saved.
18:23Diane and Tom live next to the Thames in Greenwich, London.
18:28We lead very quiet lives, Tom and I. He young and I retired, yeah.
18:36I find they have a humanising effect on you and when you're retired it's possible to get
18:40very selfish, you stop passing the salt at the dinner table and start thinking only of
18:45yourself and your own needs.
18:46But a dog will give you structure to a day, a week, a year.
18:51I'm greatly attached to black Labrador's.
18:54They won't snap at children or snap at the old.
18:57They eat absolutely anything, whether it's suitable for them or not.
19:02But he's kept his figure in spite of his appetite.
19:08Diane has dabbled in a few different jobs.
19:10She's taught, worked for the Church of England and written several novels.
19:16My interest was in moral philosophy with a particular relation to education.
19:23Moral education is something you missed out on.
19:27There is friendship, there is food, there is running.
19:34There isn't much that Tom and I do together other than walk.
19:38He doesn't care for gardening, which I'm doing a great deal of at the moment.
19:42He finds gardening dull.
19:44He likes running, I don't.
19:46So I sit and watch him.
19:48So I am very eager for that leg not to be taken off, to be kept if possible.
19:57All right, Tom, please.
20:04Dr. Greenwood, you're a doctor of what?
20:07Theology.
20:08Theology.
20:09All right.
20:10Hi, how are you?
20:11Hello.
20:12My name is Noel.
20:13All right, buddy.
20:14Hey, mate.
20:15How are you doing?
20:16Please take a seat.
20:17Is it okay if I call you, Diane?
20:18Of course.
20:19Okay.
20:20I'm seeing you as an emergency because I saw the history.
20:22Yes.
20:23Okay.
20:24All right, buddy.
20:25And your vet has called me because they've tried to dress it for how long now?
20:30Ten days.
20:31Ten days.
20:32Okay.
20:33So he now feels that the leg is gangrenous, or the foot is gangrenous.
20:36It clearly is.
20:37Yes.
20:38Yes, that is why I wanted to refer to you.
20:40You can smell it.
20:41Yes, you can smell it.
20:42Well, you can smell it now.
20:43If the arteries and the veins are dead to the foot, then we know the foot has to come off.
20:49Right.
20:50This dog would probably manage just fine on three legs.
20:53Mm-hmm.
20:54But this is a young dog, and if something happened to the other legs, then you've got a problem.
20:57Yes.
20:58He's young.
20:59His foot is healthy.
21:00He has only one accomplishment, and that is running.
21:04Yeah.
21:05You love a bit of running around, mate, don't you?
21:07Yeah.
21:08Diane will leave Tom with Noel, who'll need to assess his foot to see if the leg can be saved.
21:14Right.
21:15So, pleasure meeting you.
21:16You're a really nice girl.
21:17Yes.
21:18Thank you for the girl.
21:19It's my pleasure.
21:20Give me a hug.
21:21Yes.
21:22All right, look after yourself.
21:23And you too.
21:24I'll see you later.
21:25You're obviously precious.
21:26Bye-bye.
21:27Bye-bye.
21:28Come on, sweetheart.
21:29Tommy.
21:30Tom.
21:31Tom, Tom.
21:32Come.
21:33He's a lovely boy.
21:35You don't want to put a dog through a lot of pain, but he's staggered about these last
21:41couple of weeks on three legs without apparent pain, yet with a powerful aura of gangrene around it.
21:49So, he wants to remove the bandage here, replace the bandage, and go to CT and do all the imaging.
21:56Parting with her companion is hard for Diane.
22:00Noelle's team sedate Tom immediately so he can examine the paw.
22:15Poor Tom.
22:18Just got a nose full of it.
22:23Okay, it smells absolutely horrendous.
22:29But, this is not as bad as we thought it would be.
22:34We need to take out all of these sutures.
22:36All of them.
22:38And we need to scrub this with iodine.
22:41I don't think this is going to be an amputation.
22:43That's good news.
22:44Yeah.
22:51Tom's foot is clipped and cleaned.
22:54Whoa.
22:56Well, that's not a bar for a while.
22:59Ready for Noelle to begin treating the injury.
23:05We can see here where the original skin was stitched up.
23:08And we can see here where the skin was ripped off.
23:11You can see in between those two toes there's a big hole.
23:15The webbing between the toes is missing.
23:18Tom could still be quite happy on three toes and a stopper pad.
23:22So we definitely do not have an indication here to chop this foot off, which is great news.
23:28The problem is that there are bugs living here.
23:31That's why there is a smell.
23:34There is a technique called vacuum assisted closure.
23:37By putting some foam in here and putting vacuum onto that foam, potentially we can suck tissue in and suck bugs out.
23:46Noelle makes an airtight sock using foam and a plastic film to create a vacuum.
23:56Okay, so now we've got the tight seal there.
24:00We're going to turn on the vacuum.
24:02That will hopefully suck tissue in to fill the hole.
24:06Noelle will repeat this procedure in a couple of days.
24:12And Tom will be given antibiotics to battle the infection and encourage the wound finally to heal.
24:23Hello?
24:24Hey Diane, how are you?
24:25Oh, hello, how are you?
24:27You can call me Noelle, that's okay.
24:29We'll dispense with the formality.
24:31Right, Noelle then.
24:32So, listen, good news really.
24:35Yes.
24:36I was surprised to find, based on the smell, that in fact the situation under the bandage was much better than I had thought it might be.
24:44Hooray.
24:45I did not find a gangrenous foot.
24:48Oh, right.
24:49I definitely do not feel that taking the foot off is the right way to go.
24:54That is absolutely remarkable. Excellent. I'll leave him with you then.
25:00Yes.
25:01I can't thank you enough.
25:02It's my absolute pleasure.
25:05I'm sorry.
25:07Yeah, perfect. Thank you, please.
25:08Okay.
25:09Great.
25:14Otis, the French bulldog who was attacked by another dog, has had surgery to remove a piece of exploded disc compressing his spinal cord.
25:23he's been recovering at the practice for six days but he's still unable to walk so
25:35Lucy and husband Sam have been asked to come in to visit him I think what we've
25:42particularly struggled with is the fact that we've got the puppy at home and we
25:45feel an overwhelming feeling of guilt all the time because we're playing with
25:50her whilst he's here in the hardest part is that we haven't been able to see him
25:54and we can't tell whether he's gonna recover properly or not it's just a
25:59waiting game with the spinal compression removed it's down to nature to heal the
26:04damaged spinal cord there you go it says hey mate there we are look who's here
26:10mate there we go well done he's happy to see you isn't he yeah that's right that's
26:19right you can see he's making a real valiant attempt to get up but you see
26:24that's really good making a really really good effort to get up there that's great
26:28he wanted a cuddle from mummy it's just he's still knuckling on the front legs
26:33particularly the one that was worse which was the left one but we expect that that
26:36will get better keep him on here if you can only time will tell if Otis will
26:43regain the ability to walk normally again for now Lucy and Sam will have to go
26:50home without him
26:56look look what you've done there oh baby you're calling me
27:13Jason has returned after spending three weeks agonizing over what to do for ten
27:31year old cocker spaniel Bailey whose hips are severely affected by osteoarthritis
27:36having hope to avoid surgery he's finally come to a decision he won't stop wanting to chase the
27:47squirrel he won't stop wanting to chase the ball so for him to be happy and
27:52comfortable and better the hip replacement was really the only option so
27:59hopefully doing the left hip will alleviate pressure on the back and the
28:02right hip will stop his pain he's got in his left hip and and give him a much
28:07better quality of life
28:12Noel will operate on Bailey's worst hip which has deteriorated so rapidly he's
28:18worried it could be due to infection or even a tumor there's a couple of holes
28:24within the the head of the femur that I'm concerned about it looks a bit more
28:31aggressive than your average hip arthritis
28:39yeah I have to say this does not look infected I think this is just a
28:45particularly bad form of osteoarthritis with an inflammatory component no
28:52can't rule out the possibility of cancer so when he removes the eroded head of the
28:57femur he sends it off for analysis so this is a problem the sockets worn away
29:05completely it's just like a saucer so there's no room this will not be a
29:13routine operation without a rim no will have to drill the socket deeper through
29:21Bailey's pelvis and into the pelvic canal to get enough rim to cover the metal
29:26cup a stem and ball implant will be placed into the femur but if the socket
29:33hole is too deep the pelvis could fracture or the cup could push through into the
29:38canal itself during impaction so there's a honeycomb mesh on the back of the cup I'm
29:54going to try and get the bone to grow into that go stop go go go it'll work as long as most of the
30:06circumference of the metal is touching bone next he prepares the femur for the
30:15stem implant which needs to be set in cement at exactly the right angle to the
30:19cup or it could dislocate that cement is pressurized nicely lift the leg there we go
30:29okay so you can see the head in the socket now and when I hook it here I can't pull it out so
30:39it's nice and tight and although Bailey is now 10 hopefully he'll go on and live another three or
30:46four years but he'll hopefully do that pain-free and that's all that matters let's go to x-ray well
30:53done thanks all the patients at Fitzpatrick's require round-the-clock care whatever the weather
31:11is like outside Tom the labrador with the damaged poor which is struggling to heal is no exception
31:20Tom was a lovely dog he was really sweet actually has been one of our best patients
31:29very cooperative Tom was a real sweet pea considering what he'd been through and that
31:42his foot was obviously very sore he always sort of wagged his tail in the kennel and was happy to
31:47come out and see us he was such a sweet natured dog he was just super brave throughout
31:53over the past two weeks Tom's had two vacuum assisted closure procedures to try to remove
32:05bacteria from the wound and to encourage new skin to grow between his toes Noel is checking to see if
32:12it's worked so we can see what we've got is a kind of adhesion between the two toes where there was no
32:17tissue before so there was a big gap right up to there and now it's just healed right down to
32:23the tip we're nearly there it's good news good news for Tom I'm quite sure that in the 90s when I
32:36graduated I've amputated legs that I could save now and I look back on that and think you know I've said to
32:44people there's nothing that I can do so that's really important that we give these animals a
32:50chance that they did not have when I first graduated Otis the French Bulldog has been at the practice for
33:0510 days recovering from spinal surgery after a dog attack his recovery has been slow but finally
33:15after daily physiotherapy sessions he's beginning to walk again Noel thinks he's well enough to go home
33:23Lucy and Sam have brought along puppy Olive so they can all take Otis home together
33:33now Otis mommy and dad please thank you hi guys how you doing hello hello hello everybody hi dad hi mom
33:49my puppy now get down on this level for me please so today is all about the physio and Hannah and the
33:58girls have been doing a great job at getting him stronger again so I think he's turned the corner I
34:02really do no playing around with puppy for four weeks I think it's gonna take a month okay guys
34:08God bless Cheers well done after his accident Otis his relationship with little Olive had to be put on
34:16hold hold yeah so you just pop it under yeah a little bit tension on the front
34:21obviously face part but now he's desperate to make friends let's go and see her they only met for
34:30like 12 hours we picked her up the night before this happened so they're a bit still a bit new to each
34:36other at the moment good boy come on do you want to have a go walking outside he's so much stronger than
34:46the other day he almost came out of there running he's in a harness and on a support but I'm struggling
34:55to keep up with him already so yeah fingers crossed Olive leave him alone these two can start building up
35:05their partnership now and get on with life there is light at the end of the tunnel
35:11Tom the labrador has been at the practice for three weeks having treatment to heal his injured poor
35:27he's a firm favorite but it's now time for the staff to say goodbye I come to pick up my dog Tom Tom fits
35:40well with anybody who will feed him and walk him and make a fuss of him he's not faithful there's no
35:46no question but yes I have missed you in all sorts of ways he is affectionate if not loyal look behind
35:55you for a dog what you could do with the ends of the toast I mean I've never thrown away so much food
36:00in my life right Diane hello finally come on in okay come on and talk properly to me come on in nice to see
36:16you I'm delighted to give you good news delighted so listen my entire pleasure Tommy look who's here come
36:23on mate ah ha Thomas my boy hi mate let me take that off so he can give you a proper hug good boy there
36:33you go hot cooler there we go yes that's excellent excellent that is a miracle how are you doing how are
36:40you doing now let me show you what we got you can just show me oh that's marvelous look at that that is
36:47amazing that is quite extraordinary so there's the webbing there yeah and that's just healed on to
36:54the side of the other one right he likes no webbing yeah so but that's okay no that's absolutely rest
37:02remarkable right get this back on buddy there we go good boy so that just stays on you must not disturb
37:08the scab for two weeks right it's my deep pleasure to be able to give you've been a delight at every at
37:13every end Tom can go home but he'll need to take it easy until his foot is finally repaired we've got
37:21to live like monks for a couple of weeks by that time we hope all will be well that call is going
37:29to stand in the web isn't it I mean let's face it he very often comes and sleeps on my bed I'm not
37:35having on my bed with that color not on at all it's three days since ten-year-old cocker spaniel
37:55Bailey had his total hip replacement Jason Amalie and Ollie have come to collect him
38:01we're here today to pick Bailey up post his hip replacement surgery if he does have a cone he's
38:15not going to like the cone because he hates cones what are you excited about most yeah do you reckon
38:28to be able to find us run as fast as you now Jason and children hello kids how are you this is Ollie
38:40Ollie nice is no this is Amalie Amalie and Ollie feel that what does that feel like feels like bumpy yeah
38:52hi honeycomb like a honeycomb and that honeycomb is what the socket is made out of in Bailey's new hip
39:02which looks like this my friends wow look at that guy oh yeah that's incredible your job to do is to
39:11make sure that Bailey does not run no running no jumping no slipping no sliding for six weeks if this cup
39:19is dislodged before the bone grows into the honeycomb then it will explode into the guts you ready to see
39:27him come on Bailey look at this he's raring to go don't let him jump we're gonna take it for a walk in
39:38reception come on then come on so you can see he's walking pretty good yeah he would run without that
39:48sling no problem yeah but you've got no control yeah so kids you know what to do right yeah the family
39:56are going to have to keep Bailey calm to prevent damage to his hip implants but for now he can go home
40:02feels like we've got the family back or the missing piece of the family jigsaw yeah yeah
40:10but you won't have company now because the hamster died won't have company because the hamster died yeah
40:16it's midday and despite the weather Diane has managed to return with Tom the
40:32Labrador after spending three weeks at home resting his foot today they're hoping to be signed off so Tom
40:40can get back to his gregarious life he's a sociable beast and we long to break our vows and come out
40:48he's the monastery he has a girlfriend a snappy bitch and he plays very vigorously it indeed looks as
40:58though she is killing him I think the owner and the dog probably are are missing that vigorous exercise so
41:06we hope to resume oh yes oh yes just remembered something have we
41:17come on hi Tom how you doing mate you're a good boy hi buddy hi Diane how are you good morning how are you
41:37I'm good thank you you've missed me nobody ever says that well done I think that's very kind thank
41:44you very much I feel honored that you've missed me thank you very much you've missed our chance have
41:49you found something for me and this chap Harry had a sentence here a smiling mouth smiles only in a
41:56human face we haven't got the right to apply the notion of smile to dog seems to be the argument but you
42:04better take it thank you thank you thank you so much well I think it will be useful to look at the
42:10human animal bond in a different light see if you can make anything of that thank you so much how is
42:15our medical condition doing I think all right hello mate let's have a look you have a look and tell me
42:21okay all right buddy all right all right big fella how does that look to you looks fabulous
42:27looks fabulous fabulous it has knitted has it not it has knitted yes yes it's a masterpiece of
42:35biological modulation nothing less than a miracle yeah let's say let's just take him for a little walk
42:41by God let's go now mate there we go you can let him off there well done mate oh he's off that's a good
42:54boy loves it when you want him to come back let me know and he'll come bring him back now he follows your
43:08whistle yes I hope so who pays the vet's fees around here that's fabulous and if that isn't a smile
43:17that's a yeah well that's exactly what we're just talking about well done mate well done great thank you
43:22so much oh my dear father I can't say how great my dear lady what a wonderful time we've had together
43:29over all the fun and philosophy we've shared see you Tom have a great life mate dogs definitely
43:38can smile of course they can it's now six months since Otis had spinal surgery after being attacked his
43:54front legs are fully functioning and life is getting back to normal at home in Kent and he
44:00and little Olive are now best friends he's doing really well he is out and about with Olive and
44:08running and playing and being back to Otis I never thought we would get to this point never ever he took
44:15so long to turn that corner when he had the operation and before that his symptoms were really bad I
44:22thought it was just gonna be a long ongoing process he has bounced back better than ever sit good boy
44:31go on in I think Olive has been a huge influence for his recovery she has got him up bouncing around
44:40playing and she doesn't give him five minutes rest get it out apart from that his character is
44:49absolutely the same and he's his cheeky little self Otis yeah in claygate six months after his total hip
45:06replacement Bailey who's now 11 has been given a new lease of life good boy the results from the
45:17biopsy taken from his hip suspecting a tumor came back negative he's great it's like yeah it's like
45:23having a new dog the operation really helped him so he looks much happier not in pain he's running well like
45:35he used to and he's chasing sticks Jason's managing Bailey's back and other hip with pain medication we
45:49ummed and aahed about you know he's 11 now how much longer might he live for wearing that up but I think
45:55you know seeing the change from a dog that would lie down and struggle to stand up because his leg was
46:00hurting to a dog now that that jumps up and barks the minute the door goes and chases a squirrel in
46:05the woods we can very obviously see how happy he is now and how pain-free he is so absolutely no
46:13doubts at all it was the right decision come on baby come on come on mate
46:43you
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