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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!
00:17Yes!
00:18Professor Noel Fitzpatrick
00:21We 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
00:30This 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
01:04Well done
01:14Morning handsome!
01:16Take a seat
01:18Thanks a lot
01:19Thanks a lot
01:20At Fitzpatrick referrals, the appointment schedule is chock-a-block
01:25There are animals needing Bionic limb replacements, 3D printed implants and pioneering stem cell treatments
01:35Oh, look at you!
01:38But this patient's family don't know exactly what's wrong
01:43Good girl
01:44So this is Skylar
01:45She had an injury where she came up lame on her hind leg
01:49As we took her to the vet
01:50They've done some scans, MRI, x-rays but unfortunately they haven't been able to get to the bottom of what the issue is
01:57So it's a real mystery
02:03Australian Shepherd dog Skylar is Andy's first dog
02:10Being brought up surrounded by dogs through mum breeding Australian Shepherds
02:14It was kind of a no-brainer that I get her Australian Shepherd
02:18But because of her injury, the 18-month-old can't join in the fun
02:23She wants to play and as a young dog it must be very frustrating for her
02:29Separated from the pack, the excitable Aussie certainly makes her frustration known
02:35Australian Shepherds, they like to use their voice
02:40When she sees other dogs she just wants to go over, say hi, play with them
02:47So yeah, she can be quite noisy
02:50I'm really, really desperate to get something done about this to be honest
02:55I just want someone really to be able to say this is the problem
02:58And these are the steps that we need to take in order to make her become a fit dog again
03:02Andy and mum Lynn have brought Skylar to see Noel
03:11Hoping he can shed light on her mystery ailment
03:15So we're about to see a bit of a diagnostic conundrum
03:19Australian Shepherd dog
03:21Nothing on x-ray pictures
03:23Nothing on clinical examination
03:25Nothing on MRI scan
03:27Welcome to my world
03:33Skylar, please
03:37Hiya
03:38Hi
03:39I'm Noel, who are you?
03:40Hi, Lynn
03:41Lynn, L-Y-N-N-E
03:42Yeah, nice to see you
03:43Andy, nice to see you
03:44Hey mate, how you doing Skylar
03:45Hey mate, how are you?
03:46You're pretty, aren't you?
03:47How you doing mate?
03:48It's alright buddy, it's alright
03:49Alright, let's roll back the time
03:52When did it first begin?
03:53And how old was Skylar at that point?
03:56Nearly nine months old
03:58Yeah, okay
03:59What happened exactly?
04:00Where were you?
04:01What did it look like?
04:02Well, we'd been out for a walk
04:04And I noticed that she was holding her right hind leg up
04:08I wouldn't put it on the floor
04:10And it seemed to be from that point that every time she laid down but then got up
04:14She'd be holding the leg up
04:16Okay
04:17And with running, she bunny-hopped the two feet together
04:22That was new
04:23She's quite vocal, isn't she?
04:25Very vocal
04:26It's because she's been confined such a lot while we've had all this problem
04:30And was she on medicine at the same time?
04:33Yep
04:34Yep
04:35We also had some physio as well
04:37Okay
04:38And what do you think's wrong?
04:41I wonder whether she had a trapped nerve
04:45Probably also worth mentioning that when
04:48If she's got a toy
04:49And she's shaking a toy
04:51Her back end lowers
04:52Okay
04:53All of those provide me with clues, by the way
04:56We're gonna go for a walk
05:01Off you go, yep
05:02This way
05:03That's great
05:04Off we go
05:05Keep going, keep going, keep going
05:08Stop suddenly
05:10Stop suddenly
05:11Very interesting
05:14Okay, so that's me pressing on the lumbosacral junction
05:19I'm now gonna press the sciatic nerve on the right-hand leg
05:22Alright, I apologise for this
05:24This is called the fit's finger test
05:27Good girl
05:28Good girl
05:29Good girl
05:30Good girl
05:31Good girl
05:32Good girl
05:33Good girl
05:34Turn off
05:35Turn off
05:36So that was me putting my finger on the nerve inside the pelvis
05:38Yeah
05:39Yeah
05:40Okay
05:41Well
05:42Good girl
05:43So I think your diagnosis is right, ma'am
05:45Mm-hmm
05:46This is almost certainly a trapped nerve
05:48No
05:49No
05:50No
05:51No
05:52Alright, so what's probably happening here is that in certain positions
05:56There's a disc which is bulging in the lower back
05:58Mm-hmm
05:59Specifically when jumping up or twisting
06:01There's three treatments
06:03One is medicine, physiotherapy, which you've already tried
06:05Mm-hmm
06:06The second is steroid injections, which will probably work, medium term
06:11Mm-hmm
06:12And if that doesn't work, then ultimately we would use surgery
06:16Yeah
06:17Yeah
06:18So we need to do a test called a dynamic MRI
06:22And then usually that will give you the diagnosis
06:24Right
06:25Okay
06:26Alright, bye girl
06:27Come on
06:28Come with me
06:29Thank you
06:30You can bark all you like in here
06:31Thank you
06:32Skylar will have one more diagnostic test whilst Andy and Lynn wait
06:36to see if it will finally solve the mystery
06:47Brittany the pug has arrived at Fitzpatrick's
06:58Shush!
06:59Shush!
07:04Shush, Brittany, be quiet
07:06She's got the Napoleon complex
07:09I'll sort you out
07:11The boisterous puppy has come in with surrogate parent Alison and her best friend Carol
07:18Come sit down now
07:19Hmm
07:21Brittany's family live in London
07:23So she spends a lot of time at Alison's house in the South Downs
07:27I'm Brittany's grandma and I take care of her whenever my son who owns her and his girlfriend go on holiday
07:40She's not my dog but I love her as if she was my dog and we get on really well together
07:48Well if you're a good girl you get a bit of good girl chicken
07:55She's named after Brittany Spears
07:57Very debrief and very sassy, you know, she knows exactly where she wants to be and who she wants to be around
08:04She's also rather gorgeous
08:06I lead a very quiet life normally but when Brittany appears she makes a grand entrance
08:11You immediately know she's around, she's just cheeky and very lively
08:17Yeah, she's definitely a Brittany
08:25She's a very noisy young lady
08:28Despite Brittany's animated appearance the 11 month old has been having problems walking
08:33and has been referred by her local vet
08:36Hi, this is Brittany
08:38Yeah, would you like to come through?
08:39Assessing the prima donna pug is Dr Jeremy Rose, one of Fitzpatrick's senior neurologists
08:46So I had a little look through the notes but I just wanted to get the story directly from yourself
08:51Okay, for the last four or five months she hasn't got a lot of control in her back legs
08:55Right
08:56She wobbles and falls over sometimes if she's on uneven ground
08:59Right
09:00I think she's slightly incontinent but I take her, when she's with me I take her out frequently, you know, so
09:07Oh my goodness, a vicious guard dog
09:09That's a serious guard
09:12And in terms of the back legs, have they got worse? Stayed the same?
09:17I think they've got slightly worse
09:19They've got a bit worse
09:20Have you got the MRI scan?
09:21Yeah, so I've got the MRI, that's right
09:24And what I'll do is just have a quick look at her, make sure that everything from the exam tops up with what they've found on the MRI
09:30Am I safe to do so? She seems like she's going to be a friendly girl
09:35Hello
09:36Oh, thank you
09:37Yeah
09:38Shall we pop you up on the little table up here?
09:40And I'll just have a quick look at her eyes
09:43Oh
09:45The snore
09:46Oh, she's good at the snoring
09:48Do some little hops
09:50I like that too
09:53As soon as her front foot touches the table, she lifts it up
09:58But the back, obviously, it's dragging against it
10:00Yeah
10:01The information's just not quite getting through or back
10:03No
10:04Brittany is showing signs of neurological damage
10:07Jeremy needs to check how far up the spine she's affected
10:12So what we're doing here is we're pinching the skin
10:14And we're waiting to look for the little flick on the skin
10:18So you'll see that she's not really flicking her skin until we get to about this level
10:22And then that correlates to where you can feel the bump in the vertebra of the bones
10:27That's right
10:28Hug dogs seem to be particularly prone to malformations of the spine
10:32Right, yeah
10:33So I think from examining Brittany, what's happening is that that bony malformation
10:38Seems to be squashing and injuring the spinal cord
10:41And if that continues, you're going to get worsening incontinence most likely
10:46Or you'll get to the point where she's actually not able to use the back legs
10:49Yeah
10:50Where she becomes paralysed
10:52There are very limited options in this situation
10:55You've obviously been through some conservative management
10:59The other option is to go for surgery
11:02So we basically fuse that area of the spine together
11:05With an aim that we try and prevent further deterioration
11:08The surgery comes with a number of risks unfortunately
11:11Basically we have to drive a lot of pins into the vertebra
11:16If you get the angle of one of the pins slightly wrong
11:18You can go in against the spinal cord and cause permanent damage
11:22Yeah, yeah
11:24What are your thoughts at the moment?
11:27Um, she belongs to my son
11:29Okay
11:30So I need to obviously speak to him
11:31Fine
11:32Alright, thanks very much
11:33Alright, give me a nod
11:34Okay
11:38You've actually got very little choice, haven't you?
11:41Well, I think you're thinking the same way I'm thinking
11:44Hello darling
11:46Yeah, I'm at their vets, right?
11:48Um, just been through the whole scenario with, um, one of the consultants
11:54Are you still there?
11:55Maybe there
11:56Can
11:57Maybe
11:58Can you hear me?
11:59I think I would go for the surgery
12:01Because at least then you know you've tried your best for her
12:04Because I don't think there would be much quality of life if she's paralysed
12:09No, I don't
12:10Oh, yes
12:12Sweet
12:13Okay
12:14It's a difficult situation in that my son's not here to make an immediate decision
12:20So unfortunately I had to go through it all again with my son
12:25I'm upset really
12:27I am upset
12:28I am upset
12:29It's worse than I thought it was
12:31Yeah
12:33With a choice between possible paralysis or major surgery, Brittany's family head home
12:39With a very difficult decision to make
12:4218 month old Australian shepherd dog Skylar is at Fitzpatrick's
12:59Where the team are trying to confirm the cause of her mystery lameness
13:03She's already had MRI scans at another practice
13:08However, Noel wants to use an innovative technique known as dynamic imaging
13:13Which he and his team have developed
13:15So sometimes the disc that might be causing the pain
13:18Won't actually be impinging until it's in a certain position
13:22If you have them just lying straight on their back, it won't show up
13:25So that's why we sometimes do the dynamic MRI
13:28It basically puts the dog into an active position
13:31Almost as if they're running or jumping over a fence
13:34And you can see how the discs actually are acting in that position
13:41All righty
13:42So it's not going to come as any surprise to you that it is what we thought it was
13:46Yes
13:47A dynamic intermittent nerve compression
13:50I'm going to show you the difference between a dynamic MRI and a non-dynamic MRI
13:54The white discs, they've got fluid in their centre
13:57And that's like the jam inside a doughnut
14:00If you look closely at that one
14:02You can see that the dough in the top of the doughnut is just beginning to bulge
14:06Right?
14:07On hyperextension, as if the dog was jumping up
14:11You can see there's a much bigger bulge
14:14You can also see that the roof of the sacrum moves down
14:17Giving an hourglass compression of the nerves
14:20Yes
14:21Additionally, if you look in that in cross-section
14:24What you can see is that the disc bulges up to each side there and there
14:30And squishes the nerves
14:32Right
14:33That's the cause of your problem in my opinion
14:35Right
14:36Skylar may need surgery
14:38But it's possible a series of steroid injections could alleviate the pain
14:43I propose we try the epidural steroid
14:46And if we can't get a response
14:49Then we may have to go down the route of fusion
14:51With having this steroid
14:54What's the minimum length of time it's likely to last?
14:57It might not work at all
14:59It might not work at all, right
15:01Some dogs go into remission indefinitely
15:03Right
15:04Unfortunately, it's from zero to hero
15:06Yeah
15:07Yeah
15:08Every dog's different
15:09But I would recommend we try steroid first
15:11This is moderate rather than severe
15:13Okay
15:14Yeah
15:15Okay, so the first of three we're going to do now
15:16Okay
15:17And we'll see you in due course and see how you get on
15:19All right?
15:20Yep
15:21Thank you very much
15:22Thank you
15:23All right, have we got an epidural steroid ready for me?
15:27So I think the thing is like if you have the three
15:32Yeah
15:33It might be that she's fine without the surgery
15:35Yeah
15:36Yeah
15:51Okay
15:52Yep
15:53Skylar will need to return in two weeks for her next injection
15:58Wow
15:59Oh, look at you
16:02There we are
16:04Hello, sweetie
16:05I'm a bit drunk
16:07Yeah
16:08It feels incredibly positive now that we've actually got kind of a diagnosis
16:12And we've got a way forward
16:13And in the kind of event that that doesn't work out
16:16We've actually got something else we can kind of progress with as well
16:19So, yeah, I'm really happy
16:31Eleven-month-old pug Brittany is about to undergo neurosurgery
16:36Oh, this is Brittany
16:38Her family have decided to go ahead with the operation
16:41To try to stabilize a deformity in her spine that could cause her to become paralyzed
16:47Brittany's very, very small, so the bones are very small
16:50So it doesn't give me a lot of leeway
16:52But if everything goes well, it will give her quality of life back
17:00A 3D model of Brittany's severely deformed spine has been created from her CT scan
17:07It will help Jeremy accurately guide the pins into place
17:12So we've dissected all the muscles away from Brittany's spine
17:18Now what we're left with is something resembling this 3D model
17:22And we can identify the same landmarks
17:24So this one looks curving around like that
17:26We can see that same shape here
17:28Obviously you can see that's probably about three millimeters wide
17:31And the pin that we're going to try and put in there is one and a half millimeters wide
17:35This is where, if you're a millimeter out, you can make a big difference
17:44The pins will fix the vertebrae into place to prevent further deterioration
17:50Set to 30, yeah?
17:52About there
17:53Each of the 18 pins will need to be positioned at precisely the right angle
17:58So we've driven these metal pins into each of the bones along the spine
18:19And we're now going to put a few more pins through the top here
18:23And then fuse everything together with one big mass of cement
18:27And that's what's going to hold them all together
18:29And hopefully keep the bones of the spine completely solid
18:33Both along, please
18:35All right, all done
18:37It's been an intense four-hour surgery
18:41The next few days will be critical
18:49It's the end of a busy day at the practice
18:59And an emergency admission has just arrived
19:04Yeah?
19:05Yeah, yeah, just get her back on your lap a little bit
19:07Bella, a nine-month-old Jack Russell puppy
19:10Was involved in a freak accident two days ago
19:13And has a serious fracture to her pelvis
19:16It's all right, sweetie
19:17Hold while I'm going
19:18Hold while I'm going
19:19Right, Bella, please
19:20Sorry about the delay, guys
19:21Her local vet has referred her to Noel
19:23How are you doing?
19:24What's your first name?
19:25Emma
19:26Emma
19:27And?
19:28Scarlett
19:29And?
19:30Stanley
19:31Stanley, hello, mate
19:32This is Bella
19:33Hi, Bubba
19:34All right
19:35I'll take her, it's fine
19:36All right, let's come with me
19:37Come on, Bella
19:38Good girl
19:39Yeah
19:40Good girl
19:41You can grab a seat here, please
19:42Thanks
19:43There we go, thank you
19:44There we go
19:46So what time did the accident happen?
19:48Erm, Saturday afternoon, about...
19:51Yeah, so it'd be two, two o'clock about
19:54OK, so she was out and about on a walk and a car hits her or what?
19:58Oh, no, erm, we have this, like, basket thing that goes on my dad's bike
20:01Which she sits in
20:02Oh
20:03And she jumped out and then he ran over
20:05Oh, no, so she sits in a bicycle basket?
20:08Yeah
20:09Yeah
20:10Yeah
20:11Yeah
20:12And she jumped out and then he accidentally ran over her
20:13Yeah
20:14So I guess he's feeling terrible
20:15Yeah, he's away and so I'll be here at the moment
20:17Oh dear, so he had to go
20:18Yeah
20:19And work?
20:20Yeah
20:21Lordy lord
20:22Distraught dad, Peter, rushed Bella to the emergency vet
20:26Who took an x-ray picture to assess the damage
20:29So she's got a fractured pelvis, as you know
20:32Yeah, it is a pretty bad fracture
20:35Oh, sorry, sweetheart
20:37Sorry, sweetheart
20:39Yeah, if you don't move, Baba
20:41Don't move for a couple of minutes
20:43Okay, so this is the x-ray picture and we can see here that there's a breakthrough here
20:50Here
20:51Here
20:52Here
20:53Here
20:54Here
20:55And here
20:56Now, I'm not too worried about this area here
21:01Because that's the base of the pelvis and you can cope with that
21:05And it looks to me like the socket is still intact
21:10And that's good
21:11I'm very worried about this area here
21:14That whole side of the pelvis is displaced
21:17So it's broken there and it's broken back here
21:20So this is all pushed in
21:22So it would not be a good idea in my view to leave her without treatment
21:27And that means that somehow we're going to have to repair that side of the pelvis
21:32So we're going to get more painkiller on board now
21:35I'm not going to do this tonight, I'm going to stabilize her tonight
21:38Good girl
21:39All right sweetheart, I got you, I got you, I got you
21:41All right
21:42You're going to have to learn how to cycle more safely sweetheart
21:45All right sweetheart, I'll be right back, okay?
21:48I'm so sad
21:49I don't like that squeaking noise
21:54I mean Dad said that's what it was when, you know, that was the worst bit of it, the noise that went
22:00So
22:03Yes, all right, so can you get better Jesus on board please
22:07Don't panic
22:12This is hopefully fairly straightforward
22:16You know, it's a pelvic fracture, there are risks
22:19There's a risk of blood supply problem, there's a risk that I might not be able to get it lined up properly
22:24There's lots of risks, but if the socket isn't fractured, that's good news for us
22:28Okay, so although Daddy will be beating himself up a lot, tell him it's under control
22:33Okay, all right, take care guys
22:35Thank you, bye-bye
22:36Thank you, bye-bye
22:41Hiya
22:42So, is she staying in with us?
22:44Yes, yeah
22:45Did she get very cold?
22:46No, my husband accidentally ran over on his bicycle
22:50Oh no, I bet he feels so young too
22:53He's probably, you probably ought to ring him actually, because he's probably rang about three times
23:00I didn't really know it was that bad until yesterday
23:03When I just came to the realisation that she could die from it
23:09And that it was really serious, her injuries
23:14And then we got into my scream just to make me feel better
23:20Hopefully she's going to be better
23:23Nine-month-old puppy, Bella, has been in a stable condition overnight
23:41While she waits for surgery on her crushed pelvis
23:44I hate broken puppies
23:46What was your puppy, Dad?
23:48He got run over by a bike
23:50He jumped out of the basket
23:51Oh no
24:06Bella has several fractures through her pelvis
24:08Causing the left-hand section to become displaced inwards
24:12inwards. Noel plans to fix the main fracture of the wing of the pelvis using a metal plate
24:18and screws that will pull the bones back into alignment. Then the remaining fractures will
24:24hopefully be held securely enough to heal themselves with callus.
24:43So we can see here where I've anchored the plate down to the back end of the fracture
24:48and now I'm going to pull that all off and anchor it onto the front end.
24:51The section of bone from the wing of the pelvis has to be levered into
24:57precisely the right position so that the fractured segments line up.
25:01Oh, there we go. Yeah, there we go. Now you're sucking these up.
25:10So the difficulty was getting this back segment up. We had to use this lever to hook under it to bring it
25:27back out of where it had sunken into the pelvis. I'm just a little worried that this plate alone
25:35won't be enough to hold everything given that we're not repairing the fractures at the back end at all.
25:40We're just pulling that into alignment in the hope that that will heal itself.
25:45To make sure the fracture is completely stable, Noel decides to add some extra support.
25:50Okay, so I put a second plate on for added stability. I expect Bella to be up and walking tomorrow
26:02and hopefully heal within four weeks and maybe get in her bicycle basket again,
26:09but this time with a safety belt.
26:14Okay, let's go to action. Thank you.
26:16Morning everyone! Seven o'clock pre-med Roxy, she just got on that.
26:39Morning! Oh, lovely!
26:43It can get very noisy working in the vets.
26:48When one dog starts, they can all start.
26:53You've got a whole choir, you've got a banging headache,
26:56you've just got to try and calm them all down.
27:00I'm really sorry, can you say that again?
27:06Amongst the chorus this morning, a bark with an Aussie twang can mean only one thing.
27:11Sounds like Skylar's here.
27:14Skylar has been having steroid injections for a trap nerve in her spine.
27:19A month since the final treatment, Andy and his mum, Lynn, have brought her in for a checkup.
27:24There's lots of talking going on out here in the school room.
27:40Where is my naughty school child Skylar?
27:43So what's happening now?
27:47Well, she'd been responding to the injections well, I felt.
27:53Yeah.
27:53And then about ten days ago, I've noticed that she's started holding her leg up again.
27:59Okay. All right, let's have a look.
28:01All right, Bubba.
28:02I think she probably knows what's coming this time as well.
28:05Okay, good girl.
28:05Good girl.
28:09Yeah, it looks like she's sore again.
28:11Yeah.
28:12We're back at square one.
28:14There's no real point in repeating the epidurals again.
28:16No, no.
28:17So our choices at this stage is either do nothing
28:22or do surgery.
28:24Fusing the sacrum and the last lumbar vertebra together,
28:27there are risks of doing the procedure.
28:30Some of them don't wag their tail for a while.
28:33Some of them have difficulty peeing for a while.
28:36It should work, but there's no guarantees.
28:39And that's the challenge because it's not life-threatening.
28:42Yeah.
28:42So the question then is, do we proceed to fusion?
28:45And only you can answer that.
28:47I think we, because it took us quite a long time to get to this point.
28:51And as I say, we haven't really got any further forward.
28:54So I think it's a question of like, well, having to do something about it.
28:59But you've tried?
29:00Yeah.
29:01I think you had to try and know before you would go down the route of surgery.
29:04Thanks, definitely.
29:06I'm sorry.
29:07I'm sorry.
29:08Looks like I won't be able to cure you without taking a scalpel blade, unfortunately.
29:15I think really at this stage, the surgery gives us the best option.
29:18Obviously, there's risks involved in that.
29:19But if we can get her sorted and back to enjoying a properly active lifestyle,
29:25then that's good for Skylar as well.
29:39Hi, Brittany.
29:42Hello.
29:42How are you doing today?
29:46Seven days have passed since 11-month-old Brittany underwent neurosurgery.
29:52Hi there.
29:53How are you?
29:55Alison and best friend Carol have come to take the precious pug home.
30:00I'm excited, actually.
30:02I'm looking, really looking forward to seeing her.
30:05I hope she remembers me.
30:06That's the thing, because I'm just a grandma, you know.
30:08So what we've basically done is we've put about 18 metal pins into Brittany's back.
30:15So if we look at this 3D model here, you can see that we've got pins being driven down.
30:20And then the cement is this blob here.
30:23Neurologically, I think she's about the same as when you brought her in.
30:27And to be honest with you, at this stage, that's great.
30:29That's great, isn't it?
30:30Yeah.
30:31So realistically now, the hard work starts and that's the rehabilitation.
30:36So it's rest, which is going to be difficult because she is like a little bouncy spring at the moment.
30:42Yeah.
30:43And she wants to do loads because she thinks she's normal.
30:50It'd be difficult to keep her calm and quiet, you know.
30:54Come on then, Cheeky.
30:55Cheeky.
31:00Hello.
31:00Hello, baby.
31:01Good to see you.
31:02Hello, darling.
31:03Oh, wow.
31:04There you go.
31:05Hello, hello.
31:07Hello, beautiful.
31:08Oh, I've missed you so much.
31:11I have.
31:12Yeah.
31:15Did she sleep on you?
31:16Yeah.
31:18Yeah, it's wonderful to have her back.
31:20It's a huge relief that she's come through it fine and she's going to improve from here
31:25on, I'm sure.
31:35Fitzpatrick, referrals, orthopaedic neurology, Laura speaking.
31:38How can I help?
31:41It's been two days since little puppy, Bella, had surgery after being run over when she jumped out of
31:47her bicycle basket.
31:49Yeah, it must be because it's fine when I'm on my own.
31:51I'm on my own.
31:54Dad, Peter, who was riding the bike at the time, hasn't seen Bella since the accident.
31:59Yeah, yeah, I'm going to have to get some breathing going.
32:01I've got to get some breathing going.
32:03He's nervous, Scott.
32:05When I handed over, the emergency vet was almost crying.
32:09What, did she look really horrible, did she?
32:10She was shaking and it was horrible.
32:14That's my abiding memory at the moment.
32:18Dog in pain caused by me running around.
32:23Right.
32:23Hi, guys.
32:24Sorry about the delay.
32:25Come on in.
32:25Come on in.
32:26I'm sorry about this, buddy.
32:27And then you had to go away and work.
32:29Oh, I almost didn't get on that plane.
32:31Yeah, no.
32:32What a tough day for you, mate.
32:34It was awful.
32:34Yeah.
32:35I just looked around and there she was, just going straight over the wheel.
32:39And then that scream.
32:40I've been reliving it over and over again.
32:42It's been horrible.
32:42Yeah, yeah, yeah.
32:43Now, this is the post-op.
32:45Oh, yeah.
32:47So you can see here that I've managed to pull that part of the pelvis that way.
32:52Yeah.
32:53So you can see that this gets pulled back into alignment by being kicked out.
32:57Yeah.
32:57And this bit should heal itself.
32:59Yeah.
33:00So there's no running, no jumping, no slipping, no sliding.
33:03Because otherwise, if it rocks and rocks and rocks, then that rocking motion can still loosen screws.
33:09Right.
33:11Any questions before she comes in and creates mayhem?
33:16Come on in, then.
33:17Hey, Bella.
33:18Come on in.
33:19Bella.
33:19There we go.
33:20Good.
33:21There we go.
33:22You can give her.
33:23No, give her to Mum.
33:23Give her to Mum.
33:24Hi.
33:30So let me show you how to walk her.
33:32Okay, so.
33:36Like this.
33:37Yeah.
33:38So as you can see.
33:39Come on, Bubba.
33:41Good girl.
33:41See?
33:43So this supports her.
33:45See?
33:45So she can put it down.
33:47Okay, well done.
33:48Well done.
33:50She's a sweet little girl.
33:51She still loves her daddy, so it's all good.
33:54She's always loved him the most.
33:56Oh, did she?
33:56Just not playing.
33:57Is she a daddy's dog, is she?
33:58Yeah.
33:59Like my mum sorts out everything for her and he just loves his dog.
34:02Ah.
34:03Yeah, she sits on his lap all the time.
34:06Bella.
34:06Oh, that's beautiful.
34:08She's forgiven you.
34:10She's forgiven you.
34:11That's fantastic.
34:13Hey, Bella.
34:14We're going home.
34:15We are headed home.
34:21It's all a bit scary, isn't it?
34:38It's all a bit scary.
34:40Skylar, the barky Australian shepherd dog, is being prepped for surgery.
34:44After steroid injections only worked short term,
34:53the 18-month-old is now going to have to have an operation
34:57to release pressure on the trapped nerves in her lower spine.
35:01All right, here we go.
35:02So we're just cutting down through the muscle here.
35:04We're going to drill out the roof of the spinal canal.
35:08We've got to be careful as we do this because the nerves that go to the urinary bladder,
35:13the anal sphincter and the tail are directly under a rather thin roof here.
35:34You can see the nerves are being exposed like guitar strings.
35:39I'm just cutting into the disc now, like so.
35:46I'm going to take all that out.
35:51The primary problem for Skylar is that the lumbar spine,
35:54where it meets the sacrum, is actually moving and squishing the nerves.
35:58So when we push the vertebrae apart and stabilise them rock solid, that shouldn't happen.
36:04Noel inserts one of his own inventions, a spacer with threads on it,
36:10that slowly pushes the vertebrae apart as it's screwed in place.
36:13Just moving the nerves back into position, like so.
36:29Noel now needs to fuse the last lumbar vertebra to the sacrum,
36:33to prevent further movement in this area.
36:46So we've got four screws in now.
36:48We're going to link these with some rods using the clamps.
36:51Using barbell shaped rods, Noel braces the clamps.
36:55Hopefully that will get Skylar out of pain.
37:00It's fairly unlikely that she's going to wag her tail tomorrow.
37:05She might, however, want to bark a lot.
37:08So we'll keep her sedated for her own good, so she doesn't do too much.
37:14And for the good of those around her,
37:16because I have a feeling she's going to get quite vocal.
37:18It's been a major operation that Skylar's family had hoped to avoid.
37:26Only time will tell if it will finally get her out of pain.
37:42Eight weeks have passed since mini diva Brittany had life-changing neurosurgery.
37:48Hi, who's he got there?
37:51Just like her namesake, she's made a great comeback.
37:56She's got a lot more strength, you know, particularly in her back legs.
38:02And she's like a normal little dog now, running around.
38:07She's looking good.
38:08Oh, she's just getting a bit noisy, I could hear her barking from the console room.
38:20So, she looks like she's doing well.
38:22Hello.
38:22She's doing extremely well.
38:27She seems to get stronger each week, yeah.
38:30Good.
38:31She's just as feisty as before.
38:33Yeah, probably.
38:35All right, well, have a little look at her then, if that's OK.
38:38Hello.
38:38Let's do a few little tests on your leg, shall we?
38:41Let's have a little look at a little hop.
38:44Good.
38:45Before her operation, Brittany only had sensation halfway up her spine.
38:50She didn't even notice that before.
38:57So, that reflex has come all the way back to here now, so that's a big change.
39:02It's brilliant, isn't it?
39:03It's fantastic.
39:04She's doing really well.
39:05Yeah.
39:05On you.
39:06Really, really pleased.
39:07I think she's done better than I imagined she would have done at this stage.
39:12There's no reason now she can't go on to have
39:14a really good quality of life for a really long time.
39:20Sure.
39:21To confirm Jeremy's assessment, Brittany is having a CT scan
39:25to check that the 18 pins are still fixed in place.
39:30Here we go, bubba.
39:32Oh, you don't like my mask.
39:37Happily, all is secure and Brittany can be signed off.
39:41But only, that is, if the pug princess can be separated from her adoring fans.
39:47I'm taking Brittany.
39:49Do you know Brittany actually walks?
39:51Yeah.
39:51Look, watch this.
39:53She'll sit down straight away.
39:54She'll sit down at the beginning.
39:55Come on then, Brittas.
39:56Come on, Brittas.
39:57Yay!
39:58Look at that.
39:58She's me.
40:00Here she is.
40:02Hello, little darling.
40:04So, she's a little bit sleepy and a little bit wobbly.
40:08Thank you, Jeremy, for everything.
40:10No problem at all.
40:11It is an incredible transformation.
40:14I mean, she's a totally different dog.
40:17You know, she was slipping downhill quite quickly
40:20and she would have been disabled and would have had no quality of life, really.
40:24But she's just like a normal dog now.
40:27Oh, yeah.
40:27It's four months since outspoken Aussie Skylar had spinal surgery.
40:41Skylar's been doing really well.
40:43And she's full of energy.
40:45She absolutely loves tearing around the place.
40:48But just as Skylar's mystery is resolved, Andy has turned up an injury of his own.
40:54I broke my foot, unfortunately.
40:56Ironic, really, that Skylar's just coming towards the end of her recovery and then I have a setback.
41:01Skylar's now allowed to play with the pack.
41:03Skylar's now allowed to play with the pack.
41:04She seems much happier but she's still just as noisy.
41:07You can see the pleasure she gets from it, where the frustration was there before.
41:16She can now run and play and the injury is way in the past.
41:22I think she'll only go from strength to strength, really, now.
41:31Alison has been nursing feisty Brittany back to health after her operation.
41:36Good girl.
41:39She's still regularly visiting her granny.
41:43Brittany's absolutely fantastic now.
41:44She's running around like a normal dog, as if there's never been anything wrong with her.
41:50She's jumping up and down, she runs up and down the steps, she races round the lawn.
41:57I can't thank Jeremy and the team, you know.
42:00It's not coming.
42:02What they've done for her has been absolutely amazing.
42:04They've given her a new lease of life.
42:07And without that, I'm sure she'd be totally disabled.
42:09But now she's so lively, I have difficulty keeping up with her, actually.
42:13She wears me out.
42:17I just love having her around.
42:18She's full of it, yeah.
42:35It's seven weeks since Bella was run over by a bicycle and needed her pelvis reconstructing.
42:41You want a nap?
42:42Yeah, we all want a nap.
42:44Oh, my God.
42:45Well, you napped all the way up here.
42:46You just had an hour and a half keeping in the car.
42:50The Jack Russell puppy seems to be making good progress.
42:53Peter and Emma have brought her in for her checkup.
42:57Yeah, we're just slightly apprehensive that, you know, she seems great externally, but maybe internally
43:03it's not looking as good.
43:04So, yeah, we'll see.
43:08Yeah, here we go, Bea.
43:09Hello there.
43:11Shall we walk you in, Bella?
43:12You have a little walk.
43:13Come on.
43:14Show how good your legs are.
43:15Look at that.
43:16Hi, you're walking.
43:17Yes, yeah.
43:18Hello.
43:18Hi, Mrs. Hi.
43:20How are you?
43:21How are you?
43:22Hey, Mrs. How are you doing?
43:23Oh, there we are.
43:24Thank you very much.
43:26So, you getting over your trauma?
43:28Oh, God, yeah, it took some time.
43:30Yeah, I can imagine.
43:31But she seems to be very strong.
43:33She's definitely not as strong in that back left leg there.
43:35I mean, you know, when she puts pressure down with her right one when you hold her,
43:39but the left one she warned.
43:41Well, all that muscle will be damaged as well, remember?
43:44Yeah, yeah.
43:45Because the muscle, as with any fracture, if it was a human, you'd have to do some rehab.
43:50Yeah.
43:50So, today is about determining on the x-ray picture if it's healed.
43:54Yeah.
43:54Let's get that done.
43:56Good.
43:58Please, God, all is well that it ends well.
44:01We live to ride another day.
44:05Don't put all your dogs in one basket.
44:07No.
44:11Oh, Bella.
44:16What are you doing?
44:17What are you doing?
44:18What are you doing?
44:19Are you?
44:19I'm you.
44:24I don't know.
44:24It's kind of wonky this way, but...
44:36Oh, yeah.
44:38Oh.
44:38Oh.
44:41Oh, Bella, my dad's Bella.
44:54So, it's good news overall.
44:56You can see here, these fractures are healing in with callus.
45:00So, do you remember I told you if this was stable enough, that would hold those others until they healed?
45:05Yeah.
45:06Which is happening.
45:07Good.
45:08So, happy days.
45:09You can get over your basket phobia.
45:11Yes.
45:12Hopefully.
45:12Hey.
45:13Hello, Bella.
45:15Hello, Bella.
45:18Bella will need six weeks of physio, but with no need for any further surgery, the outlook is rosy.
45:24Have you been gone.
45:25Bye-bye.
45:26Just a few weeks ago, we weren't even sure where we were going to be taking her home, so...
45:32A few weeks ago, she might not survive the weekend.
45:34Yeah.
45:35The kids are going to be really pleased.
45:36So, yeah, looking good so far.
45:49Two and a half months after her accident, and the plucky pup is ready to get back in the saddle.
45:55So, yeah, I still think I'm more scared than you, Bella.
45:59I'll connect it first.
46:00I'll connect it through.
46:05Now, I hope this doesn't bring back tough memories.
46:07Are you ready, Bella?
46:09I'm a little bit worried myself about getting back on the bike with her.
46:13Let's give it a go, then, Bella.
46:16But she seems to have forgotten, luckily.
46:18But I don't know how long before I forget.
46:19That might take a little bit longer.
46:22There you go, you're all right.
46:25Yeah, she loves him so much.
46:26She definitely prefers my dad to the rest of us, even though he was the one that ran her over.
46:34It was such a horrible thought of losing her.
46:40The change from when she was injured, you can't describe it.
46:44She's back to her old self, really. It's unbelievable.
46:51The change from when she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she was injured, she
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