- 1 week ago
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00:00Oh my goodness, what a difference, a couple of days made.
00:06Professor Noel Fitzpatrick...
00:08All right, Mrs. Cuddlemonster incoming.
00:12...is the super vet.
00:14We have issues.
00:15I knew I should have got chihuahuas.
00:17...at his unique vet practice, he merges mechanics and biology.
00:22We're past the point of no return now.
00:24Don't be pulling apart my repair, Mrs.
00:27...to heal the nation's pets.
00:29Sorry about coronavirus.
00:30Oh, because you're responsible?
00:31I'm responsible for almost everything else.
00:34Even in the darkest days...
00:36I'm so sorry this has happened to you.
00:38...Noel imagines the impossible.
00:41Oh, my little baby, Gilder.
00:43Oh, my God.
00:44Where's God?
00:46Sometimes you have to bend the rules of mechanics to fit the biology.
00:50...and offers hope.
00:52We've definitely made the right decision.
00:54Good boy!
00:55We've got my boy back.
00:57For families and their friends.
00:59Look at you!
01:00Why don't you dog out?
01:02Yes, mate, I love you too.
01:07You get such a wide range of animals here.
01:14We get, you know, your family pets.
01:17Some are people just best friends and their only companions.
01:20Come on, sweetheart.
01:22Good girl.
01:23But of all the animals that check in at Fitzpatrick's, working dogs have a special place in everyone's heart.
01:30When we are dealing with service dogs, there is that little bit of extra responsibility just to take that extra good care of them.
01:37The thing is that when a working dog is in my care, I'm not just treating the patient.
01:43I'm supporting a vital partnership as well.
01:47So, for me, it's a privilege to be entrusted with their care and trying to get them back to work.
01:58Big day. It's D-Day for the little man.
02:01He's got no idea, has he?
02:02No idea what's about to happen to him.
02:04Poor little sod.
02:05Two-year-old police dog, Trigger, has come to the practice for surgery on his spine.
02:11The main thing is he ends up pain-free because he is more and more wincing with pain.
02:16It's clearly getting worse and needs sorted.
02:19Poor little man.
02:24Rob's a dog handler with the Metropolitan Police.
02:27And he's responsible for training Trigger.
02:30His main purpose is to find people and they can follow the centre long grounds over fences and just follow the track of where someone's gone till they find them.
02:38Or, if that person was to try and get away, then he's trying to bite them.
02:44The bond between the dog and the handler is amazing.
02:47The only time I'm not with him is when he's asleep.
03:02He absolutely worships the ground I walk on and the feeling's mutual as well, you know.
03:07He's my best pal. He's a great dog.
03:11Trigger went to live with Rob when he was eight weeks old.
03:14And he's very much part of the family.
03:18Trigger gets on really well with the wife and kids.
03:20And sometimes it's so easy to forget that he is actually a police dog because he is a real big softy at home.
03:24Yeah.
03:25But when he is at work, his whole demeanor changes.
03:29And when he's in aggressive mode, the teeth, the snarling, the spitting.
03:32And then when he finds somebody, you find him hanging off of their arm and they're screaming in pain.
03:36You think, my little Trigger's doing that.
03:39Yeah.
03:40But Trigger may not be able to continue to work.
03:45Eight months ago, he had an operation for a stomach torsion.
03:50Whilst he was recovering, I noticed that when he was cold and he lifted his front legs, he would cry out in pain.
03:55The problem persisted.
03:56So then we went to Fitzpatrick and did an MRI scan.
03:59And then it was quite clear that he had quite a serious problem with his lumbar sacral.
04:03And that was pinching the nerves that were running down his legs and causing him excruciating pain.
04:10Good boy.
04:12Trigger has been having hydro and physiotherapy sessions to strengthen his core before surgery.
04:18Something gone.
04:20Good boy.
04:21But if the operation isn't a success, Trigger won't be able to go back to work.
04:26And Rob, who already has two other dogs, will have some tough decisions to make.
04:32It would break my heart and the kids and the wife if he wants to go.
04:36But it wouldn't really be fair to keep a three-year-old dog at home.
04:39He will always have that drive to come to work.
04:41See you later.
04:42See you later.
04:43See you later.
04:44If we keep him and then I get another working dog, he will make a hell of a racket every time I leave.
04:49For Trigger to be able to come back to work is everything.
04:53And just fingers crossed that it happens.
05:00Police dog, please.
05:02Hi there, you all right?
05:05Good morning.
05:06Rob, grab a seat now.
05:08So tell me what his work does.
05:11He's tracking, finding people, biting people, finding property.
05:14So he's attack as well?
05:15Yeah.
05:16OK.
05:17All right, big guy.
05:18I'm hopeful that you're not going to go into attack mode when I do the physical exam.
05:21But I need to track three things.
05:24I'm going to press on his back here to check the nerves here at the top.
05:28I'm going to check the nerves as they run down the back of his legs.
05:31Yeah.
05:32And the third test, I'm going to stick my finger up his bottom.
05:35And I'm going to touch that nerve in there.
05:37And all three of those tests would need to be negative in 12 weeks' time for me to sign them off for work.
05:42Yeah.
05:43I don't want to cause him pain.
05:44Yeah.
05:45But I've got to document the pain.
05:47And unfortunately, it's very subjective.
05:49True.
05:50OK, now you're going to hold his head, Rob.
05:52Yep.
05:53I'm going to move your chair over here, please.
05:54I'm going to move relatively close to that wall.
05:56Sure.
05:57All right, big guy.
05:58I'm going to check you out now.
05:59I think it's safe to say that test is positive.
06:03Hold tight.
06:04Second test coming up.
06:05Good boy.
06:06Sorry, mate.
06:07We'll do the other nerve on the other side.
06:08Good boy.
06:09Good boy.
06:10I want something.
06:11Good boy.
06:12Sorry, mate.
06:13We'll do the other nerve on the other side.
06:16Good boy.
06:17I want something.
06:18Good boy.
06:19Sorry, mate.
06:20This is the worst bit.
06:21All right, I'm on it now.
06:22Turn off.
06:23I'm just going to check his hips and knees.
06:24It's fine, mate.
06:25I'm finished with it.
06:26I'm finished.
06:27I'm finished, mate.
06:28Oh, dear.
06:29Yeah, he's in a lot of pain.
06:30It's reflected in all of his back end.
06:32We're done.
06:33So, definitely, from my perspective, all those tests would be definitive evidence.
06:38of pain.
06:39It's called degenerative lumbosacral stenosis.
06:41So, the cause is believed to be primarily genetic.
06:44And it's believed that this disc loses its tendency to be able to hold on to water.
07:02And it's believed that this disc loses its tendency to be able to hold onto water.
07:07hold on to water and has dried out and is significantly bulging in its center.
07:14The bulge gets gradually worse over time so that it squishes the nerve root and
07:21that is what causes the pain. Another source of pain is new bone
07:26formation on either side of the disc which is pressing in to trigger sciatic
07:31nerve roots. The objective is to remove movement so there's no stimulation for
07:36that bone to form and remove the degenerate disc material that is squishing the
07:41nerve so there's no stimulus for it to come back. Now what can go wrong?
07:45Well clearly as I'm pulling the nerves around that could go wrong.
07:50But most dogs are out of pain within two weeks. Next thing is can I get this dog
07:54doing what police dogs do? The answer is most of the time.
07:58He's a super fit young dog and he's in this much pain already. There's no real option.
08:04You know if worst case scenario he doesn't come back to work at least hopefully he can live out his days
08:08pain-free. The rules always should be if we can get him back.
08:11My goal is work at 16 weeks. That's my goal. That's what I'm hoping.
08:17All right that's it. Anything else? I don't think so no.
08:20Bye bye Rob. Say goodbye to Sir Triggs.
08:22It's well done. All right thank you Isabelle.
08:24Hi Trigger.
08:27Trigger's surgery is scheduled for later today and Rob hopes it will ease the severe pain in his lower back.
08:34Pretty horrific examination of him which was awful to be on the receiving end of for him and for me to have to watch.
08:40And you know that poor little dog's a stoic dog but he's living through this pain every day.
08:44Just hope we get that phone call to say everything's gone well.
08:47Oh there's our baby. Hello gorgeous.
08:55If you want to bond with a dog you have to be able to communicate with them.
09:02Happy baby come here.
09:04It's an important part of the job for the team at Fitzpatrick's.
09:07It's a new silly boy.
09:09Oh the big baby.
09:12Look at you. You just go into knots.
09:16One year old Sheperdoodle Raven is much more than just a pet to Alan and Jane.
09:23He is our fur baby. All the children have left home.
09:27Yes it's just us.
09:28So he is our baby.
09:33Ten months ago Raven was an early Christmas present for Alan.
09:37He was just a big fluffy ball of thumb.
09:42He was interested in everything.
09:44He wouldn't sit on your lap all the time.
09:46Of course he was small enough in to do that.
09:48Just sort of brought some more joy into the house.
09:51Sit.
09:53Now they can't imagine life without him.
09:56Good boy.
09:57He's a gentle giant.
09:59Yeah.
10:00He loves everyone.
10:01He loves the kids.
10:02He loves the grandchildren.
10:03He's absolutely full of fun.
10:05Good boy.
10:08And his personality is almost as big as he is.
10:13He's very cheeky.
10:14If he can get away with something, he will.
10:18Eight months ago, Jane noticed that Raven was limping and took him to their local vet.
10:28So they discovered that he had double hip dysplasia at literally four months old.
10:33I knew that it would be a very painful life for him if we didn't do something.
10:38And that's when we decided no matter what, we would get him fixed.
10:43Their vet referred them to Fitzpatrick's.
10:46And today the couple are meeting Noel to discuss the first of a proposed double hip replacement.
10:52Hello, guys.
10:53Please grab a seat.
10:54You're beautiful, aren't you, sweetheart?
10:56Oh, look at that beautiful coat.
10:58Oh, it's a little bit wet and soggy today, I'm afraid.
11:01No, I can see that.
11:02And I can also see this walking on eggshells on the back legs.
11:05Both.
11:06He doesn't know which leg to stand on.
11:08No.
11:09Now, you've seen my colleague James.
11:11We have.
11:12So James will have spent a lot of time talking to you about that hip dysplasia is a developmental problem.
11:18He was born with the genes that make it.
11:20Yeah.
11:21What happens is the structures that normally hold the head of the femur in the socket don't.
11:26Okay.
11:27The next thing that happens is the socket gets shallow because the head isn't in there.
11:31Then the head rubs on the top of the socket and the joint capsule pulls and new bone forms.
11:37The next step is that the socket infill and the new bone formation on the top of the socket begin to rub on the femoral head.
11:45Oh, doodle.
11:47Okay.
11:48Right.
11:49Just stand him here, Daddy.
11:50Can you hold his head?
11:51There we go.
11:52Okay.
11:53There we go.
11:54Oh, I know.
11:55Oh, I know.
11:56He's got a very painful hip.
11:57Oh.
11:58Right.
11:59Okay.
12:00So your dog has arthritis now, which is the inflammation of the joint as a result of that rubbing.
12:05The objective is to remove the joint completely so there is no osteoarthritis.
12:10Uh-huh.
12:11The risks in the first week postoperatively include dislocation.
12:14Another risk is mechanical failure if the bone were to fracture, the implant were to subside, or the bone were to fail to grow into it.
12:22Those are all risks.
12:23And then, lastly, infection can happen, so he must not lick it.
12:27But I love the replacements because it gets dogs out of pain.
12:30Oh.
12:31If I do a good job and if you do a good job, you've got a very happy dog within two weeks and you've got a dog that's able to run around on that hip by week 12.
12:40Have you got any questions?
12:42No.
12:43Um, good.
12:44Oh, bye-bye.
12:45Bye-bye, Mum.
12:46Bye-bye, Dad.
12:47Come see Mummy.
12:48Bye.
12:49All right, lovely to meet you guys.
12:50You go ahead and he'll come with me.
12:52Come on, buddy.
12:53Good boy.
12:54Come on.
12:55This way.
12:56Sit.
12:57Breathe on.
12:58Let's sit.
12:59Let's sit.
13:00It's tough for such a young dog to be facing surgery on both hips.
13:06The biggest worry is that it doesn't heal properly or it doesn't work.
13:09And having put him through it all, that it doesn't work.
13:13But the couple hope it will allow Raven to live life to the full.
13:18He just wants him to be a puppy.
13:20He's not been able to run and leap and jump.
13:22He's sort of like an old man.
13:23He's stiff.
13:24So he just needs that back.
13:26Two-year-old police dog Trigger is having a CT scan before undergoing major surgery on his spine.
13:43This will show Noel to what extent the nerves are being compressed by the new bone formation.
13:49And help him plan the positioning of the implants.
13:52Then Noel spots something he hadn't expected.
13:58This is a fragment of bone which has come out of the vertebra right here and become displaced.
14:05So that white thing is a piece of bone which has come out of here, which isn't super clear on the MRI scan, but it is super clear on the CT scan.
14:13This is caused by a genetic disease known as osteochondritis dissecans.
14:18And that spiky bit of bone that is inside the bulging disc is squishing the nerve root.
14:25No wonder he's in so much pain. Poor fella. Wow.
14:29This is not going to be easy surgery. I'll do my best.
14:38Okay, here you go. Incision.
14:45After separating the muscles, Noel will drill the roof off the vertebrae.
14:51He will move the nerves to one side and remove the bone fragment and disc bulge.
14:57Then he will insert a titanium spacer screw between the two vertebrae to push them apart.
15:03Finally, he'll place large specialised screws in the vertebrae on either side
15:07and link them with clamps and rods to stabilise the lumbosacral junction
15:12and push the new bone away from the nerve roots.
15:16Goggles, please.
15:17Thanks.
15:23First, Noel has to get to the disc by removing the roof off the spinal canal.
15:30Once we've cut enough of the roof off, we then just grab it and lift it up.
15:37Then he has to carefully remove the displaced fragments of bone.
15:40There's a piece of spiky bone right here, which is sticking up through the edge of the disc and squishing the spinal nerves.
15:49Here's the piece of bone coming out now. It's quite a large piece of bone, taking it off in two fragments there.
16:02Trigger has amazing tenacity if he jumped over ten fences to catch a criminal with that sticking in his nerves.
16:10The next step is to cut away the fibrous disc material that's also compressing the nerves.
16:21One slip could be catastrophic.
16:24Cutting with a very sharp blade next to nerves that we must not cut because if we cut them, then Trigger would potentially either not be able to walk or not be able to urinate or not be able to defecate.
16:37So we have to be very careful here.
16:41You can see here that there's a space where the disc used to be.
16:46Into that gap, he'll insert a spacer screw to push the two vertebrae apart.
16:52So this is a Christmas tree spacer because it looks like a Christmas tree.
17:00OK, so the spacer device is in now.
17:02Finally, Noel stabilises the lumbosacral junction with screws, clamps and rods to ensure the two vertebrae are kept apart and the pathways for the nerve roots stay open.
17:19Now we stitch up.
17:22OK, let's go to CT.
17:25The entire operation has taken almost three hours and Rob's desperate to find out how it's gone.
17:33Hello, Rob speaking.
17:35Hello, Rob. How are you?
17:37Yeah, nervous.
17:39Yeah, I can imagine.
17:41I've done the surgery. It went fine.
17:43Brilliant. I'm tough for that. Right.
17:45Yeah, it was challenging because there was a chunk of bone that had in fact separated from the end plate of the sacrum and was sticking into the nerves.
17:57Oh, poor little child.
17:59I'm pleased with the post-operative CT.
18:01Yeah, well, that's all we can ask for.
18:03Exactly. And please, God, we'll get the result we want.
18:05Brilliant. OK, well, thank you so much.
18:07No problem. Bye-bye.
18:09Although the CT scan shows that everything is in the right place, there will be an anxious wait to see if Trigger recovers sufficiently to get back to police work.
18:21As a new day dawns, it's a full house at Fitzpatrick Referrals.
18:42I know.
18:44And Noel's about to do something he rarely does these days.
18:47I'm going to see a little kitten with trauma now. And I don't do simple trauma cases very often. But today, everybody's busy. I have a slot in my diary. And I'm about to see a kitten called Fury.
19:03You have to stay. You have to. No, no, no, no, no, no. You have to. Ah, ah, ah, ah. Here.
19:10Three-month-old kitten Fury hurt himself when he was playing with his sister Stormy.
19:15We just heard a yelp and saw that he was limping his back left leg. He was holding it up. Called our local vet and the x-ray showed that he's got a broken tibia.
19:26Fury and Stormy were a surprise birthday present for Barry's 50th from his wife and three sons.
19:33My reaction was actually one of shock because I hadn't been thinking about getting kittens at that point. And it took me a couple of days to come round to fully appreciating the idea. But by the time that we picked the kittens up, I was just so excited, as was all the family.
19:49It was Aidan and his two brothers who came up with the cat's names.
19:56A couple of years ago, we were joking about how if we ever got a pet, we'd name it something silly. And we came up with Furious Destroyer as it's very aggressive, such a cute and cuddly animal. And he's lived up to the name, I guess.
20:12Fury's much more dominant than Stormy and Stormy is much more inquisitive and much braver. So she'll go out and do things first. He'll watch from a distance. And then when he thinks it's safe, he'll go and do it and push her out of the way as if he's always been the one in charge.
20:31But sometimes Fury's a bit too dominant for his own good.
20:38So I was working in my office and I heard something just outside the door in the hall. I came out and saw Fury acting quite strange. He was meowing like something was wrong.
20:51And the local vet, the vet insisted that he needed to have a referral to go to Fitzpatrick.
20:57Yeah.
20:59Hi, Fury.
21:00Fortunately, Barry is able to get an appointment for the day after it happened.
21:05Now, good morning, sir. What's your first name?
21:07Barry.
21:08Barry, nice to see you. Here's a seat for you. This is my colleague, Lisa. How are you, gorgeous kitten?
21:13Hello. Oh, I have two cats as well. Oh, hello, mate. Hello.
21:19Right. So what happened?
21:21We got one of those kitten towers and him and his sister were playing on it.
21:26He fell off.
21:27And I think he fell off.
21:28Right.
21:29But he has a very common injury.
21:30Well, the fractured growth plate.
21:32I've seen it on the x-ray pictures.
21:34And because the bone is actually quite strong, the weakest spot is where the bone is growing from, which is called the growth plate.
21:42Yep.
21:43So if he fell and twisted at the same time, he sheared off here, which is the weak spot from which the tibia, which is the shin bone, actually grows.
21:53Right.
21:54Because, and I'll draw it for you now. Well done, mate. I'm going to put you safely back in here for a moment.
21:59So that's what it looks like, the ankle of a cat. That's the tibia. That's the fibula. And then you've got this iron here, which is the growth plate. And that's fractured.
22:13Problem number one, there's going to be no more growth from this growth plate. So inevitably, this leg is going to be slightly shorter than the other one in terms of the shin bone, the tibia.
22:23In any of these situations, does that bone formation ever recover?
22:27I've not personally seen one that didn't destroy that growth plate when it happened. So nowadays, the gold standard of care would be to fix this with metal.
22:36Right.
22:37Use what's called a cross pinning technique. You line it up, you put a pin in here and drive it through that way. You put another pin in here and you drive it through that way.
22:48This is a very friable, very narrow, very tiny piece of bone. You have to get the hit right first time.
22:55Yep. You stay sleeping for now, mate. Bye bye, dada. Bye bye. Hey. Oh, you're tired then. No, thank you.
23:07Noel isn't the only one captivated by the cute little kitten.
23:11You've broken your leg. What did you jump up on?
23:15He's in a lot of pain, I can see. And finding out that Fury's got an injury that could affect his growth is a real worry.
23:22Oh my God, whose cat is this? And why am I not taking it home?
23:26I'm not taking it home.
23:37Please don't fall, buddy, OK?
23:40Raven, the Sheperdoodle with hip dysplasia, is being prepped for surgery.
23:46He's only a year old and it's been hard for him to have such a debilitating condition.
23:51It's like a sheep shearing.
23:55So I'm going to put implants in Raven's left hip now and that's the difference between having a painful hip and not.
24:02Noel's plan is to replace Raven's worn out hip with a new prosthetic stem, neck, ball and socket.
24:13A lot of fluid in this joint because it's very loose and the joint capsule is inflamed.
24:19Very arthritic joint.
24:21First, Noel removes the femoral head.
24:24We can see where it's flattened like a mushroom and has lost its cartilage right there.
24:32Noel then inserts a plastic cup into the socket.
24:37Its mesh coating will allow the bone to grow around the implant.
24:41See the plastic liner replaces the cartilage.
24:44He then inserts a titanium stem into the femur.
24:53And in its side, he puts a bolt to prevent the stem subsiding.
24:58Through that in till it's tight.
25:01Noel puts the head on the stem.
25:05We pop the head into the socket.
25:07Then he checks the head is firmly in place.
25:10As I tug on it, it doesn't dislocate, which is really good.
25:15We now stitch up, we're done.
25:17This hip will hopefully be pain-free in two weeks' time.
25:21One, two, three.
25:26The whole procedure has taken less than an hour.
25:29I'm very pleased with this one.
25:31It's chalk and cheese, the difference between the two.
25:35That's awesome.
25:37It'll be six weeks of cage rest for Raven.
25:40And then if all goes well, Noel will perform the whole thing again on his other hip joint.
25:46Fury, the three-month-old kitten with a fractured growth plate, is about to go into surgery.
26:04This is Bob.
26:05Although a simple fracture, Noel has thought again about how he's going to repair it.
26:14I've had a look at the x-ray pictures and because the little bone on the other side, which is called the fibula, is still intact, we do not need to put a second pin in.
26:23But Noel is drilling the wire into a tiny piece of bone that crumbles easily.
26:29So we can see the fracture is there, and we can see the pin I've put in goes across the fracture here.
26:53It doesn't move anymore.
26:54It feels very stable.
26:56So let's hope the post-op x-ray picture looks okay and I've got that pin in the right spot.
27:08All looks good.
27:11It just needs to be held in place for three weeks.
27:13Come on, mate. Let's go for a little walk. Good boy.
27:29It has now been two days since Raven's operation.
27:33Well done, mate.
27:35And Noel wants to see how the puppy is walking on his new hip joint.
27:38Oh, on a windy day like today, your hair goes everywhere, doesn't it, mate?
27:44He's doing brilliantly well on his hip replacement. It's like nothing happened.
27:48He's very comfortable and he wants to run around, don't you, mate?
27:52So he's ready to go home.
27:54At the end of the day, it's all about getting him out of pain and giving him a good quality of life, and that's hopefully what we'll be able to do now.
27:59But this is just the start. If all goes well, Raven's other hip joint will also be replaced, and it's going to be three months before he's fully recovered.
28:14Until then, Alan and Jane have to keep their boisterous puppy in check.
28:18OK.
28:19OK.
28:21OK.
28:22He just wants to go, doesn't he?
28:23So this is how you walk him, right?
28:24Yeah.
28:25This is an insurance policy so he doesn't run.
28:27Correct.
28:28So you understand?
28:29Yeah.
28:30Anything else you need to ask me?
28:31No.
28:32Thank you. Bye-bye.
28:36For the next six weeks, Raven will spend most of his time in a cage.
28:41I think he's going to be a real problem at home.
28:43He's just going to want to be bounding around all the time.
28:45And we've got to try and stop him.
28:46Yeah.
28:48I think for the first few days there's going to be us three in the living room watching telly every night.
28:54Overnight.
28:56On a blow-up.
28:57On a blow-up bed, just to make sure he's OK.
28:59We don't spoil him.
29:01Not much.
29:10After major surgery on his spine,
29:13two-year-old police dog Trigger is also ready to be collected.
29:18And Rob's looking forward to having his best pal back.
29:22We're all set up.
29:23We've got the cage set up at home for him.
29:24The kids are really excited.
29:25The wife's really excited.
29:26But it's going to be really, really hard.
29:29One slip and we can undo all the good work that Noel's done.
29:32The next 12 weeks and how I manage his recovery is absolutely critical.
29:36In 12 weeks, Noel will repeat the test he performed initially to see whether Trigger can start fitness training before returning to work.
29:44Good morning.
29:45How are you doing today?
29:46Good morning. How are you doing?
29:47You all right? Nice to see you.
29:48Please grab a seat.
29:50We will quite clearly see that on the post-operative CT scan, the spine, the vertebrae are much straighter.
29:57And by placing that screw in, we push the compressive elements away from the nerve.
30:03So that has to fuse across through that device.
30:06And that is going to take 12 weeks.
30:08Yeah.
30:09So for the first six weeks, you're just going to do lead walking only and that's it.
30:12Nothing else.
30:13So we just need to let everything settle down.
30:15And I'll see you at week six.
30:16Yeah.
30:17Okay.
30:18He's so sweet, which is extraordinary.
30:20It's amazing.
30:21You can turn...
30:22The on-off switch with him is just...
30:24Unbelievable.
30:25It's amazing.
30:26It's unbelievable.
30:27Just with a command word and all of a sudden he's a different dog.
30:29Yeah.
30:30I don't want to know the command word.
30:31I was like thinking to myself, man, I hope I don't say it accidentally, whatever it is.
30:36I'm sure you have to have that secret, that's top secret stuff that you have to have between you and him.
30:41No, I don't want to know.
30:42Don't want to know.
30:43I'll get him for you.
30:46Now.
30:47There we go.
30:48Here's a little man.
30:49There we go.
30:50So let's just go outside.
30:52Let's take it easy, mate.
30:54You've got to take it easy enough.
30:56And I'll see you soon.
30:58In a few weeks' time you'll be back to catching those family.
31:01Good boy.
31:02Good boy.
31:03Well done.
31:04All right.
31:05Good.
31:06Take care.
31:07Cheers.
31:08You know, a two-year-old dog with that sort of drive is going to be challenging.
31:10It's going to be really stressful for him and pretty stressful for the family.
31:13He's on.
31:14Yeah, we think we've got lockdown.
31:15That boy's got a big lockdown.
31:16Yeah.
31:17Yeah.
31:18Oh, you're feisty aren't you?
31:34It's been two days since Noel operated on Fury's fractured growth plate.
31:57And his family are waiting in reception to pick him up.
32:01Whoa, the camera's switching. It's now pointing at us.
32:03Yes, they're filming us.
32:05Oh, I see.
32:06Let's see if it follows me.
32:16It's not done to you.
32:18Wait, will it do it if I walk over?
32:20No.
32:22Nah, you're...
32:25Hello.
32:27Come through, I've got five chairs in here.
32:30Grab a seat over there.
32:32Fury is an adorable little kitten, like really adorable.
32:36You're very lucky to get him back, because we're going to adopt him here.
32:40This is a very simple procedure.
32:42However, it could go badly wrong if he was to get out and run around and twist it,
32:47because there's only one pin holding it.
32:50But if that pin holds it for three weeks, it's healed for life.
32:52So your mission is to look after this cat for the next three weeks.
32:56No running, no jumping, no slipping, no sliding, which is difficult with a cat that wants to run,
33:00jump, slip and slide.
33:01Right?
33:02You got a cage set up at home?
33:03So the cage is no bigger than that table.
33:06Yeah, that's perfect.
33:07That's perfect.
33:08I'll just get him for you now.
33:12Oh!
33:12Fury!
33:14Yeah.
33:16He's very, very sweet.
33:18Hello, mister.
33:19Can I?
33:20No.
33:21Come on.
33:22He's a lovely boy.
33:25He's a lovely boy.
33:26Good.
33:26So he has to stay in the cage for three weeks.
33:29Yeah.
33:30The minute we get him out, he's just going to jump, isn't he?
33:32So we can get him out and cuddle him, but we have to hang on to him.
33:35Yes.
33:35Oh, my goodness, you poor little thing.
33:38OK?
33:38Yeah.
33:41Here you go.
33:42Good boy.
33:43It should all be fine if you follow the rules.
33:47You take care of that little man.
33:48Come on, you.
33:57After Raven's first hip replacement went well, Noel was able to operate on his second.
34:05And once again, he's at home recuperating.
34:08Good boy.
34:09Although Alan and Jay no longer have to sleep downstairs with him.
34:13This recovery for the second op has been a bit longer.
34:17The first one within a week, it was like he'd never had it done.
34:20This one, he is still limping and it is a slower process.
34:27The boisterous one-year-old doesn't like being cooped up.
34:32When he's on medication, he's absolutely fine.
34:34He will just sleep.
34:35When he's not, he's really hard.
34:37One of us has to be with him all the time,
34:39otherwise he just tries to do naughty things.
34:43It's been awful for my neighbours,
34:45because he's probably barked all the time.
34:49Raven, quiet.
34:50Where's Winnie?
34:52There are just too many distractions for the pub.
34:56They have a love-hate relationship.
34:57Raven loves the cat.
34:58The cat loves Raven on his terms.
35:02He won't come downstairs when Raven's excited.
35:04But every now and again, when Raven's asleep, he'll come down and lick his feet.
35:07Where's Winnie? Where is he?
35:09At the moment, we have to be really careful, because obviously Raven can't run around.
35:16But once the time comes, I think the cat needs to watch out.
35:18Wait.
35:23Wait.
35:24It's really difficult taking him for a walk at the moment, because he does pull,
35:28because he just wants to get everywhere, and he's used to a long lead.
35:31Let's go.
35:32Ah-ah!
35:33No running.
35:34Eyes on me.
35:35But of course, he can't run, he can't jump, he can't do anything and walk sedately.
35:39So it's really frustrating for him and for us.
35:42Right, go. Eyes on me.
35:43So it's just become pitting our wits against him and getting through it.
35:53People next to us have had tons of food.
35:55We should have bought more stuff.
35:56Well, we didn't know what we were, didn't know what to expect.
35:59We know next time to bring chips, burgers.
36:02Maybe we should knock on and say...
36:04Can we have some of your chips, please?
36:05Can we have some of your chips?
36:07Gary.
36:08Gary.
36:09Oh, you can hear the birds, can't you?
36:12Seven days after his operation, Fury's back to have his bandage removed.
36:17But it sounds like it's been difficult following all Noel's rules.
36:21We've let him out the cage a little, watching him very carefully,
36:24so he doesn't do any jumping, and he looks a wee bit sad for himself.
36:27The whole thing's been a bit traumatic.
36:29We'll take him out every afternoon,
36:31just so he can get a bit of freedom and lie about with us.
36:34Hi, guys. How are things going?
36:36Good, thanks.
36:37Thank you, Lisa.
36:39How have things been?
36:40Tough to begin with.
36:41Yes.
36:43But he settled down and we let him out to wander about without jumping.
36:48Sorry, you just said you let him out to wander about?
36:50To, basically, he'll sit with us on the sofa.
36:53OK, so he's definitely, definitely not allowed to wander about.
36:57OK, wander about as in not even walk on a flat surface?
37:01No, definitely not.
37:04Right, OK, well, we've been doing that.
37:05That's the whole point of the cage.
37:08Right, I thought it was to stop him from jumping,
37:10but you've explained that, and I understand.
37:12So I'll need to X-ray him now today in case anything's moved.
37:15But I would rather he didn't let him out at all,
37:17except to cuddle him and put him back in again.
37:19Oh, I'll check it.
37:20Right, OK.
37:23Grab a cup of tea or coffee, whatever.
37:27We need to sedate him and we need to X-ray him.
37:31All right, sweetheart, let's have a look.
37:45Let's flip so I can see that.
37:48He's a good little boy.
37:51You're a good boy.
37:52You have been taking the mickey, haven't you?
37:54Yes.
37:55Yes, you have.
37:56You're not allowed to walk.
37:58You're not allowed to run.
37:59You're not allowed to jump.
38:00Is that OK?
38:01Good boy.
38:03It's been a stressful wait for Barry and Aidan.
38:08Hi, guys.
38:09Well, you're a lucky man.
38:10Everything's still OK.
38:12Oh, thank God.
38:13There is no problem here.
38:14Happy days.
38:16And I will see you on Monday.
38:17OK?
38:18Well done.
38:19The most beautiful cat.
38:21She's in love.
38:22They're in love.
38:23I'm in love.
38:24Everybody's in love.
38:25This is the nicest cat.
38:26I mean, my cats, when I go upstairs in my office,
38:28they're jealous because they can smell that I've just been cuddling him.
38:33Well done, mate.
38:36I was actually quite scared because the doctor mentioned that we had actually done something wrong.
38:41It's glad to hear that he's OK and he'll be recovering.
38:44They won't let him back out of the cage again.
38:47Hopefully, in the next week or two, he'll be recovered and we'll be out of the woods.
38:50It's been 12 weeks since Trigger had surgery on his spine.
39:08Come on, Trigger.
39:10Noel and his team are carrying out a series of tests to check his progress.
39:14If Trigger is still in pain, he may not be able to continue as a police dog.
39:20Last night, went to bed thinking about it before I woke up about three o'clock this morning
39:24and that was it. Just, yeah, just a worrying day, isn't it?
39:27If Trigger can't go back to work, Rob may have to re-home him.
39:31So it's a massive day for me and especially for Trigger.
39:35Go on here, please.
39:42The most important tests are the same as Noel performed during the first consultation.
39:47Sorry, mate.
39:49All right, big guy.
39:50If Trigger's still in pain when he repeats the tests, Noel won't be able to sign him off today.
39:55OK, that's it.
40:01But Trigger remembers how much the tests hurt first time round.
40:05And he's not happy.
40:07It's being silly.
40:10Relax, buddy. Good boy.
40:12All right, you ready? Go.
40:17A human patient with nerve pain can say to the doctor, this is where it hurts.
40:22But a dog can't.
40:24And that's why the clinical tests for nerve pain are so important.
40:29And the only way that one can tell if a patient responds to surgery is to perform
40:35exactly the same tests before and after.
40:39All right, great.
40:40Sir, can you take him through for imaging, please?
40:42Yeah.
40:42Thank you very much.
40:44Come on, big guy.
40:45Come on.
40:45So it's good news, really, about Trigger.
40:52And I would say that this is as good as it gets at 12 weeks.
40:55So that's really good.
40:56I was worried you did the checks outside.
41:00The pain on one side seems similar.
41:02There was no pain.
41:03I literally hadn't touched him.
41:05Okay.
41:06He was just being silly.
41:07When I did the test, he didn't respond at all.
41:09Oh, right.
41:10Oh, brilliant.
41:11So where do we go now pushing him on wires?
41:13The goal is to get him back to full activity within two months from now.
41:19Yes.
41:20I think he's ready.
41:23Hello, true, true.
41:26Okay.
41:28He's fine.
41:28Well done, mate.
41:29Thanks again, mate.
41:30Pleasure, pleasure.
41:33I can't believe that he did that to me.
41:34He was, I think, anticipating the pain he was going to be in and
41:38fell over and acted like a div.
41:40So exactly the result that we wanted to, yeah.
41:43Hopefully we'll have him back out on the streets doing what he loved.
41:53Hi, Fury.
41:56I love Fury.
41:58Yeah, he's such a good boy.
42:01It's now been six weeks since Fury fractured his growth plate.
42:06Noel has asked his team to take an x-ray image of the kitten's injury.
42:10And he's surprised by the results.
42:15I've never actually seen this before.
42:17But the growth plate has continued to grow.
42:19That's very rare.
42:20I'm delights to hear this for the kitten scene.
42:24Yes.
42:24I mean, that's...
42:25It's the best possible outcome.
42:26Fantastic.
42:27Well done.
42:29Well done.
42:30It's such a joy to meet you.
42:31Good luck with the research.
42:34At home a month later, Fury's keen to start exploring.
42:37After he recovered, we let him go outside for the first time.
42:43He's been climbing trees and he's been playing with any other animals that he can find out there.
42:48And back to being a normal cat, which we're really pleased to see.
42:51His sister is delighted to have her playmate back.
42:59Now that we've got the two cats both running around, both very happy, it's a good thing.
43:05We've got a kitten back to exactly the way it should be.
43:09And I'm grateful to Noel and the team for that.
43:17Let's go, Raven.
43:18Get her, Raven.
43:19One-year-old puppy, Raven, has spent the last three months recovering from a double hip replacement.
43:25You ready? Let's go.
43:27And Alan and Jane were worried that they'd never get the old Raven back.
43:31Before, we had to be careful what he did. Can't jump on this, can't go up the stairs.
43:36Now, no more being careful all the time now.
43:38We've got our puppy back.
43:39Are you ready? Are you ready?
43:42Go on in for daddy. Go on in.
43:46It's a bright future for him now. It's a happy future.
43:51He's back to his cheeky self.
43:53I'll take him out in the mornings and then he wants to have a walk by Ruggstone.
43:56Yeah.
43:57He's just getting better by the day.
44:04It's been six weeks since Noel signed trigger off.
44:08And Rob's been putting him through his paces.
44:11Training him once again to be an attack dog.
44:16And so far, Trigger's risen to every challenge.
44:22Recovery has just come on leaps and bounds and he's genuinely stronger than I think he's ever been.
44:27Today marks another milestone.
44:29I've gone from a dog that wouldn't lift his front paws up to, as we've just seen, the dog that will chase somebody and literally take them at full pelt with no wincing of pain.
44:50I think he will be able to comfortably work for the rest of his life. Couldn't have been better.
44:55Couldn't have been better than that.
44:57And look who's turned up to check how he's doing.
44:59Wow.
45:00He's got a lot of power going from the low back legs, isn't he?
45:03That's not a chance.
45:06There's no way any human being would ever outrun him.
45:10Noel's even been persuaded to play the part of the bad guy.
45:14I've got my protective sleeve should things go wrong.
45:19I've got a reward should things go right.
45:22And we're hoping things will go more right than wrong.
45:26Let's see.
45:35As long as Noel stands still, Trigger's been trained not to bite him.
45:40Here he comes. Here he comes.
45:47All right, mate.
45:48Phew.
45:51Yeah.
45:56So what has he been up to so far?
45:57So he's only been off lead now for three weeks.
46:00We've done one practice bite this morning.
46:02Oh, wow.
46:02It went really well.
46:03And almost a practice bite on me.
46:05Almost a practice bite on you, yeah.
46:07And he genuinely is having a great day.
46:09Absolutely, yeah.
46:10Well, I'm just thrilled to be part of his great day.
46:12Thanks, mate.
46:13Thank you for letting me be part of your great day.
46:15You're such a good boy.
46:16You're such a good boy.
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