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00:00Many of the hardest-to-treat pets in Britain
00:02Right, it's hedgehog time.
00:04are brought to one extraordinary practice.
00:08Run by the man known as the Bionic Vet,
00:11Professor Noel Fitzpatrick.
00:14What we're going to do has never been done before, ever.
00:17He performs some of the most advanced procedures ever attempted.
00:20It's the smallest total hip replacement in the world today.
00:23This is a textbook result.
00:25Actually, it's not even in the textbook yet.
00:28As the lives of his patients and their families hang in the balance.
00:31I've never seen an infection take hold this quick ever in my life, actually.
00:35Noel continues to find new ways to give them a chance.
00:38Of course, we don't know if it will work.
00:39That dog is the only thing that even makes me carry on.
00:43Offering hope against all the odds.
00:51She wants to say,
00:52Hiya, this is my new bionic leg.
00:54It's just a miracle.
00:58It's the start of a new week at Fitzpatrick Referrals.
01:13Oh, another one.
01:15Teddy bears.
01:16Hello.
01:17Hello.
01:18Hello.
01:19Hello.
01:20Hello, baby.
01:21Hello, baby.
01:26Noel's first patient of the day is a fox red Labrador puppy, Oscar.
01:31Hiya.
01:32Hi.
01:34Oscar is six months old.
01:36In the early days, it was a little bit more challenging, wasn't it?
01:39It was like, are we ever going to get any work done again?
01:41Because Oscar just wants to play.
01:43Or what's worse was when you'd just hear the sound of crunching from another room and you'd go through, oh, there's a laptop charger.
01:51Matt is a musician and Iles has recently become a vicar.
01:59I'm planning a funeral and people have come to the house.
02:02He's a lovely kind of welcome and he's often a great, you know, someone's turned up on the doorstep feeling really sad and they see Oscar and he's just quite soothing.
02:11Oscar has intermittent lameness and the couple suspect he has elbow problems.
02:18First, Noel needs to observe Oscar walking.
02:22Tight lead, tight lead.
02:24Okay, he's very lame.
02:25Yeah.
02:26Okay.
02:27Just stand in here for me, please.
02:29Just here.
02:30This may hurt.
02:32Yeah, it hurts a lot.
02:35Okay, I'm sorry about that.
02:37We can see there's pronounced puffiness right there.
02:40You see that?
02:41Yes, we noticed that.
02:42Yeah.
02:43So that's really puffed up.
02:44Yeah.
02:45Really puffed up.
02:46That's fluid swelling in the joint.
02:47Right.
02:48His tail never stops wagging.
02:51No.
02:52And that's the thing.
02:53He's a Labrador.
02:54Yeah.
02:55Now, the frustrating thing is that Labrador puppies can be affected by developmental elbow disease.
03:00Okay.
03:01You hope it's not going to be you.
03:03But it is.
03:04Massive big deal.
03:05This is probably as bad as it gets at six months with that amount of puffiness.
03:09So we have to figure out what to do and we have to figure it out quickly.
03:14Okay.
03:15All right, big guy.
03:16Should we go see the girls?
03:17All right, Francesca.
03:18Off you go.
03:19Go on.
03:20Go play.
03:21Go play.
03:22Oscar will need CT scans and x-rays for Noel to work out just how bad his elbow disease
03:27is.
03:28Okay.
03:29I'm sorry guys.
03:30Have you got children?
03:31Two.
03:32How old are they?
03:33I'm one on the way.
03:34Oh my lord.
03:35Congratulations.
03:36So there's not enough chaos going on in our lives.
03:37Congratulations.
03:38You have a house of chaos.
03:39We do, yeah.
03:40Oh my lord.
03:41The growing family live in the vicarage in Chertsey with Matt's two young children from
03:52his first marriage.
03:54Jemima is nine and Noah is eight.
03:58Three.
03:59Yeah, we've got another one on the way as well, which is very exciting.
04:04Oh, he's so cute.
04:07I always wanted a dog.
04:09It's very exciting to get Oscar.
04:11The kids were delighted with the idea of getting a puppy.
04:15I loved him instantly.
04:18He was just so cute and so playful.
04:23Oh, that's when we can go in the plasma pool.
04:26I love that.
04:27You kind of have all these lovely hopes and dreams for being out with your dog running
04:31around and suddenly it's all, yeah, kind of not quite as we imagined it.
04:44We see Labradors, Cocker Spaniels, Miniature Dashens and German Shepherds, so it is really
04:50nice to get a much rarer breed through the door.
04:53I love him.
04:54Is it a Shishon?
04:55Is it a Shishon?
04:56Yeah.
04:57Is it a Shishon?
04:58Yeah.
04:59Is it a Shishon?
05:00Yeah.
05:01I'm assuming Shih Tzu and Bishon.
05:02Yeah.
05:03Shishon, Shisho, Shisho.
05:04Shisho.
05:05Oh dear.
05:06One couple who live with not one but two rare breed dogs is Lynn and David.
05:19They've driven 300 miles from County Durham with Raz, their seven-year-old Russian Black
05:25Terrier, who's already been seen by their local vet.
05:29So, unfortunately Raz has got on his left paw a growth and it's cancerous.
05:35Bone cancer.
05:36Bone cancer.
05:37Bone cancer.
05:38Raz's recent diagnosis has been particularly hard for the family.
05:42We've had an awful two and a half years.
05:44My dad was diagnosed with cancerous lymphoma two and a half years ago and then mum had
05:51a massive stroke and then we had seven months of hurt.
05:55Seriously, seriously, he'll think she died.
05:58We're hoping to have Lim salvage.
06:01I don't think we can watch him suffer.
06:03No, no.
06:04It's not like I've watched my mum.
06:05I can't do it.
06:07Hello, Raz.
06:08Lynn and David hope Noel can save Raz's leg and that the cancer hasn't yet spread.
06:15I'm Noel.
06:16Lynn.
06:17David, hi.
06:18David, nice to see you.
06:19Hello, mate.
06:20How are you doing?
06:21How old is he?
06:22Seven.
06:23Right.
06:24So aggressive, isn't it?
06:25It is very aggressive, yeah.
06:27Is that what you expect?
06:28Yes, it is.
06:29We love him to pieces and we want the best for him and if the best for him is Lim salvage
06:36surgery, we can have him for longer then that's what we want.
06:38If it's not, then really we want to do what's best for him.
06:41Well, first of all, we're not going to be doing a Lim salvage surgery if we find gross
06:46evidence of spread elsewhere, then we'll be having a very different conversation.
06:50Yeah.
06:51And that conversation will either be palliative care with drugs, full limb amputation or
06:58euthanasia.
06:59Stereotactic radiation whereby we zone in on the CT and zap it may be a possibility.
07:05We'll see.
07:06All right big guy, we're going to get your scans and we'll see how you do.
07:09Just slap that off.
07:10Now you'll be a big, brave boy and we'll see you later.
07:14Lin and David will wait for the scan results.
07:18Only then can they make a decision on Raz's future.
07:21He's going for a scan and we've got to wait and see because it's bone cancer.
07:26He's going to be fine because I can't cope if he's not so he has to, doesn't he?
07:30Breathe.
07:31Go to the pub.
07:32I know.
07:33I'm on the brandy again.
07:34I've started that off.
07:35I'm on the brandy big time.
07:39I know.
07:40I know.
07:41I know.
07:42You're right.
07:43I know.
07:44I know.
07:45I know.
07:46I know.
07:47I know.
07:48I know.
07:49I know.
07:50I know.
07:51I know.
07:52I know.
07:53I know.
07:54I know.
07:55I know.
07:56I know.
07:57Oscar the Labrador pup is having CT scans to establish the extent of his elbow disease.
08:04Right, Oscar, please.
08:08Hi, guys.
08:09Hi.
08:10All right, so you'll know from the delay that it's not good.
08:13Okay.
08:15That's the humerus.
08:17That's the radius.
08:18That's the ulna.
08:20There's a massive erosion here, massive.
08:24That's as big as I've ever seen in a six-month-old dog.
08:28You've got three of the manifestations of developmental elbow disease.
08:31The first one is OCD, which is where the cartilage did not develop properly into bone and flaked away.
08:38The second is that there's too much pressure between the humerus and the ulna, and the ulna is crumbling away.
08:45The third is that the joint doesn't fit, so you've got elbow incongruity.
08:49Goodness me, yeah.
08:52Noel doesn't believe that medication will be enough to manage Oscar's pain, now or in the future.
08:58The bottom line is we have a collective responsibility here, either to do major surgery or to euthanise.
09:06I promise.
09:09Anything less than a state-of-the-art, I think, would be a mistake here.
09:13Yeah.
09:15I think we would need to know the cost of medication.
09:17We will need to look at that, yeah, absolutely.
09:21You can't make a decision.
09:22No, of course you can't.
09:25With investigations, surgery and other treatments potentially costing more than their insurance will cover,
09:32Isles and Matt have a difficult decision to make.
09:35If it's going to be thousands and thousands over the insurance, then we, I think we need to have a serious talk with the kids this weekend.
09:52Actually, Bozzie might be a bit.
09:54There's...
09:56I think we have to take him home.
10:09Because that made us a little fun.
10:11Absolutely.
10:17Oscar, please.
10:18Before Matt and Isles leave, Noel wants to discuss a way of helping the couple fund Oscar's desperately needed surgery.
10:29I'm sorry to put you through this.
10:31That's all right.
10:32You do not have to make a decision today, by the way.
10:35Okay.
10:36There is a couple of altruistic individuals that have said to me that if deserving people come into my life, they might consider helping.
10:43You are certainly deserving because you're helping other people.
10:45So, but it would take me a couple of days to reach out to them.
10:52We just haven't got...
10:53Of course, you've got young kids.
10:53No, I get that.
10:54I get that.
10:56Matt and Isles will need to wait a couple of days to see if a donor will fund Oscar's surgery.
11:03I don't really feel deserving of it.
11:07Well, I don't think there's any guarantee.
11:09Well, no.
11:12And if we, I mean, if we can't fund it, then we...
11:14It's quite devastating, really.
11:21It's very good to stay.
11:24Now I know.
11:25It's fine.
11:26One, two, three.
11:43Raz, the Russian black terrier, is having scans to find out if the cancer in his leg has visibly spread elsewhere in the body.
11:51Lin and David are waiting for the results.
11:58I'm so, so frightened.
12:04Raz, there's mum and dad, please.
12:06Hey, please take a seat.
12:11I know it's nerve-wracking for you out there.
12:13The lungs at this point are clear.
12:16Okay, good.
12:17The rest of the body, we cannot find evidence of growth spread.
12:20All right, good.
12:21That doesn't mean it hasn't spread.
12:22No, no, no, no.
12:23No, this is an X-ray picture of the leg.
12:24This thing is growing at a rate of knots.
12:25I mean, it's literally getting bigger by that day.
12:26Yeah.
12:27We are anticipating a median survival time of 11 months for this dog.
12:30What do you think about the limb salvage?
12:31I think that it's viable at this moment.
12:32So that's the best option?
12:33Um, that depends on whether you're an advocate of three legs or four.
12:50We're an advocate of four.
12:51Don't misunderstand me.
12:53This dog would actually do fine on three legs.
12:57We're dubious because of his weight.
12:59Limb salvage is where you cut out the primary and you put in a spacer,
13:04which looks like that, and it goes inside the leg like that.
13:09With the four plates, we've only seen one mechanical failure.
13:14The risk with this is infection.
13:17Right, okay, because it's good, yeah.
13:19Yeah, we've definitely lost limbs and we've definitely lost life
13:23as a result of infection.
13:26Lin and David must decide either to amputate Raz's leg
13:30or to save it by replacing part of it with the implant.
13:34If you want to save this leg, my best advice is that I crack on now.
13:39Okay, all right, so you want me to proceed with the endometriosis?
13:42Just go.
13:43All right, that's fine.
13:44Let me instruct the team.
13:45Okay, just give me one second.
13:49Okay, guys, we've got to go ahead.
13:51End on now.
13:52As quick as we can to theatre.
13:56The sad side is that it's growing as fast as it's growing.
13:59Yeah, but we've caught it now.
14:01Yeah, but the prognosis isn't as good.
14:03No, no.
14:06He's a fighter.
14:07Yeah.
14:08Noll already has the components to piece together Raz's implant based on the CT scan, and he'll operate straight away.
14:19Here it's really important we don't cut into the tumour because you will have seeded the
14:24local environment with tumour cells. I know from the CT scan that that tumour is growing
14:31up inside the bone to about that level so I'm going to cut right up here.
14:36Noel must remove all of Raz's tumour to minimise the risk of it growing back in the leg.
14:42There we go. Tumour out. We'll pop that over here.
14:47OK so we've put the dirty table over there which is the table with the tumour on it.
14:53We've now got a clean table.
14:56Noel pieces the modular implant together to fit the length of bone he has just removed.
15:03He spends the next two hours securing the implant with screws and plates to the foot and the
15:08top of the forearm.
15:10So this is the position his paw is going to be for the rest of his life so I better get
15:15it right. He's in with a real chance now of keeping his leg.
15:22Hi big fella, are you still in there? Good boy. Alright, let's go next to it. Thank you.
15:30Raz will stay at the practice for a few days to recover.
15:34Hello.
15:35Lynn, hi.
15:36Hi.
15:37Well, we've come out of the surgery. It went fine.
15:40Good.
15:41Raz has had the tumour removed.
15:43Great.
15:44Do you have my permission to have a little tipple now?
15:47I think put some brandy on you.
15:49Good, good. You have some brandy and I'll give him something slightly stronger on the
15:54opioid front.
15:55I'll be there. Thank you.
15:57Alright, take care.
16:10Oscar the Labrador puppy and his family are back to discuss the operation to fix his severely
16:16diseased elbows.
16:17Woo!
16:18Bouncy, bouncy!
16:19Matt and Vicar Iles, who is expecting their third child, can't afford to pay for the full
16:28treatment themselves.
16:29Hi Noel.
16:30How are you?
16:31Hello Oscar.
16:32Right.
16:33The gentleman I was talking to you about who wishes to remain anonymous has donated the
16:37money for the surgery.
16:38Yes.
16:39We are so grateful.
16:41Yeah.
16:42Yeah.
16:43So what we are going to try and go for is to mechanically unload as well as biologically
16:50stimulate.
16:51I would cut the humerus in half, shift the weight over to the good side and try and use
16:58stem cells from bone marrow from this dog to recapitulate cartilage here by injecting
17:04it and gluing it in place.
17:07Let's set your expectations right now.
17:09It's never going to be normal.
17:11Right.
17:12The risks are infection, fracture, failure to heal or failure for the joint to settle
17:19down adequately to provide quality of life.
17:21Yeah.
17:22Thanks.
17:23All right.
17:24We are ready to go.
17:25Yes.
17:26Unusually, Noel will operate on both elbows at the same time because his condition is
17:32deteriorating fast.
17:34Noel is going to look after you.
17:36You're under strict instructions.
17:37Hi, big guy.
17:38Thanks so much.
17:39Please, God, everything's going OK.
17:40Absolutely.
17:41Matt's grown up with dogs.
17:42I haven't and I've been quite amazed at how, you know, we've only had Oscar four months,
17:43but how much a part of our family he is and how absolutely traumatised we are at the thought
17:49of life without him.
17:50The gift that we have been given is a gift that will hopefully benefit us and the children
17:57and the child yet to be born for years. That's just extraordinary really.
18:03Oscar will have surgery later today.
18:04It's been several days since Raz had major surgery, successfully replacing a cancerous tumour
18:05in his leg with a metal implant.
18:10But Noel is concerned about his recovery.
18:23We've got a problem. Raz has an infection.
18:28successfully replacing a cancerous tumour in his leg with a metal implant.
18:33But Noel is concerned about his recovery.
18:37We've got a problem. Raz has an infection.
18:41So this is a recognised complication of putting a large chunk of metal inside a leg.
18:48It's not good. There's only one silver lining to the cloud and that is that
18:54the immune response to the infection upregulates certain kinds of immune cells within the body.
19:02Those specific immune cells actually reduce the tendency for cancer to grow elsewhere.
19:10So that means that even though Raz has had an infection,
19:14he may live longer than what would otherwise be predicted without the infection.
19:21Noel talks to her about what can happen and he certainly told us about the infections.
19:27But you almost put that to the back of your mind.
19:30You look at the positives rather than the negatives.
19:33Raz will stay in isolation while Noel and his team do all they can to try to beat the infection.
19:40Have you got a beautiful smile? Do you have a beautiful...
19:45I know he's right on my eyeball.
19:47You give me kisses right on my eyeball.
19:50Oscar the Labrador puppy is being prepared for his double elbow surgery.
20:01Noel will screw on the top part of the custom plate, cut the humerus bone,
20:07using screws, pull the lower part of the bone towards the stepped part of the plate,
20:13insert bone graft, then inject specially selected stem cells and glue
20:18to try to heal the worn surfaces in the joint.
20:26First, Noel needs to explore the diseased elbow using a camera to see into the joint.
20:31I'm so upset for this dog.
20:38It's very, very unusual for me to see that degree of erosion in a six-month-old dog.
20:47Right, hold it again.
20:50He checks the condition of the other elbow.
20:54Give it to me.
20:56So this elbow is at a less advanced stage than the other elbow.
21:03Then he removes pieces of damaged cartilage.
21:09And then I'll just pull it out.
21:13Using Oscar's bone marrow, the team will extract specific cells
21:17to then inject with glue onto the joint later.
21:20Next, he moves on to cutting the humerus to shift Oscar's weight away from the damaged joint surface.
21:32A custom plate has been designed specially to fit Oscar's leg.
21:37Normally I would never do this operation on two sides at the same time.
21:41But in this case, Oscar does not have time to wait.
21:51So you can see as we tighten these two screws sequentially,
21:54we pull this segment of bone up towards the plate.
21:56And that means that the body weight is now going to go towards the outside of the joint.
22:01He repeats this procedure on the other leg.
22:09Oscar's extracted stem cells have been specially enriched
22:13and can be immediately injected back into his elbow mixed with biological glue.
22:19OK, so here we go.
22:21It will take 12 weeks to find out if the cells have helped to heal the joint surface.
22:26Good boy.
22:34Right, let's get your tech straight.
22:37Surgery has taken nearly four hours.
22:40Having had both elbows operated on, Oscar will need to be kept calm for a few weeks
22:46to prevent damage to the implants.
22:56It's early Sunday afternoon.
23:06And an emergency case has been referred to see Noel.
23:10My Corky cat, I think he's been run over.
23:15Before we took him in to our local vets, he just wasn't really moving very much at all.
23:21And then when we tried to lift him into the box, he was in huge amounts of pain.
23:25It was almost like he was screaming and that was, like, dreadful to hear.
23:30Corky, please.
23:32Grab a seat.
23:34So, erm...
23:35And Corky is... Oh, a baby. One year or three months, is that right?
23:37Yeah. Yeah.
23:38Oh, shmolly.
23:40And what happened?
23:41So, I went out and he was lying on the patio and he didn't move.
23:48And then I realised that he looked really, like, startled and not right at all.
23:54I hope you can do something for him.
23:57Beautiful, beautiful device here you've got.
24:00A modified coat hanger.
24:02Coat hanger.
24:04OK, big fella.
24:05Hey, beauty.
24:06How you doing, beauty?
24:08Now, mate, come on, mate.
24:10Jessica, thank you.
24:12You go down on the mat and talk to him, Mum.
24:15Now, you definitely can't stand up.
24:18You're just going to see if you can feel his legs.
24:23Come on, mate.
24:24Pull it back. Come on, come on.
24:26Yeah, you can feel it. Good boy.
24:28Your vet felt he couldn't feel his tail.
24:31It's pretty limp.
24:33Yeah.
24:34OK.
24:35This isn't...
24:36It's not good.
24:37I mean, we've got to...
24:38No, no, no.
24:39We've got to crack on.
24:40All right, big fella.
24:41Now, big kiss then, Mum, because I'm going to take him through.
24:44OK.
24:45Love you, baby.
24:47OK.
24:48All right, big fella.
24:50OK.
24:51In the box, I'm sorry, sweetheart.
24:52I'm sorry.
24:54All right, Cork, we're going to have to figure out what's wrong, mate.
24:56I'm going to try and get you fixed.
24:59Corky will need extensive checks, including X-ray pictures, to find out how severely he's been injured.
25:06Ron and Joe will wait at Fitzpatrick's for the results.
25:10Peter, do get up.
25:13That's not Corky.
25:18Don't worry.
25:19Don't worry.
25:20They're in safe hands, aren't they?
25:21I know, I know. That was Corky.
25:22OK.
25:26Cats do.
25:27All cats make a noise like that.
25:29Oh, my God.
25:30Don't know it is out.
25:31I have aren't any other cats here.
25:34You see only one.
25:35There's others out the back.
25:38Two hours later, and Noel has the results.
25:42All right, this could be a lot worse.
25:44Could be a lot worse.
25:45Could be worse.
25:46Could be worse.
25:47So the bottom of the pelvis is crushed, the top of the pelvis is separated and shunted forwards.
25:53Corky's tail is particularly badly damaged.
25:56We can see that the tail is fractured.
25:58Oh, yes.
25:59Completely.
26:00Now the chances of the nerves that are going down here surviving that amount of pull.
26:05Isn't good.
26:07Now that could affect the ability to urinate.
26:11Noel could mend the fracture, but the feeling in Corky's tail may never return.
26:16My advice at this point would be take the tail off and at least not have to lift it.
26:22Yeah.
26:23Use it.
26:24Yeah.
26:25Yeah.
26:26OK.
26:27OK.
26:28I mean, it'll affect his beauty, but that's life.
26:29Well, you know.
26:30That's life.
26:31That's just the way it is.
26:32He's a boy, isn't he?
26:33Yeah.
26:34Small price to pay.
26:35I'm so pleased.
26:36Could be worse, right?
26:37Yeah, yeah.
26:38I really like last night.
26:39I was ready to just say goodbye to him, you know.
26:42Really?
26:46Corky's not going to have his tail anymore.
26:48A small price to pay, really, losing his tail.
26:51Yeah.
26:52I just...
26:54grateful.
26:55Corky the cat is ready for emergency surgery after a road traffic accident.
27:16First, Noel will fix his pelvis.
27:19Alrighty, here we go.
27:22He'll use a screw pinned through the pelvis onto the sacrum bone at the base of the spine
27:28to hold it in place.
27:33He must ensure he gets the right alignment.
27:37You only get one shot at this because the bones are very, very tiny.
27:43As I drive this screw through the side of the pelvis, which is the ileum,
27:48the threads of the screw are grabbing into the sacrum.
27:53The ileum will be pulled onto the sacrum.
27:57Okay, so that's pretty good now.
28:02With the pelvis secured in place, Noel moves on to Corky's tail.
28:07There's a lot of hemorrhage in here, a lot of damage.
28:09Here we go, tail coming off.
28:11He amputates below the fracture site, leaving a little stump, then stitches up the wound.
28:22Okay, that seems fine.
28:25There's a little roof over the poo hole there to stop the rain falling on it.
28:29Job done.
28:31Let's go to extra. Thank you.
28:32Corky will be monitored closely to check if he is able to urinate on his own,
28:38and to see how he copes without his tail.
28:42The cat's burrito.
28:44Good boy. Well done.
28:58Raz, the Russian black terrier, is being treated for his infection,
29:04after the operation to remove his bone tumour.
29:07Good boy.
29:09The implant itself is working fine, and he's walking very well on the leg actually.
29:12But unfortunately there is infection.
29:15We've been giving him antibiotics for quite a few days now,
29:19and the infection is under control, but we don't know if it's going to be gone or not.
29:27Noel thinks Raz can continue his antibiotic treatment at home with his family.
29:35Lynn and David have arrived with their other Russian black terrier, Lishka.
29:39So Noel's got the family today.
29:43Whether he likes it or not.
29:45Lishka is Raz's niece.
29:48This is the first time the dogs have been separated.
29:51Yeah, she's lost without him.
29:53Yeah.
29:54And he's lost without her.
29:56And we lost without him.
29:57Yeah.
29:58Look who's here.
30:00Hello.
30:01Hi guys.
30:02Hi.
30:03Hello.
30:05Hello.
30:06Hello Daddy.
30:07Very nice job.
30:08Yeah.
30:10Unfortunately, Lishka also has health issues.
30:13She's been diagnosed with possible lumbosacral disease by their local vet.
30:19Noel has offered to assess her, and to check her for any cancerous tumours as well.
30:25I've got a video of her if you want to look at that.
30:27Watch that.
30:28That's what she's...
30:30I need to go turn halfway through.
30:35She's really limpy on her back leg.
30:38Yeah.
30:43Yeah.
30:44She wants to sit down.
30:45Right.
30:46Okay.
30:47Yeah.
30:48Well, that's classical for lumbosacral pain.
30:49I've got a clinical exam first.
30:50I'll get my helpers.
30:55Do you want to check on...
30:56Do you want to check on Raz, do you think?
30:57Yeah, I'll go and check on Raz.
30:58Let's check on...
30:59Yep.
31:00Hello.
31:01You're not going now.
31:02Stay now.
31:03Wait.
31:04Wait.
31:05Wait.
31:06Sit down.
31:07Sit.
31:08Sit.
31:10Right.
31:11Just checking on Raz.
31:14Yeah.
31:15Wait.
31:17Okay.
31:18Probably won't like this the whole time.
31:27Well, you'll be pleased to hear I'm not feeling any tumours.
31:30Just giving Raz some...
31:32No problem.
31:34There's no question you've got sciatica on both sides.
31:37You've got significant pain coming down the back of both legs.
31:41But you didn't seem to be in that much pain.
31:43You think she's in...
31:44No, she was just...
31:45Was she helping about that?
31:46Oh, was she?
31:47I didn't miss that bit.
31:48She's in pain but she just doesn't show it because she doesn't know life any different.
31:52I would recommend that you have a dynamic MRI study performed.
31:56Yeah.
31:57Yeah.
31:58I'm sorry that you're having to go through all this.
32:00No, it's...
32:02Well, if you take on the dogs then you have to do the right thing by them, do you?
32:05Yeah.
32:06Yeah.
32:07Well, let's get her in the car.
32:08Come on, Lishka.
32:10Lishka will have an MRI in a week's time, while Raz has his first round of chemotherapy to help prevent his cancer returning.
32:18Yeah.
32:19But for now, the family can all go home together.
32:30It's eight days since Oscar the Labrador had his double elbow surgery.
32:35Today, he's ready to go home.
32:38Okay.
32:39The elbows.
32:40Now then.
32:41You can see it's red raw on both sides.
32:44Poor mess.
32:45So that's red raw horribleness.
32:48Yeah.
32:49So this is the post-op x-ray picture of the sliding human osteotomy.
32:57This looks brilliant and this is the best I can humanly achieve in 2017.
33:02But it could all go hideously wrong if all the screws were to break.
33:07So the one reason he can't run or jump is the screw breakage possibility.
33:10The second reason is the biological healing.
33:13So outside the front door.
33:15I'll be with you in two minutes.
33:16All right.
33:17See you in a minute.
33:20Hello, mate.
33:23Hello, darling.
33:24There we go.
33:25Hello, family.
33:26How are you doing?
33:27Oh, hello.
33:28Well done.
33:29I'm really happy to see you.
33:31Good.
33:33It's just marvellous having him back.
33:35A member of our family has been missing, actually.
33:38The next few weeks are crucial.
33:41Oscar must behave himself as he recovers from his major surgery.
33:52It's been three days since Corky the cat had surgery after a road traffic accident.
33:57He's had his tail off, which isn't fantastic for any pussycat.
34:01But he's been very brave.
34:03Aren't you, Corky?
34:04Yeah.
34:05Hi, mate.
34:06It's OK.
34:07It's only me.
34:08The good news is today he's peed for the first time.
34:10So that's fantastic.
34:12It's just been freshly cleaned out.
34:14And he's like, yes, I will sit in the litter tray.
34:17You love a little bit of ear scratching, don't you, mate?
34:20Yeah.
34:27Lin and David are back.
34:30It's about time I'll run a bad luck challenge, though.
34:34It's about time.
34:35Lishka, their Russian black terrier, is having a dynamic MRI scan to find out if she needs
34:40surgery on her spine.
34:42Raz is having his first round of chemotherapy to try to prevent his cancer returning.
34:48Good boy.
34:49Unfortunately, his infection remains a potential issue.
34:54The family are not very keen to have him on three legs, but when faced with death or three
35:02legs, most people choose three legs, and I think quite rightly so.
35:06In an ideal world, we would save his leg.
35:08We've tried very hard, but we've not been lucky, and that's the very nature of surgery.
35:12With both their dogs having treatment, Lin and David have an anxious wait.
35:18The real worry at the moment is Raz, because we don't know what's going to happen for
35:23the long term.
35:24I'll feel happy, even if we lose him, that we've done everything we possibly can.
35:28We've brought him to the best person in Europe.
35:31That's...
35:32You have to live with that, don't you?
35:34That's a good way of living with it.
35:36Sweetheart.
35:38It's a week since Corky had his tail removed, and Joe and Ron have arrived to collect him
35:51with their daughter, Francesca.
35:53Obviously, he's going to have a few weeks where he can't really run around.
35:57He's going to have a harness and a lead and have to be kept in a cage.
36:01Corky isn't the absolute prettiest of cats.
36:06He is a character.
36:07He's got very big pointy ears, looks a little bit like a gremlin.
36:11So I think not having a tail might actually quite suit him.
36:16Yeah, he's still with us, that's the main thing.
36:19So, no tail.
36:22No tail, no.
36:23Here you've got the amputation.
36:25I left those three on, because I want to just leave a little flap of skin here to cover the poo hole.
36:31OK.
36:32OK.
36:33Yeah.
36:34All right, guys, ready?
36:36He's doing great.
36:38There you go.
36:39Yeah.
36:40Oh, Corky.
36:41You can sit down.
36:42Oh, Cork.
36:43Hello, baby.
36:44OK.
36:45So he's quite active, and he is able to walk.
36:48So he'll be able to go...
36:50He's peeing in a porn fight.
36:52He's going.
36:53That's good.
36:54Yeah.
36:55And he's getting stronger each day.
36:56Yeah.
36:57We're going home.
36:58Yeah.
36:59Amazing.
37:00Have you got the rod thing?
37:01Yeah, I've got the rod thing.
37:02Oh, brilliant.
37:03Look at...
37:04I wish I had invented that.
37:07Oh, yeah, you can fit through.
37:08That's beautiful.
37:09Wow.
37:10Good.
37:11All right, mate.
37:12Very welcome.
37:13Thank you so much.
37:14No problem.
37:15Oh, it's great to see him back now, and I'm sure within a few weeks he'll be back to his
37:22old self of running around, jumping and terrorising our other cat, Crunchy.
37:28It's 9pm.
37:38Noel is ready to update the family on Raz and Lishka's conditions.
37:43OK.
37:44Raz, you've still got infection?
37:47Yes.
37:48In which case it's not going to heal?
37:49Probably.
37:50And if it comes to Crunch and we can't get this leg to work for him because of the infection,
37:57then it would...
37:58You know, being brutally frank, it will be a decision between euthanasia and amputation.
38:03Yeah, we know that.
38:04Yeah.
38:05I mean, we were sort of coming down to the fact that it wouldn't be fair on him on three
38:07legs.
38:08He will be OK on three.
38:09I have had dogs his size on three, happily.
38:13If you got it down to the point that it was just a single point discharge, then I think
38:17that would be culpable with.
38:18Yeah.
38:19OK.
38:20I think you should give it another four weeks.
38:21Oh, that's fine, yeah.
38:22Yeah.
38:23We're happy to do it, but we don't want to do it beyond the point.
38:25No, sure.
38:26And an amputation, when you're talking about that, is if it's more getting used to it,
38:29and he's still on chemo, and then he's got a life-limiting disease anyway.
38:32Is that fair?
38:33Yeah, yeah, yeah.
38:34That's all very valid.
38:35Their other dog, Lishka, has had a dynamic MRI study of her lower spine.
38:41So, I'm not going to drop any massive bombshells with Lishka.
38:46Right.
38:47Her major problem is in her lumbosacral spine, where the disc in her lower back is completely
38:52dried out, and it's squishing nerves.
38:55Mm-hmm.
38:56If we categorise things as mild, moderate, and severe, this is severe.
38:59Right, OK.
39:00Unfortunately, you're really unlucky.
39:01Yeah.
39:02Lishka is likely to need surgery, but dealing with two recovering dogs at the same time
39:08is too much for Lin and David.
39:11We need the clip for an epidural, please.
39:14So, for now, the family have decided to manage Lishka's pain with a series of three steroid injections.
39:22And now we just inject the steroid, we're done.
39:29Very, very simple.
39:32It's very unfortunate that the family have two poorly dogs at the same time, and we're doing
39:38everything that we can for Raz, but it's not looking good.
39:42Most dogs will manage fine on three legs, but the family don't want to have him on three
39:51legs, and if this infection isn't controllable, then they may have a very, very difficult decision
39:57to make.
39:58Lin and David are back at Fitzpatrick's.
40:12But their Russian terrier Lishka is on her own.
40:27So, Raz is missing.
40:28So, we made the decision that we can't put him through any more.
40:33He's gone through enough.
40:35So, we decided about a week ago on the Thursday that we'd go to our local vets and get him
40:42put to sleep.
40:44One of the difficulties was that, although his leg was really puffy, he was quite happy,
40:51wasn't he?
40:52And when he came in to be put to sleep, he was really, really happy, really, really sad.
40:56Not happy that we lost him, but we were happy with the decision that we made in the end.
41:00So, yeah.
41:01I've had dogs forever, and you have sort of one or two that was special.
41:07He was your favourite, yes, yes, yes.
41:11Lishka.
41:16Lishka's mum and dad, please.
41:20You know where to go.
41:23Hey, Lish.
41:24How you doing, sweetheart?
41:25She knows exactly where to go.
41:26Hello.
41:27I know.
41:28Hi.
41:29Thanks very much for all your help.
41:30Sorry.
41:31Hi.
41:32So sorry.
41:33I'm very sorry.
41:36Raz could not have wished for a more loving family than you, and I said that in my card.
41:40I mean, that's the truth of it.
41:42We knew the risks.
41:43We knew that when we came, and we just, because he was such a big dog, we just wanted him to
41:47be on four legs with us as long as we could.
41:49At the end of the day, have peace.
41:51Yeah.
41:52Because you've done your best.
41:55Is the injection working?
41:56Yeah.
41:57Brilliant.
41:58Oh, it is?
41:59Yeah.
42:00Yeah.
42:01Yeah.
42:02Yeah.
42:03But when we're out of the house, particularly, her tail's much more right, really curled up.
42:05Good.
42:06Good.
42:07Good.
42:08Good.
42:09Good.
42:10Good.
42:11Good.
42:12Good.
42:13Good.
42:14Good.
42:15Good.
42:16Good.
42:17Good.
42:18Good.
42:19Good.
42:20Good.
42:21Good.
42:22Good.
42:23Good.
42:24Good.
42:25Good.
42:26Good.
42:27Good.
42:28Good.
42:29Good.
42:30Good.
42:31Good.
42:32Good.
42:33Good.
42:34Good.
42:35Good.
42:36Good.
42:37Good.
42:38Good.
42:39Good.
42:40Good.
42:41Good.
42:42Good.
42:43Good.
42:44Good.
42:45Good.
42:46Good.
42:47Good.
42:48Good.
42:49Good.
42:50Good.
42:51Good.
42:52Good.
42:53Good.
42:54Good.
42:55Good.
42:56Good.
42:57Good.
42:58Good.
42:59Good.
43:00Good.
43:01Good.
43:02Good.
43:03Good.
43:04Good.
43:05Good.
43:06Good.
43:07Good.
43:08Oscar the Labrador is back 12 weeks after having surgery.
43:17Noel has performed an arthroscopy of his elbows to check if the joint surfaces have healed.
43:25Please take a seat.
43:26I haven't got the baby out yet.
43:28No, no.
43:30This baby is fixed in so far as is possible to fix at this point.
43:36So look, that's really a nice new bone.
43:38You see that?
43:38Yeah, yeah, yeah.
43:39It's effectively a new shape, that.
43:41Yeah.
43:41In terms of the arthroscopy, we can see that's a scar of fibrocartilage,
43:47which is fibrous tissue that's laid down on the inside of the elbow
43:51where previously it had been rubbed away.
43:54There.
43:55And that's present on both sides.
43:56Yeah.
43:57But he's fine.
43:57He's literally raring to go.
43:59I'm sure he is.
44:00Not a surprise.
44:01I'm sure he is.
44:02Come on, mate.
44:03Oh, hi.
44:03Hello.
44:05Hello, gorgeous.
44:06Yes, hello.
44:09Oh, look at that.
44:10I ask the apologist, Doug.
44:12When he's in the car, see if he pop his back on him, OK?
44:15Yes.
44:16Yes.
44:17Now, what do you say to Uncle Noel?
44:19Well done, mate.
44:20I want to say thank you.
44:23We're just hugely grateful, aren't we?
44:25Yeah.
44:26Yes.
44:27I'm blown away by the generosity of somebody who doesn't know us.
44:30And, you know, we're looking at years now.
44:34Just, you know, having a dog, being able to go for family walks, all the things that we really wanted to do that we haven't been able to do.
44:39Um, and, uh, have him chewing slippers and...
44:43All the reasons you buy a dog.
44:45Yeah, all of that.
44:46Five and a half months after surgery, Oscar is at home in Chertsey, continuing his recovery.
44:56With their latest addition to the family, 10-week-old Joel.
45:00All right there, Joel.
45:01This is your furry brother.
45:03With Oscar's double leg surgery, recovery is a slow process.
45:09Oscar's doing well, given that he's spent most of the last six months of his life just in a crate, poor dog.
45:15He wants to run.
45:17His body's not quite capable of it, but he's still his cheerful self and still very optimistic.
45:22In Wiltshire, three months after his accident, Corky is finding his balance.
45:35I don't think he realises the time's gone.
45:37No, and it all looks very neat, actually.
45:39And his fur looks so much better now, doesn't it?
45:42Do you remember when we first got him home?
45:45He reminds me of a chicken being ready for the oven, his bottom, the way it was so bald.
45:50Today, Joe and Ron are letting him go outside without a lead for the first time.
45:57Corky. Corky.
45:59What are you doing? Do you want to go to the loo?
46:01Looks like it.
46:04Oh, very good.
46:07First one outside for a while.
46:12To finally get to this stage now where he's back in the garden, he's running free on his own.
46:19And it is almost like a miracle, really.
46:22You're probably going to go to the right next day.
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