The Supevet S01E02 (2014)
The Supevet S01E02 (2014)
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00:00Deep in the heart of the Surrey countryside
00:04lies an extraordinary vets practice. Okay let's go.
00:07I'm gonna bring her straight through to prep, so you're gonna need to have a seat
00:11right there.
00:11Here, the hardest to treat pets from across Britain
00:16are given some of the most advanced procedures available anywhere in the
00:20country.
00:22You have come here from my opinion about whether it's possible to save his leg or not.
00:26The practice is the brainchild of one man.
00:30Noel Fitzpatrick. Time to move my friend.
00:33That's not bad buddy.
00:36Known as the bionic vet, Noel has invented
00:40countless operations to help heal sick animals.
00:44Some people come and expect you to work a miracle.
00:48What happens, happens for a reason. But most people come
00:52full of hope.
00:55Filmed over a year, this is the story of Noel
00:59and his team as they set out to save our pets.
01:05He's stopped breathing, his heart's stopped.
01:07My finger's inside his chest and his heart now, I'm pumping his heart with my finger.
01:12Breaking new boundaries in medical science.
01:15Come on, able to walk within 48 hours.
01:308am.
01:37And it's been another late night at the operating theatre for Noel.
01:42Morning has broken, like the first morning.
01:50Blackbird has...
01:52Oh God, you always have to ruin it.
01:57Hold on.
02:00Downstairs, his team carefully prepare for the challenges the day will bring.
02:05Who have we got there?
02:07New patients are making their way here from all over the country.
02:16Hello.
02:17The majority of cases the practice treats are cats and dogs.
02:21But Noel's next appointment is a young rabbit.
02:25For the past few months, at home in Surrey,
02:27five-month-old Dutch rabbit Rufus has been given free rein by owner Jackie.
02:33In a way he's more like a dog, he follows us around the house,
02:37he's very homey, he's very loving, never runs off, he wants to be with us.
02:41Rufus spends most of his time with the family's Burmese cat, Monty.
02:46They just sort of potter around together, they sleep together, they lick each other.
02:51I've got three sons, and then I've got Rufus, who's a boy, and Monty, who's a boy,
02:55so it's like having five sons.
02:57Yesterday, Rufus got overexcited and broke his leg jumping into his hutch.
03:03He belongs to my middle son Eddie, who's 12 years old, and Eddie's always loved rabbits.
03:08He's absolutely devastated, he's texting me every hour sort of for an update.
03:13He just went to school this morning thinking, you know, will it be bad news later?
03:18My husband works in Zurich, and he said, just go for it, whatever it costs, just get the rabbit fixed.
03:24Hello, baby. Oh, sweetheart, what's happened to you?
03:34Oh, Rufus. Mr. Rabbit.
03:38Now, Rufus, please.
03:40Hi there, I'm good, thank you, hello, nice to meet you.
03:43You're on your own, are you? Yes, I'm on my own.
03:44Jackie's local vet considered putting Rufus to sleep,
03:47but referred her to Noel with the hope of finding an alternative.
03:51OK, great. Come right through. Thanks very much. Thank you.
03:55Rabbits are tricky, because not only have they got really small bones,
03:59so from a surgical point of view, it's tricky to mend them, but also they die.
04:05And they die because anaesthetic can be an issue for them.
04:09It adds an extra dimension.
04:12Any repair Noel attempts will have to withstand the massive pressures a rabbit puts on its legs,
04:18as he is keen to explain.
04:20So when a rabbit is moving, the forces that go through this tibia here in the jumping,
04:27so the forces that go through that are huge, right? Yes. OK? Huge force.
04:33I have something here that will illustrate that very well.
04:37So what we're dealing with is a bout like that.
04:41And what would have happened is, foot went down, got caught.
04:46Oh. Right. That's what happened.
04:50That fracture I can mend.
04:52The problem is keeping the rabbit alive long enough for me to mend the fracture.
04:56Through the years, I've learned that rabbits are very, very poor anaesthetic candidates.
05:02OK. And that's the biggest risk here.
05:04The biggest risk isn't that fracture.
05:06And you and your boys need to know that even though me and the team
05:11will do everything humanly possible to make him fine. Right. Yes.
05:16We're still at the mercy of his heart. OK.
05:19But you can't leave him like that. No, no.
05:22So either way, we're between a rock and a hard place.
05:27Well, I don't know. It's just a thought. I might not see him again.
05:32It's just the whole shock of the whole thing, really.
05:37Gosh, these things happen, don't they, in life? And it's just...
05:43All Jackie can do now is wait and hope.
05:48OK. Thank you. Bye.
05:51Ah, my daughters. Can I see?
05:54Hello. How are you doing?
05:58It's not only desperate owners who come to Noel in search of help.
06:02Vets from across Britain seek his advice on tricky cases.
06:06Oh, so cute.
06:09Vet nurse Hazel Campbell from North Wales has brought Toto,
06:13a 50-year-old tortoise who recently lost a hind leg in a fox attack.
06:18She lays it under the chin. Oh, she lays it under the chin.
06:22Toto's vet has taken Noel's lead
06:24and tried all sorts of mechanical aids to help her walk.
06:28I love Meccano. I was deprived of a Meccano set as a kid,
06:31and I think that's why I ended up being an orthopaedic session.
06:34So you've been trying various bits and pieces of Meccano? Yes.
06:38You've got little racing cars and racing car wheels and everything.
06:42Where did this skateboard come from?
06:44Oh, you can get those in most cheap toy shops. Nice.
06:47Would you like one? Nice but ineffective, eh?
06:51Let's get a CT scan. OK. See what that bone looks like.
06:54Who wants to look after a dinosaur?
06:58Anybody for the dinosaur? Have you seen a dinosaur before?
07:03Yeah.
07:05Her little head.
07:10It's got a vagina or a penis.
07:13Toto is taken off to the CT scanner.
07:16Before deciding if he can help her at all,
07:19Noel needs to check how much damage was caused during the attack.
07:24So it would appear that whatever chomped our friend here,
07:27probably a fox, grabbed the leg and tugged at it,
07:31dislocating and fracturing the hip. Right.
07:34Of course, in theory, I could put a new foot on there,
07:37but we'd have to put Toto through so much for that.
07:40I just do not feel that that would be morally right or in her interest,
07:44even if it was possible. Yeah.
07:46However, we can get a better wheel.
07:49There's this company in Australia that make these casters.
07:52These are roller balls that move side to side, flip around.
07:55Well, why don't I give you the details then? Yeah.
07:58And if you need anything other than that, you know, just let me know.
08:05Mornings are devoted to consultations.
08:08Mmm, it is.
08:10What dressing have you got? Caesar.
08:12So that's already made it fattening.
08:15But after lunch...
08:18..the critical surgery begins.
08:20He's a friendly wee thing. He's really lovely. He gives you kisses.
08:23Oh, look! How cute. Thank you.
08:27Since setting up Fitzpatrick Referrals 12 years ago,
08:30Noel has racked up over 30,000 hours in the operating theatre.
08:35Oh, hi. I've got him out already.
08:37But it's what he does in the next hour
08:39that will decide the fate of Rufus the rabbit.
08:42All right, Rufus.
08:44Don't die.
08:48Rufus's right hind leg has snapped.
08:53Not only do rabbits have fragile bones, but also weak hearts.
08:59So time is of the absolute essence.
09:01The longer it's under anaesthetic, the more the risk.
09:04So let's go.
09:07I just know that if I make the right decisions,
09:11that animal will stay alive.
09:13If I make the wrong decisions, that animal will die.
09:16And everything else is irrelevant.
09:26In a sleepy corner of the Surrey countryside
09:29lies one of the most advanced animal medical centres in the world.
09:34Fitzpatrick Referrals, Natalie speaking. Can I help?
09:38The clinic's director, Noel Fitzpatrick, is about to operate on Rufus,
09:42the rabbit with a badly broken hind leg.
09:47A combination of delicate bones
09:49and higher risk of heart attack under anaesthetic
09:52make rabbits challenging patients.
09:56All right, let's go.
09:58Everything stable? Everything's beautiful.
10:01Good man.
10:03Here we go, first cut.
10:09So I'm just lining the two pieces of bone up now.
10:16Screw again. Noel has to act fast.
10:19All right, drill quickly now.
10:22He's using miniature metal plates to repair the shattered leg bone.
10:30The reason I'm holding my breath whilst drilling
10:33is because the rabbit bone is really soft
10:36and there's almost no pressure on the drill.
10:44This could splinter in a million fragments in a minute,
10:48so don't move.
10:51Oh, come on!
10:56After 35 minutes, Noel carefully screws the two plates
11:00into Rufus's fragile bones.
11:02They will hold everything in place as the leg heals.
11:05When you're turning the screw in,
11:07you can't put the normal tightness on that you would in a cat or a dog,
11:11because if you do, you'll fracture the bone.
11:14So you just have to learn what the texture of the bone feels like.
11:17It's the difference between drilling cottage cheese and cheddar cheese.
11:23Right, we've managed to get two little tiny plates on now.
11:27And it's just holding the fracture in place.
11:30I'm just checking now that the knee and the ankle are lined up
11:34so that he can hippity-hop normally.
11:38All right, guys, good. Let's go to X-ray.
11:42Nice. I like.
11:46All right, wake up.
11:48The repair looks good, but Noel and the team cannot relax
11:51until Rufus comes round from the anaesthetic.
11:54All right, keep him toasty warm, because we can still lose him now.
11:57Keep him warm. The last rabbit that I operated on died during recovery.
12:02All right, buddy. Hey, mate. He's all right.
12:05Hey, buddy.
12:09All right, mate. Good boy.
12:11All right, buddy.
12:15That's it. Good man. Good man.
12:18That's it.
12:20That's it.
12:22That's it.
12:24That's it.
12:26That's it.
12:28That's it. Good man.
12:30Good man. Now you're set.
12:33You'll get well, mate. Good boy.
12:37Thanks, everybody. Good job.
12:45And while the animals are in recovery...
12:49..Noel is, too.
12:53I'm stretching my back because I've got a severe disc problem
12:56with my lower back.
12:58So when I stay bent over for several hours like we've just done,
13:01my back goes insane.
13:03So I just hang upside down for a few minutes
13:05just to let the vertebrae stretch out again.
13:08Right, that's about two minutes.
13:18Some owners come back time and again to the practice.
13:23Noel is every dog's fairy godfather.
13:27Sue is one of Noel's biggest fans
13:30and has been bringing her dogs here for many years.
13:33He sleeps here.
13:36Has he got a wife?
13:39Today, Sue is here to support her best friend, Monica,
13:43and her seven-year-old cocker spaniel, Dixie.
13:46She's a very lovable dog.
13:48She loves everybody, any dog, any cat.
13:51She wouldn't hurt anybody or anything.
13:53She was going to be a hearing dog for my late husband,
13:57but then when we discovered that he'd got cancer,
14:01we didn't like the thought of her going to be trained for nine months
14:06and not be seeing us, so she'd better wait.
14:09Now, Dixie, please.
14:11But over the last few weeks,
14:13Dixie has been showing signs of being in a lot of pain.
14:15Monica's vet prescribed painkillers,
14:17but Dixie has shown no improvement.
14:19So I'm just going to do a physical exam, Monica,
14:21and then I'll tell you what I find afterwards.
14:23Yes.
14:24Now, at some point, I may hurt her.
14:26I apologise if that happens.
14:29She's quite a brave little girl, aren't you?
14:32My pleasure.
14:34All right, sweetie pie, well done.
14:36Well done, Dixie, good girl.
14:38OK, so here's the thing.
14:40I have a considerable degree of empathy with this dog
14:44because I have exactly what this dog has,
14:46and I think what's going on here is that she has a dried-out disc
14:50that's squashing on some nerves.
14:56An MRI scan will help Noel pinpoint any damaged discs along Dixie's spine.
15:03We called her Dixie.
15:05That was my husband's choice because he liked jazz.
15:09When he was seriously ill, we've got a lovely balcony here,
15:12and he used to sit out there and watch the sea.
15:15And she would just go over and want her tummy rubbed.
15:18But he loved her.
15:20He loved her to bits.
15:22Scans reveal many of the discs in Dixie's spine have deteriorated and dried out,
15:27but one in particular has Noel concerned.
15:31This is the most dangerous one, this disc here,
15:34and it's bulging to one side there.
15:38This disc has leaked some of its pulpy centre,
15:43like a jam-donut-leaking jam,
15:45and it's squashing the nerve to one side, and that's causing pain.
15:48If we don't operate and it does leak out more, it could paralyse her,
15:52and then she could be off all four legs. It's possible.
15:56The flip side of that coin is if I operate,
15:59it's going to be an ocean of blood because that is right beside the venous sinus,
16:04and it's one of the bloodiest areas of the spine.
16:08There's no question that this is a risky operation,
16:12but the flip side of that is it's also risky not to operate.
16:17To some extent, you're sitting on a time bomb if you don't do it.
16:21Yeah, well, this is a...
16:23You know, I would worry every day for the rest of her life if I didn't have it done.
16:29So I think we must have it done, please.
16:32If you've decided, then, I need to go and tell the girls.
16:36I've decided, yes. Right.
16:42Well, it was worse than I expected.
16:48Bad news. Is it?
16:51Is it Noel doing the operation? Yes.
16:54He's the best? Yeah.
16:56The absolute best.
16:58OK, listen, can we go home? Yes.
17:02BIRD CAWS
17:05Word of Noel's special skills in difficult cases
17:08brings a steady stream of hard luck stories.
17:12His next patient has survived horrific abuse on the other side of the world.
17:17Engaged couple David and Kaya
17:19have owned three-legged rescue dog Daphne for two years.
17:23Over the past few months, she's been having difficulty getting around
17:26and has been collapsing on her remaining front leg.
17:30She's a mongrel.
17:32Kaya adopted her from Thailand.
17:34It's a Thai street dog.
17:36And what happened to her leg?
17:38It got hacked off with a machete.
17:42I follow a charity in Thailand called Soy Dog
17:45and I came across her story.
17:48She'd been left on a beach,
17:51one leg had been hacked off with a machete
17:54and the other leg partially severed.
17:57And, yeah, I just fell in love with her, really.
18:00All right, Daphne, in we go. Hi, guys.
18:02Hi. In we go. There we go.
18:05Tell me what your thought process has been.
18:08Well, we're worried about her being in pain, first and foremost,
18:11and we know that it's going to get worse over time,
18:15so we want to do everything we can now to try and get it sorted.
18:20Noel takes Daphne off to investigate the problem with her foot.
18:25So, Daphne, meet Daphne.
18:28Hi, Daphne. All right, good.
18:30Are you anaesthetising Daphne, Daphne?
18:32I am. Good.
18:34OK, so we can see here where the little paw is just hanging on.
18:39There's just a piece of grizzle here holding it on.
18:42It's all flopping around and falling to pieces.
18:44So we're going to do a scan of the leg
18:46and see how much bone we've got left here.
18:49All right, mate, off you go. Good, thanks.
18:52What happened to Daphne is completely... It's just sickening.
18:56We were discussing it one night
18:58and we basically just come to the decision, why not?
19:01Let's adopt Daphne. Let's give her a home.
19:05And, you know, she deserves one.
19:07You're sleepy now, aren't you?
19:09We got Daphne less than a year into our relationship,
19:13so that was quite a big step.
19:16Kind of like having a baby, really.
19:19Noel retires to his office to try and invent a solution.
19:23I don't see life in an animal as any different to life in a human,
19:28and I don't see the surgery I do
19:30as any different to everything around me.
19:32So I take inspiration from literally everything.
19:36I'll be looking at a building, or I'll be looking at a movie,
19:40or I'll be looking at a tree, and all of a sudden,
19:43ah, yeah, that's the answer to that surgical problem.
19:46There's very little new in nature.
19:48It's just whether we see it.
19:51Finally...
19:54..he comes up with an answer.
19:56Whoever hit this dog with a machete went like that.
19:59Oh!
20:00So the machete chopped out that toe,
20:03chopped out that toe, chopped through that toe,
20:06and just left one toe.
20:07So the poor little girl, I mean,
20:09to think what the horrors that she's been through.
20:11What I think I'm going to do is I'm going to chop off
20:14the front of the pelvis on both sides.
20:16I'm going to take this piece of bone and this piece of bone.
20:19Have you seen the movie Wolverine? Yeah.
20:21It's going to look like Wolverine.
20:23I'm going to have rods coming out of each knuckle,
20:26and along the Wolverine rods,
20:28I'm going to put the new bone from the pelvis.
20:32We're effectively going to grow a new hand from the pelvis.
20:37So that is our plan, friends. That is our plan.
20:40Sounds just mind-boggling. Mind-boggling, yeah.
20:44I don't understand.
20:46I'm just amazed that such a thing can be done.
20:49I don't even begin to understand, you know,
20:52how we could come up with something like that.
21:016.30pm.
21:03Seven-year-old Cocker Spaniel Dixie
21:05is about to have major spinal surgery.
21:08Now, you know that this is high risk, isn't it?
21:12That this is high risk. Is it stable so far?
21:14So far.
21:15Right, Ben, you've not been in and off like this before.
21:18This dog could die like that.
21:19Make sure you've got everything ready,
21:21because when we start to roll, we're not stopping.
21:26Noel needs to remove a leaking disc
21:28that is pressing against Dixie's spinal cord.
21:31If he fails, Dixie's owner Monica could lose her best friend.
21:37It's a very, very difficult situation for Monica
21:39because clearly her whole life will change
21:42if this dog dies tonight.
21:45Right, we've got two minutes, wise up.
21:48Noel is about to begin the most critical part of the operation.
21:52You hesitate for one moment, you've got a dead dog.
21:55He has set a deadline of two minutes
21:57to remove the disc fragments.
21:59After that, Dixie could lose too much blood
22:01from the thin vessels that surround her spine.
22:06Come on, come on, come on, come on.
22:09Keep on that anaesthetic.
22:11I'm on the cord now.
22:12It's bleeding like absolutely crazy.
22:15Talk to me, blood pressure.
22:17Talk to me.
22:22Are you stable or not?
22:23Come on, I need to know.
22:24Yes? No?
22:25Right, here we go.
22:26All right, I'm blocking it now.
22:28We're done.
22:30Well done, Dixie.
22:32You'll live to bark another day.
22:34All right, boys and girls, thanks very much.
22:38All right, let's give her a call.
22:44Hello?
22:45Hey, Monica, it's Noel.
22:46Hello.
22:47How are you?
22:48Are you OK? Are you holding in there?
22:50Well, I nearly got through a bottle of wine.
22:52I found I'd got the whiskey,
22:54but I hadn't got anything to go with it.
22:56So the bottom line is that everything went as well
22:59as could possibly be expected from today.
23:02Thank you ever so much.
23:04No problem.
23:05I think I might sleep tonight.
23:07Yeah, no, get a mixer for that whiskey and get some sleep.
23:12Thank you ever so much.
23:13OK.
23:15All right, take care.
23:16Bye-bye.
23:17Night-night.
23:19Bye.
23:20Dixie still has to go through rigorous physiotherapy
23:23before they will know how successful the operation has been.
23:31At Fitzpatrick Referrals,
23:33one of the country's leading veterinary practices,
23:35David and Kaya have brought in their injured rescue dog, Daphne.
23:39They found her after she'd been attacked with a machete in Thailand.
23:45It's tough because you're handing over this life
23:48that you're responsible for,
23:50and you are ultimately putting this life
23:53through what they're about to go through.
23:56Now they're hoping Noel can save her life
23:59in an extraordinary attempt to rebuild her foot.
24:02God, I feel... You know when you get that feeling in your stomach?
24:05In the pit of your stomach?
24:08Now, Daphne.
24:10Hey, mate.
24:11How you doing? Come on, then.
24:13You're going to pick her up and bring her in.
24:15All right, well done. Grab your stuff.
24:17It's contingent on me to tell you that things could go wrong
24:22and you need to be mentally prepared.
24:24Yeah.
24:25But please, God, that won't happen.
24:27Come on, Daphne. Good girl.
24:29There we go. Good girl.
24:31OK. All right. Big kiss, then.
24:35OK.
24:38I just don't know what she's going to be like when she comes back.
24:41We don't know.
24:43I don't know.
24:50Most surgery is born out of art, I think.
24:53And it's not called theatre by coincidence.
24:55You go into theatre to create things.
24:57So when I see an operation that, you know, you haven't done before
25:02or that's new, it's just taking basic principles
25:05and stretching them to whatever level is required to save that dog.
25:09I've only got one objective. Save that dog's life.
25:11Let's do it.
25:15Noel has decided to try to take bits of bone from Daphne's pelvis
25:19and use them to build her a new foot with metal rods.
25:24It's amazing that Daphne survived at all, really.
25:28Given that she lost one leg in the attack
25:31and almost lost this leg, she's very brave.
25:35As Noel and his team operate late into the night,
25:38David and Kaya are waiting in a hotel nearby.
25:41I've never been this scared.
25:43I can't imagine loving anything more,
25:46whether it's, like, a human child or a dog child.
25:50Yeah, we love her so much. It's a bit ridiculous.
25:54We've got real problems here now
25:56because it looked like on the X-ray picture
25:59there was still some bone left in the toes.
26:03As it turns out, the machete just sliced it,
26:06so it was as thin as a wafer.
26:09And in fact, there's very, very little bone left.
26:12There's nothing between the wrist and the toes.
26:15So I'm in big trouble now.
26:17So I'm in big trouble now
26:19because I don't think I've got enough bone from the pelvis
26:22and I might have to go and get the tail.
26:25Oh, it's the last thing I need.
26:30It's two hours into the operation
26:32and Noel is nowhere near finishing.
26:35How am I going to reattach that?
26:38It takes nearly an hour to find out
26:40if he is going to have enough bone to continue as planned.
26:47OK, so I've taken these little blocks of pelvis
26:51and I'm just sizing them up inside the paw.
26:54And I think I might be able to cut one of those blocks in two
26:58and make two fingers instead of one.
27:01And there we go.
27:03A piece of the pelvis shaped into a new finger.
27:09OK, honey bunny.
27:11Having shaped the pelvis bone into strips,
27:14Noel then fixes them with metal rods to hold them in position.
27:18Oh, yeah, mama. Hold that. Beautiful.
27:22Finally, we've got all of the pieces of the pelvis in place
27:24to make the new fingers.
27:26You can see what I mean here by Wolverine.
27:30REST
27:39Together in.
27:41Noel's final challenge is to build a metal frame
27:44to support Daphne's leg while her foot heals.
27:50Right, we're finished now.
27:51The frame is in place.
27:53Daphne's going to walk on the end of the frame here.
27:55The rest of the frame is going to support the pieces of the pelvis
27:58while they turn into a new hand for her.
28:00Then it's going to all come off
28:02and Daphne will hopefully have a new leg to walk on.
28:08What was that? Five and a half hours?
28:11It's nearly midnight.
28:13I'm knackered.
28:18Hello?
28:19Hi, it's Noel.
28:20Hi there.
28:21OK, so we've just been in theatre all that time.
28:25All in all, I'm pleased with the way it went.
28:28It just wasn't plain sailing.
28:30There were a lot of challenges along the way.
28:32Thank you so much, Noel.
28:33Thank you so much.
28:34Thank you, thank you.
28:35Honestly.
28:36No, it's fine. It's my pleasure.
28:38When's she going to be waking up, do you know?
28:41She won't be really very much awake until morning.
28:43She'll be asleep on some very happy drugs all night.
28:46We'll make sure that she dreams.
28:48I know.
28:49You need some rest, mate.
28:50Thank you so much again.
28:52No problem.
28:53Pleasure.
28:54All right, take care of yourself.
28:55I'll call you tomorrow.
28:56Take care, Noel. Bye.
28:57Good night.
28:58Bye.
29:00God.
29:05Biology's an amazing thing.
29:08I never cease to be amazed by it.
29:13You know, what's possible.
29:18It's pretty full on, that.
29:20To take the chunks out and make them grow into a hand is pretty full on.
29:31Another 16-hour shift comes to an end.
29:36Downstairs, Noel's guests are all tucked up.
29:42And he heads back to his bedroom in the clinic.
29:50Good night.
30:01Five-month-old rabbit Rufus was almost put to sleep.
30:06Four days ago, Noel operated to repair his broken leg.
30:11Jackie and her son Eddie are eager to check on Rufus's progress.
30:15He's been kind of nerve-wracking.
30:17Is he going to be OK? Are you sure he's going to be all right?
30:19There's definitely been someone missing, especially with the cat.
30:23He's been sort of looking round and running to his heart.
30:25And it's really quite sad.
30:27Well, he's more than a rabbit, really.
30:29Like my fourth brother.
30:31Thanks very much.
30:32Now...
30:33Rufus, no!
30:35OK.
30:36No, no, Eddie.
30:38We were worried he might forget us.
30:40I don't know what rabbits are like with memories.
30:42Well, they have a brain, they do have feelings.
30:45Yes.
30:46And they do have some memory.
30:48Yes.
30:49So they are able to remember patterns.
30:52Right.
30:53Including you.
30:54OK.
30:55So they will become imprinted on you.
30:56OK.
30:57The same as any animal that's on four legs can.
31:00Right, OK.
31:01Yeah.
31:02All right, buddy.
31:03You ready?
31:04Yeah.
31:05OK.
31:06I'm going to take him very carefully.
31:07Watch what I do.
31:08Watch what I do.
31:09I tuck him under my arm like that so he can't damage his leg.
31:12Thank you for what you've done to Rufus.
31:13It's entirely my pleasure.
31:14So we'll see you in about ten days or so.
31:18All right, guys.
31:19Take care.
31:20Thank you very much, Noel.
31:21See you soon.
31:22Bye-bye.
31:24Isn't he lovely?
31:25Now Rufus must be left alone to get better.
31:33Over 200 new pets arrive at the clinic each month.
31:37Some more pampered than others.
31:40Oh, hello, sweet pea.
31:43Hello, cute girl.
31:46Good morning, baby.
31:49Savage dog.
31:51Tyson is half pug, half chihuahua.
31:54And for owner Nasli, her whole world revolves around him.
31:58If he's in pain, I feel like I'm in pain, so I sit there crying.
32:01Well, he's struggling.
32:04Last year, I think it was I had a bad tooth, he had a bad tooth.
32:07It was a case of, do I go to the dentist, pay 100, or do I take him?
32:11So I took him instead.
32:12He does come first.
32:14If my boyfriend's finished the last bit of chicken,
32:16then we will end up arguing over it because it's the dog's, not his.
32:21Recently, Nasli has noticed Tyson has developed a funny walk.
32:26Right, are you all set?
32:28Yes.
32:29I'm Mike, I'm one of the surgeons.
32:30Nice to meet you.
32:32Right.
32:34A leading member of Noel's team,
32:36Mike Farrell is a specialist in treating muscles and bones.
32:40But at first, it looks like Tyson's problem
32:43lies in a slightly more delicate area.
32:46OK, this way.
32:47I don't think he can get his legs close together
32:50because he's got really big testicles.
32:52Good boy.
32:54Look at those big fellas.
32:57OK.
32:59He's got a fairly mechanical way of walking,
33:03kind of keeps them out like this a bit.
33:05Yeah, it kind of varies.
33:07During closer inspection,
33:09Mike also realises that Tyson's kneecaps keep popping in and out,
33:13a common condition in small breed dogs.
33:16So his kneecap is currently in the wrong position.
33:18It's over here and if I, with my finger,
33:21I'll move it back into the correct position.
33:24That's it popped back into the correct position.
33:27Actually, I said it partly out of chess,
33:30but he does have quite big equipment between his back legs
33:33and that means that his little legs have to sit out to one side
33:36because they literally can't come back into a normal position.
33:40So part of the way that he walks might be a little bit to do with that.
33:44Mike suggests an operation
33:46to prevent Tyson's kneecap slipping out of position.
33:51So the commonest way of doing that surgery
33:54is to cut the bone where it attaches down here,
33:57move the bone sideways
33:59until we get everything in the correct alignment.
34:02Surgery, obviously we've been talking about it for a very, very long time.
34:05My other half's away.
34:07He wants to see the boy before, if anything does happen.
34:10So I think we'll rebook an appointment for next week.
34:13Thank you very much.
34:14My pleasure, bye.
34:16Nasli is nervous of putting her pet through surgery
34:19and decides to put things off.
34:21Funny old dog, eh?
34:23He's got his raincoat on now.
34:25That was scary.
34:27Oh my God, he's peeing.
34:28Naughty dog.
34:30It's a fairly common lameness to see
34:32basically in animals that have got really big testicles.
34:35So, yeah.
34:37Same thing happens in some people.
34:40Only ones with really massive testicles, though.
34:49A new day.
34:51Receptionists Nat and Karen open up at 8.30 every morning.
34:57Noel is returning after a few days away giving lectures.
35:03He's back.
35:07Noel's back.
35:08Hallelujah, praise the Lord.
35:10I don't know if you want to go and see
35:12if he's managed to get his luggage up the stairs.
35:14No.
35:15Oh, I feel really sorry for him.
35:17He's got interns who can help him carry his luggage.
35:20Hey, girl.
35:22In Noel's absence,
35:23intern Sarah has been looking after Daphne,
35:26the three-legged rescue dog with an injured front leg.
35:29So, how's she getting on?
35:30She's doing well.
35:32Noel operated on Daphne in a last-ditch attempt
35:35to save her remaining front foot.
35:38Wind's looking good. It's healing nicely.
35:40I absolutely hate leaving the practice
35:44when I've got a patient here that's critical,
35:47which is pretty much all the time.
35:49Hey, mate.
35:50She likes me now.
35:51Does she?
35:52Why don't you go and say hi?
35:53Hi.
35:54Hey, girl.
35:55She does like you.
35:56Hello.
35:57She wagged her tail at me at midnight last night,
35:59which is the first time.
36:00Really?
36:01So I think it's taken her this long
36:02just to sort of start to trust me.
36:03Just to begin to trust you.
36:04All right, Daphne, we've got to take you to prep, sweetheart.
36:06Can you take him?
36:07Yeah, sure.
36:08Thanks.
36:09All right, good girl.
36:11Right, very good.
36:13During her operation,
36:15Noel reconstructed Daphne's foot
36:17with bone taken from her pelvis.
36:20Losing this foot is not an option,
36:22as hardly any dogs survive with only two legs.
36:26All right, sweetheart, let's have a look.
36:30Good girl.
36:33Oh, shit, that's not good.
36:35That wasn't like that yesterday.
36:42This wasn't there yesterday?
36:43No, definitely not.
36:45That looks infected.
36:48That's a very bad situation.
36:50And it was definitely not discharge?
36:52Definitely not.
36:53No, it was beautiful.
36:54There was nothing on any...
36:56Oh, God.
37:02We can see where there's blood
37:03coming out through this hole here.
37:06It shouldn't be bleeding at this stage.
37:08It should be all settled down.
37:10It means that she's got some bug in her.
37:13The problem is that that bug is likely
37:15to eat away the bone that I've put in there.
37:21This is potentially a disaster.
37:30It's infected.
37:33Oh, it's struck through overnight,
37:35and now it's like...
37:37But last night, it looked really good.
37:46No.
37:48I was devastated, absolutely devastated,
37:51because I just couldn't understand...
37:54You know, I'd done everything I could.
37:56I had been there with her and been so careful,
37:59and I was just so upset that I felt like I'd let her down,
38:02I felt like I'd let Noel down,
38:04and you feel personally responsible.
38:06But I think that's part of being a vet.
38:09Noel has no alternative but to phone Daphne's owner, David.
38:14Hello?
38:15Oh, hi, it's Noel.
38:16I've had a look at Daphne.
38:18There is a problem.
38:20Oh, OK.
38:21It looks like there's some infection there.
38:24OK.
38:25It's possible there could have been a bug in there anyway.
38:28OK.
38:29But either way, this is a major setback.
38:33Obviously, I'll do everything I can to stay on top of it.
38:37What's the worst-case scenario?
38:40Well...
38:43Yeah.
38:46Then we're in a very bad situation, yeah.
38:51All the negative thoughts come rushing straight back into your head,
38:54whether you want them or not, and they do.
38:56And we start questioning our decision,
38:59whether it was the right thing to do.
39:02Take care, bud. All right, bye-bye.
39:04Bye.
39:09Bye.
39:19Monica has come to the clinic with her best friend, Sue,
39:22to collect her beloved cocker spaniel, Dixie,
39:25who has been recovering from serious spinal surgery.
39:28Can't wait to get her back.
39:30I've done all the food shopping.
39:32I've got all the drinks in.
39:35You can manage.
39:36We're British.
39:39We can do anything.
39:41She's been on an emotional rollercoaster,
39:43so I think Sue is with her today,
39:45so my two favourite women are in to see me today.
39:48He's gorgeous.
39:49I mean, I've offered to be his mother.
39:51That's the closest I could be, because we age different.
39:53And I said, hands off, he's mine.
39:56Right.
39:57How you doing?
39:58You don't trust us on our own, do you?
40:00No, I don't trust either of you on your own.
40:02We've got a present for him, haven't we?
40:04What kind of present have you got?
40:06Wow, look at that.
40:07Oh, look at this.
40:08It's in heart shape.
40:10Oh, my goodness.
40:12Let's take that out for you.
40:13That's amazing.
40:15Thank you so much.
40:16I would have shaved Sue, except I didn't realise
40:19I was going to be getting so much kisses.
40:21Thank you very much.
40:22I wasn't allowed to do that last time.
40:24You had this face mask.
40:25Yeah, I was wearing protection.
40:27Now you've got whisker rash.
40:29And after extensive treatment,
40:31Dixie, Monica and Sue can head for home.
40:35Dixie has cost £6,500,
40:38but I didn't think twice about it.
40:42Money didn't come into it.
40:43It was her life and I loved her
40:45and she's worth every penny,
40:47every penny as far as I'm concerned.
40:49There we go.
40:51There you go.
40:52You all right, Monica?
40:53You going to be able to cope?
40:54Yes, thank you.
40:55I just thought of something, though.
40:57I could have had a facelift for that.
41:00I might have thought twice.
41:05Three-legged dog Daphne
41:10Three-legged dog Daphne has spent the last month
41:12on the centre's isolation ward.
41:15After an operation to rebuild her foot,
41:17she developed an infection.
41:19It could result in her losing her leg
41:21and mean she may need to be put down.
41:27In the week following the infection,
41:29Noel had to operate to remove contaminated bone
41:32and treat Daphne with a combination
41:34of antibiotics and Manuka honey.
41:38Manuka honey has some amazing antibacterial properties.
41:42It actually kills bugs.
41:43It dries the bug out, sucks the fluid out of it
41:46and the bugs literally explode.
41:48So this looks a little better than it did
41:50the last time I saw it,
41:52but it's still by no means good.
41:55Good girl, Daphne.
41:56You're so brave.
42:03Two months later
42:05Nearly two months after her initial procedure,
42:08Noel is ready to remove the frame
42:10that has been protecting Daphne's reconstructed foot.
42:15What I'm going to check now
42:16with equal measures of apprehension and excitement
42:18is whether or not this foot is solid.
42:28Wow.
42:30That feels pretty solid.
42:34It's always a nerve-wracking time
42:36when you remove a frame
42:37because until that point you really don't know
42:39if it's fixed or not.
42:41That's very, very encouraging.
42:43All right, we're going to cut the frame.
42:45I just can't wait to see her leg exposed again.
42:49Her folks are going to be so happy.
42:53Well, Daphne, you frame off for the first time.
43:00This is the first time Daphne's toes have been free
43:02for several weeks now.
43:05I'm just really hoping that when she bears weight again
43:09that the bone won't break.
43:11Given everything she's been through,
43:14this is a tremendous result at this point.
43:21David and Kaya have arrived
43:23to be finally reunited with Daphne.
43:27Since she's got over the infection,
43:29we've been a lot better
43:30and been feeling a lot more positive.
43:32And obviously now we know that she's ready to come home.
43:36It's great.
43:37But I don't think I'm going to actually
43:39really realise it's coming home
43:41until I've got her in the car.
43:44So today's your birthday, is it?
43:46Happy birthday.
43:47When I heard that,
43:48I thought that's just the most amazing serendipity ever.
43:51So that's just great.
43:53Well, happy birthday.
43:56Now.
43:59Hello.
44:00OK.
44:02Whoa, careful, careful.
44:04Hi, good girl.
44:06Look at you.
44:08You've got some hair back.
44:10Look at her paw, it's like a brand new paw.
44:13Absolutely amazing.
44:14Where are you going?
44:15Good girl, she's trying to escape.
44:17Off we go, come on.
44:19Wow, she's trying to run.
44:25It feels amazing to have her in our arms
44:27and know that we're going home.
44:30It's just the best feeling ever.
44:34The moments I live for in my life
44:36are the days that I see an animal home to his family.
44:41We are their last hope.
44:44And sometimes we really have to hold people together
44:46because I've seen people crash and burn
44:48and show them that the destination is worth the ride.
44:54I hope you don't mind.
44:56I hope you don't mind.
44:58That I put my darling in words.
45:02How wonderful life is
45:06now that you're in the world.
45:13Two months after his operation,
45:15Rufus is enjoying being back with his family,
45:18both human and feline.
45:20Knowing he's survived
45:22has made us love him the extra bit more.
45:28In North London, Daphne is celebrating her recovery.
45:34She's quite the sassy,
45:35so I think she'd be like,
45:36yes, I've been through all that,
45:37now give me a life of luxury, please.
45:40More food, more sausages.
45:45And Dixie is back on her favourite beach
45:47with her owner Monica.
45:50Yay!
45:51Oh, it's made my day.
45:53She hasn't played like this for four months.
45:56Oh yeah, big one!
46:02Next time, the practice admits an unfamiliar patient.
46:06I'm a big fan of a bacon sandwich,
46:08but apart from that,
46:09I've not really dealt with many pigs.
46:13The emergency team battle to save the life of a young puppy.
46:17Just starting to enjoy him and have so much fun with him,
46:19and then that's it, whack.
46:21I didn't realise how serious a condition he was in.
46:25A much-loved family pet is found with a shattered pelvis.
46:29We handed out these leaflets.
46:32And Noel must perform pioneering surgery to repair it.
46:36Good girl, well done.
46:37She looked more like a poodle than a cat.