Failed Surgery Left This Dog One Last Chance to Save His Leg | The Supervet: Noel Fitzpatrick

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]It's 11:00 and Noel's first patient this [music] morning is a 4-year-old Polish sheepdog called Bodhi.

[00:00:08]His owners, Mandy and Andy, [music] have had him since he was a puppy.

[00:00:12]They're a lovely breed. They're really good dogs. Friendly and good-hearted.

[00:00:17]Bodhi broke his leg [music] badly 8 weeks ago. But the metalwork used to hold the bones together has come apart.

[00:00:24][music] It's been really difficult actually because he's he's a really fun dog. He's used to Very active. [music] >> Yeah.

[00:00:32]All we want really is quality of life for him. If we can save his leg, you know. He deserves it. He He Our dogs give us everything. [music] So, they are animals and he looks to us to look after him.

[00:00:45]>> [music] >> Now, Bodhi, please, Bodhi.

[00:00:49]Mandy and Andy are pinning their hopes on Noel's expertise.

[00:00:55]Hi, how are you?

[00:00:56]Hey, mate. How are you?

[00:00:58]You're all right, buddy?

[00:00:59]Now, Mandy and Andy, I've seen the x-rays. And at the moment, it's a disaster.

[00:01:06]>> [music] >> It's blown to pieces.

[00:01:09]The x-ray picture sent from [music] their vet shows the extent of the damage.

[00:01:14]So, that's a broken plate. All the screws are loose and there's metalwork floating in in [music] muscle there.

[00:01:22]I mean, where at this stage, it's done.

[00:01:25]What are we going to do about it?

[00:01:28]Let's have a look.

[00:01:30]Come on, big fella.

[00:01:32]A little slower. Bodhi is unable to bear any weight on his leg. He's in a lot of pain. Noel can offer several options.

[00:01:40]>> Come on, buddy. Come on. But ultimately, it will be Mandy and [music] Andy's decision as to how to proceed.

[00:01:46]Option number one is do nothing, which is not a realistic option. Option number two is euthanasia, but it's not what I'm advising. Option number three is take the leg off.

[00:01:57]He should be fine on three legs. Option number four is to attempt revising the repair.

[00:02:03]But it probably isn't possible.

[00:02:05]Option number five is fuse the elbow solid. They'd be restricted.

[00:02:10]>> And it'll go like that. This will be solid. And then option number six is a total elbow replacement. A specifically [music] made joint. I'll show you an example. So you cut out all the bits.

[00:02:21]>> Okay.

[00:02:22]And you put in an artificial hinge.

[00:02:24][music] A custom-made hinged joint would give Bodie the best chance [music] of having a normal life. But the implant quality is identical to what you or your child or your granny would have.

[00:02:36]I just want him to be happy and run again and Well, I think we need one further step before we can make that decision and that is a CT scan of the leg to see how bad it is.

[00:02:46]Come on, Bodie. Off you go.

[00:02:49]Oh, don't make friends. Let's cover the bases and then we can make a rational decision together, can't we?

[00:02:55]Okay, thanks.

[00:02:58]The bottom line with this dog is that it's horrific. It's horrendous. It's the worst possible elbow fracture you could have. But the problem is that with great choice comes great responsibility.

[00:03:12]In other words, if you only have one choice, death or take the leg off, you're going to take the leg off.

[00:03:18]But if you have five choices, it makes life very difficult.

[00:03:28]The implant [music] will cost Mandy and Andy significantly more than the other options.

[00:03:36]It's a really difficult decision, actually, [music] because, you know, you have to weigh up the cost and the outcome. [music] You know, could we plow plow all this money into this dog and the outcome could still be negative and we'd still have to remove nail.

[00:03:51]>> [music] >> Nandy and Andy have been waiting for a replacement joint to be made for their Polish Sheepdog, Bodie.

[00:04:04]Hi.

[00:04:06]How are you? They're back with exciting news.

[00:04:09]Yeah, we got married 3 weeks ago.

[00:04:12]Yeah, yeah, 3 weeks ago.

[00:04:13]>> [laughter] >> So, that was great fun.

[00:04:16]Um we canceled our party and everything though cuz obviously pay for the dog.

[00:04:21]The elbow joint in Bodie's front leg shattered and the previous attempt to repair it failed. Today, he's having groundbreaking surgery to replace it.

[00:04:31][music] Yeah, lots of emotions today.

[00:04:34]Excited, a little bit scared cuz he's going to have an anesthetic and you know, everything [music] in your mind, is it going to be successful? Because there's obviously risks to everything. I have every faith though.

[00:04:46]You know, with [music] with Noel, so Um So, that's all you have to do really, isn't it? It's handover your dog and hope for the best.

[00:04:56]>> [music] >> Right, Bodie, please. Bodie.

[00:05:01]Bodie.

[00:05:03]Hi, guys.

[00:05:03]>> Hi, yeah.

[00:05:04]>> you? All right. Nice to see you.

[00:05:06]Hi, Andy.

[00:05:07]>> Hi, yeah. All right. Nice to see you.

[00:05:09]Just just let him Let him chill.

[00:05:11]Bodie's implant has been tailor-made for him.

[00:05:15]This is what it looks like. So, basically, the fracture is in this region here and we can't repair it. So, I'm going to chop all of those bits out and then put this hinge in. Okay. Now, that is not a small thing. You've got a radial nerve and an ulnar nerve running down there and there.

[00:05:34]And those are two big nerves that supply the bottom of the arm.

[00:05:38]And both of them are in my way.

[00:05:41]Plus the arteries and the veins, they're all in my way.

[00:05:46]Yeah. I mean, clearly, the risks are that I could get a nerve trauma or I could get a blood vessel trauma.

[00:05:51]That's a risk.

[00:05:53]We will try our hardest. All right?

[00:05:56]All right, guys. Big cuddle.

[00:05:58]Okay.

[00:05:59]All right, mate. No. I'll see you later.

[00:06:02]Appreciate it. All right, I'll call you tonight. Okay, Bubs.

[00:06:05]>> [music] >> Come on. Mama and Daddy have got to go.

[00:06:08]See you later.

[00:06:10]Good dog.

[00:06:13]>> [music] >> It's going to be a long day.

[00:06:17]So, yeah.

[00:06:18]Just can't wait for the call, really.

[00:06:27]Noel has never replaced a shattered elbow with an artificial hinge before.

[00:06:31]It will be one of his more challenging surgeries.

[00:06:35]It's a mess in there.

[00:06:37]The normal anatomy is going to be dramatically deranged. So, it's likely that nothing will be where I think it's going to be, and I'm going to meet some surprises.

[00:06:47]All right, let's go.

[00:06:51]12 weeks after his pioneering surgery, Bodie has returned for an important checkup.

[00:06:58]Right, Bodie, please. Bodie.

[00:07:00]We're going to go outside. First, Noel wants to find out how well Bodie is walking with his new [music] elbow joint. Let me video him. So, walk him on my side.

[00:07:09]>> It's no problem. That's [music] brilliant. Good boy, Bodie.

[00:07:13]God, look at how happy he is. Bodie, come on. It's awesome. Come on, [music] this way.

[00:07:18]Good boy. Good boy. It's like nothing's ever happened. That's great.

[00:07:23]>> if it wasn't for this leg, he'd be running.

[00:07:25]Next, Noel needs to find out if Bodie's bones are growing onto the implant.

[00:07:31]Good boy. Well done. Bodie is sedated for the x-ray pictures and CT scan.

[00:07:42]If the bones and the artificial joint haven't fused, there's always a [music] risk that the joint will break.

[00:07:53]Here we go.

[00:07:56]So here we have the holy grail.

[00:07:59]This bone is growing onto that plate and that's absolutely [music] vital cuz what you do not want to see is a gap here. You want to see the bone physically growing onto the metal [music] and also down here you want to see the bone physically growing onto the metal and [music] again down here and then it's solid forever and it's not dependent on the screws. So the screws won't ever break because the metal is a solid part of the body forever.

[00:08:26]And Bodhi's pleased Bodhi. It's time to share the good news with Andy. Grab a seat.

[00:08:33]I've got a CT scan here and the reason I'm excited is two things. One, Bodhi's doing great.

[00:08:38]>> Right. And two, our new scanner can look inside bone and look at the interface between bone and metal for the first time. We've never been able to see this before. So we get minute definition.

[00:08:50]That's a miracle of modern science right there and that's the bone growing onto the metal. That's the first time I've ever seen it. Cuz we've never been able to see it before.

[00:08:59]This is incredible. This blows my mind.

[00:09:01]We can see the implant and like a shadow of the bone. Oh my god. That means the Bodhi's now safe and that means we can ramp up the exercise and I would say in 6 weeks from now you can let Bodhi off the lead and carry on with life. It's amazing. Well, I'm thrilled. I'm thrilled.

[00:09:22]Thank you so much.

[00:09:27]It's been a long haul but for Mandy and Andy it's all been worth it.

[00:09:32]It's incredible. I mean he plays so much better. He's he's getting back to being the dog that we picked up as a little pup.

[00:09:40]He's walking around like a normal dog.

[00:09:42]Fantastic.