This bull mastiff trots along happily. From a distance it's hard to tell she's walking with a prosthetic paw.
Following a serious trauma injury, the paw became infected and needed to be amputated. Because of the bull mastiff's size and the fact she had arthritis in her other legs, she could not have survived on three legs without suffering considerable pain.
The implant was fitted by pioneering vet Noel Fitzpatrick at his state-of-the-art practice in Godalming, Surrey.
The prosthetics he fits are - in many cases - more advanced than human equivalents, where the prosthetic limb is simply strapped on. Instead, Fitzpatrick fuses the titanium rod to the animal's bone and uses chemicals to promote bone growth and prevent infection.
"We've done the world's first limb replacement with a piece of metal sticking out of the real living tissue and a new foot on the outside, we've done the world's first large endo-prosthesis where we replace an entire joint and bone with metal and allow tendons to grow into it and we've done some of the world's first spinal fusion devices which allow a paralyzed dog to walk again."
Fitzpatrick explains the philosophy behind his medicine:
"So a lot of problems right now in veterinary medicine are considered either incurable or untreatable or we shouldn't do it. But my belief is we should seek all possible, reasonable solutions, as long as it's in the animal's best interest."
A good example of Fitzpatrick's pioneering spirit is the case of greyhound Mia, whose foot was crushed by a horse. The wound later became infected, endangering her life.
Fitzpatrick says he was inspired after watching the comic film Wolverine, so he built a new paw for Mia using vertebrae from her tail and a protruding metal frame. To speed Mia's recovery, he can manipulate the frame by turning several screws to encourage blood flow.
Fitzpatrick also operates on aggressive bone cancers and tumors.
An MRI picture shows a tumor in a dog's back, which has left the dog paralyzed - a condition that would traditionally result in the dog being put down. But as is evident from an X-ray taken after the dog was operated upon, Fitzpatrick was able to remove the tumor and rebuild the spine.
"So here's a metal rod with screws that go into what's left of the vertebrae, the whole roof and the side have been taken out and thrown away because that's tumor."
This sort of treatment isn't cheap but Fitzpatrick passionately believes it should be the owner's choice how they spend their money. However, he stresses anything he does must always be in the animal's best interest.
For CRI, I am Li Dong.
