Merida, Brodie & Elmo

Big soft-hearted Bernese Mountain Dog, six-year-old Brodie, is brought to Fitzpatricks after being diagnosed with a painful bulging disc in his lower back and after the failure of previous treatment to produce a successful outcome. Noel finds that painful sciatica is further restricting Brodie’s movement. Brodie’s family are pinning their hopes on Noel coming up with a solution to enable him to be pain-free.

Merida is a six-month-old Rough Collie, diagnosed at twelve weeks with a developmental deformity: the bones in her elbows don’t fit together, which has rendered her unable to walk properly. Mum Gemma has a very special connection with Merida, as she experienced orthopaedic problems as a child and well knows the daily reality of coping with severe bone pain.

Feisty six-year-old ‘intact’ boss cat, Elmo, is referred after being hit by a car, resulting in a complex fracture to his left back leg. Although the bone has exploded into fragments it should be possible to salvage the limb with complex surgery involving metal implants – and to calm his fractious nature Noel advocates neutering him at the same time – although whether he and Elmo will ever be buddies is open to question.