Murphy, Adam & Peanut

In 2016, Golden Retriever puppy Murphy was rushed to Fitzpatricks as an emergency referral after a shocking injury sustained in a dog attack which ripped apart his lower jaw. “I’ve seen some bad jaw fractures in my career and Murphy’s was definitely one of the worst” says Noel. “Being a puppy, he is so vulnerable, and has his whole life ahead of him.” In the first of several procedures, Noel attempts to reconstruct the shattered jaw using a wire frame, but even though Murphy is young and his bones should heal quickly, some pieces are missing, and Noel warns distraught dad Tim that he is still at major risk of infection. Only time will tell whether he may need further surgery. Four years on and Tim’s life has been transformed; with Murphy a constant companion by his side…

In 2015, Noel first encountered gentle giant Adam, a 48kg Alaskan Malamute, one of a pack of six sled dogs led by Colin and Andrea. Although only two years old, Adam had severe problems with both of his knee’s that had already been operated multiple times and were now beyond routine intervention. The family opted for total knee replacement for both legs, so Noel was faced with the challenge of creating two unique implants to provide customised knee replacements, each to be fitted individually, involving two rounds of intricate surgery, in order for Adam to ever have the chance of walking normally and pain-free again. The past five years have seen Colin and Andrea continue to be determined to do the best for Adam - and their pack of Alaskan Malamutes.

In 2015 eighteen-month-old Peanut, a rescue cat born with severely deformed front legs, arrived at Fitzpatricks. Despite mum Denise’s daily dressings to prevent infection, the condition of Peanut’s feet had deteriorated to the extent that it became necessary to explore the options that might be in his best interest to provide any quality of life. Denise had lived with a rare sarcoma for most of her life which gave her a special connection to her young cat. “He has the will to live, despite all the odds, and so do I.” One ground-breaking option was to consider replacing his deformed feet with made to measure prosthetic implants – bionic limbs - but as Noel points out “no-one’s ever performed this procedure on a cat for both front legs before” and the procedure, like all surgeries, comes with risks. Five years after his world-first surgery we catch up with Denise to see how Peanut is getting on following his life-changing treatment.