Bertie
One-year-old bouncy golden retriever Bertie has a special relationship with mum Rachel, who found him eight months after being widowed, but at only ten weeks old she was devastated to discover that he had a dislocated hip joint and curvature of his spine, and now she will stop at nothing to find a cure for his painful limping.
The Problem
At her first consultation with Noel, he confirms that Bertie is in significant pain because of his deformed arthritic dislocated hip joint.
Treatment
Now there are twofold challenges: firstly, to find an implant to treat the arthritis and prevent the hip from dislocating, and secondly to manage the effect of Bertie’s spinal deformity over time.
An optimum treatment plan will be subject to ethics review and after a three-month wait, surgery gets the go-ahead from peer review. Noel creates a custom-made hip socket called an AceFitz™ to fit Bertie’s unusual shape, but the stakes are high. If surgery fails, Rachel may have to face saying goodbye to her soulmate.
“Because his spine is so deformed, it’s like trying to take a very long journey with the wrong road map,” says Noel.
Because his spine is so deformed, it’s like trying to take a very long journey with the wrong road map
Golden Retriever Bertie in consult
Bertie resting in the wards
