|
BORN paralyzed in both back legs which she painfully dragged around behind her, Cookie the cocker spaniel was abandoned because of her disability and at one point almost put down to end her suffering.
But these days she has a spring in her step after becoming the first dog in the world to be fitted with groundbreaking bionic hip and feet replacements.
The decision for a double operation was made after vet Noel Fitzpatrick discovered that Cookie was also suffering from paralysis, osteoarthritis and dysplasia in her hips.
He performed a revolutionary series of operations, giving her external and internal prostheses called perFiTS.
Fitzpatrick, who led the team that operated on 18-month-old Cookie, said, “To our knowledge Cookie is the first dog in the world to have double limb custom amputation prostheses (using PerFiTS) and double hip replacement.”
Cookie was rescued at four months by Fay Buckle and her daughter Ellie. The pair took her in after seeing an advert on Facebook saying she needed a home as nobody wanted her because of her disability.
Describing Cookie’s spirit as “indomiable” Buckle added, “Cookie has been the driving force and inspiration for her own journey.”
When the Buckles brought the puppy to their Kent home she lived in severe pain and was prone to infections in her feet because she had no feeling in them and dragged them along the ground.
Once Cookie was a fully grown dog they took her to Fitzpatrick Referrals in Surrey where the specialist neurology team tried to determine the cause of her suffering.
The vets discovered a cyst on her spinal cord that they drained in the hope that it would give her more movement. However, the damage to her nerve endings was so severe that a year later she had still not regained feeling in her legs.
The Buckles discussed putting down their beloved pet to end her suffering but believed their only hope was Fitzpatrick’s surgery. They decided to risk putting Cookie through two-foot replacements and a double hip operation.(SD-Agencies)
|
