Honey was brought into the surgery by the RSPCA. She was only about 12 weeks old, and her hind leg had been broken. Apparently it had been broken weeks earlier. Her thigh bone had already healed in a backwards V-shape bent at a sharp angle. The RSPCA found her dumped and scavenging for food. They said she had been mistreated and was perhaps thrown from a moving vehicle. It was pretty clear that the leg was going to need major surgery, expensive surgery.

Normally broken bones can be repaired easily enough. But there were two complications with Honey. The first problem was that the break had already healed at an odd angle. That meant it would have to be reset by first breaking the healed bone and then fixing it in the proper place. The second problem was more difficult. Being a puppy, Honey was doing a lot of growing during the six weeks or more it took for the bone to heel at that odd angle. That meant the muscle wasn't going to be long enough to work when the bone was straightened.

The outcome of the operation was uncertain. And there was the distinct possibility that the leg would have to be amputated. But first, Honey needed some proper nutrition and rest.

When the big day arrived, Paula and a colleague went to work – carefully re-breaking the misshapen bone, trimmed it so it would line up properly, then attached a plate to hold the broken pieces together. The tricky part was stretching the foreshortened muscle to allow the leg bone to be attached to the plate. The muscle was just able to stretch that far but in the process the tension was pulling the kneecap out of alignment. This required another step – the wiring of the kneecap to keep it in place. When the op was finished, all that was left was to cross fingers and hope it would all heal as planned.

Honey came home with the vet! Partly for the mandatory 6 weeks of cage rest, and partly to receive plenty of hugs from the entire family! Honey has been part of Paula's family ever since.

After 6 weeks, Honey was gradually allowed some controlled exercise. Everything looked good. Honey was able to walk on her bad leg for short periods. It was time to remove the plate which held the bones together.

So for the second time in her short life, Honey went under the surgeons knife. The plate was removed, and while she was under anaesthetic she was also spayed.

He rehabilitation went very well after that. She was able to run off the lead and was becoming more and more confident on all four legs.

Then disaster struck! One day during exercise, toy obsessed Badger, Paula's border collie, lunged for a ball. Honey was in between. She was thrown 3 feet in the air by the impact with Badger, and landed on her bad leg – breaking it in a new location!

So, for the third time she was on the operating table! This time a pin was inserted to keep the shin bone in position. And, another six weeks of mandatory cage rest followed.

That was 4 years ago. Now Honey runs like the wind, and except for the visible scars on her hind leg, you would never know she had gone through all of those operations.

All of Paula's efforts and persistence paid off. The entire 'Honey' episode is reminiscent of something you might see on TV's 'Super Vets' series.

I would be remiss if I didn't point out something very interesting about Honey and how she was spayed. Paula is one of the few vets in this country with experience in a spaying technique called ovarian auto transplantation. All of Paula's bitches have been spayed using this technique. It was originally developed for use on police dogs who required spaying to eliminate the yearly 6 week layoff during heat. But, spayed bitches didn't maintain the mental agility and those that remained entire. The hormones lost by spaying made them useless for top-flight police investigations.

So, ovarian auto transplantation was developed. It basically involves the transplanting of a small sliver of ovarian tissue in the wall of the stomach so that hormones are delivered direct to the liver where they are modified to prevent a bitch from coming into season. But, low level female hormones remain in general circulation and preserve mental alertness.

It also has several secondary benefits. Bitches spayed with this technique don't generally develop fluffy coats – a common side effect with standard spaying techniques. They also don't put on extra weight, and there is at least some evidence that the occurrence of pyometra is less.

If you are interested in knowing more about this, please contact Paula at Hollyoak vets. She'll be happy to discuss it with you.

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