Monti the cockapoo was cute ... but supervet Noel’s the star
Prepare yourself for a profound observation on Life. There are two types of people, when faced with a challenge: Cats and Dogs.
placed in a tricky situation, a Cat will always scramble upwards, trying to rise above the crisis. a Dog will attempt to bail out, by jumping down.
For proof, I have a four-monthold kitten, sold to me as a persian —though if he’s persian, I’m Siamese. pick him up for a cuddle and he’ll claw his way up your face to the top of your head.
Then there’s my fluffy scruffball of a poodle-spaniel mix, who hates heights and will always wriggle to fling herself out of your arms.
The trouble is that dogs, unlike cats, are bad at crash landings. Noel Fitzpatrick treated a cockapoo with a fractured knee on The Supervet (C4), and warned that he sees this sort of injury at least once a month — caused when a panicking pup breaks free from its owner’s embrace.
Monti, the adorable mutt, had done what dogs do, and leapt down from mum Jess’s arms. His back legs took his full weight, popping one kneecap out and splintering the lower bone at the joint. The poor creature was in agony.
Noel wanted to operate, but to do that he had to sedate Monti. and that was almost impossible because all the nurses at his Surrey practice were crowded round the operating table, making a fuss of the 18-week- old cuddle-bundle. Cockerpoos, spoodles, spanoodles, call them what you like — they’re too cute for their own good.
When the anaesthetic finally kicked in, Noel was able to implant a remarkable system of pulleys and levers that got Monti’s leg working like a Heath robinson contraption. Though most of us watch Supervet to see the touching bond between pet-lovers and their poorly animals, at the heart of the show is this man’s endless ingenuity.
He inserted a metal scaffold to fix the deformed spine of a rhodesian ridgeback, and used stem cell i njections plus Meccano- type plates to repair an alsatian’s elbow joint, doing all this with his usual frazzled charm and rock- steady surgical technique.
There’s no doubt he is inspiring thousands of young viewers to become vets. The rest of us can take note and remember never to l et a dog take a flying l eap... however much it wants to.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were supplying more i nspiration on Mind Over Marathon (BBC1), as presenter Nick Knowles’s band of runners laboured to overcome grief and mental illness and get to the starting line of London’s 26-mile endurance test.
William and Kate, accompanied by prince Harry, made a surprise visit to the training park, and joined in the warm-up exercises. The Cambridges had to clasp each other for balance while swinging one leg wildly back and forth.
It l ooked l i ke some mad Thirties dance step — set that footage to a tango soundtrack and the Beeb will have a viral video hit. Then they had to sprint 100 yards with their arms outstretched.
‘I feel like I should have a rugby ball,’ William fretted. His wife looked at him sideways, probably alarmed to realise that her hubby runs like Frankenstein’s monster.
as well as the candour and good humour of the royals, this two-part documentary has been notable for its honesty. Not all the runners completed the challenge: some suffered injuries, others crises of confidence.
Such a brave depiction of mental health problems is rare on TV. There should be more shows like this.