Over the Rainbow Bridge is out now 🍂🌈
For those who know that love shared with an animal is a wonderful gift, and that love is forever.
Illustrated by @aliscribble
The trailer for my brand-new show, Supervet ER, drops tonight at 7pm on YouTube. 🙌 Be sure to subscribe to be the first to see it - let's go!
Link in bio 👉 /@professornoelfitzpatrick
Brought to you by @petplan_uk
Lovely Lola is a pocket rocket, always smiling, always on the go.
Sadly, at just one year old, she showed persistent lameness. Radiographs and a CT scan showed a significant deformation, known as glenohumeral dysplasia, a developmental abnormality in the shoulder joint. The bones just didn’t fit together properly and she was in a lot of pain.
While medical management is always an option, given Lola’s young age and the inevitable progression of arthritis and pain, her family opted for surgery to provide a more long-term solution. I did not feel that it was likely that a custom shoulder replacement would work satisfactorily because her shoulder ligaments were also deformed, so the family opted for custom shoulder arthrodesis (fusion).
I wrote a paper about this in 2012 and the function after shoulder fusion is generally very satisfactory (see image attached). Nowadays we use a custom-made plate set at exactly the right angle and with the appropriate strength and screw positioning.
Like the trooper she is, the day after her surgery she was on her feet and wanting to run around. A few weeks later and it was like nothing had ever been wrong.
Resilient, brave and unstoppable. Lola reminds us what is possible with a spirit that refuses to give up and appropriate surgical intervention.
I am so excited about the live events coming up this year, I hope to see some of you at some of these dates in the UK and Ireland!
See more info in my bio x
When 5-year-old Staffie Dahlas family first noticed her struggling, they did what so many loving families do — they searched far and wide for answers. By the time they came to us, she was living with significant back and elbow pain, and the road ahead felt uncertain.
After careful assessment, we performed a specialised procedure — a sliding humeral osteotomy — using a custom implant designed specifically for her size. It’s the kind of tailored, advanced approach that can make all the difference when the problem is complex.
This procedure significantly reduces pain in an elbow joint surface which is half-rubbed away by friction due to a poor fit, which is similar to a human knee in the same state. This was due to developmental elbow disease, which I renamed quite a few years ago – it used to be called Elbow Dysplasia.
Today, Dahla is more comfortable and back to enjoying the simple things that matter most.
Her journey is a reminder of what’s possible when innovation meets compassion, and how the right intervention, at the right time, can change everything.
So often, I meet families who feel they’ve reached a “last chance.” But sometimes the journey to happiness just begins there.
Four marathons. Wow 🤯
And boy did this one test me.
A dodgy ankle, a midweek bug that knocked the wind out of me, and more setbacks than I care to count. There were moments where pulling out would have been the easy and sensible option.
But I kept coming back to why.
This wasn’t just about the miles. It was about the mission. About standing up for a fairer future in medicine—for animals and humans alike. That purpose carried me when my body didn’t want to cooperate.
Every painful step was a reminder that progress isn’t always pretty. Sometimes it’s slow, uncomfortable, and uncertain. But if the cause matters enough, you find a way forward.
Relieved to have finished. Grateful for every message of support and for every donation... and more determined than ever to keep pushing for change with Humanimal Trust! Thank you everyone 🌟 x
