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Three-pawed pooch pal set to get a prosthetic fitted to walk better

Sarah Leonard with Simba. Photo: John McVitty.
Sarah Leonard with Simba. Photo: John McVitty.

A Fermanagh family’s three-pawed dog will be barking with delight after it receives a life-changing prosthetic paw from The Supervet’s world-class veterinary clinic.

Next Thursday (March 2), Simba – a loveable two-year-old Golden Retriever owned by the Leonard family from Cashel – will travel to Fitzpatrick Referrals, the veterinary clinic of Professor Noel Fitzpatrick, also known as ‘The Supervet’, in Surrey to start his life-changing prosthetic journey.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter, Theresa Leonard explained that Simba was born with four paws, but sadly his back left paw was damaged by his mother shortly after birth.

“When he was born, the mother damaged the paw; it must have been when she was licking him. Then it fell off after a couple of weeks,” she said, going on to explain that as Simba only has three paws, he is a lot slower than you’d expect a dog of his age to be: “He’s a lot slower and he gets tired a lot quicker.

“He would only be able to walk, at a very maximum, an hour and a half at a time,” Theresa added.

After originally discovering the prosthetic works of Prof. Fitzpatrick, Theresa talked to Simba’s vet, Mark Slattery, who is based in Manorhamilton, about how her dog would potentially benefit from a prosthetic paw.

She was told by Mark that due to Simba only having three paws, as he would get older, he may experience issues with his hip and that a prosthetic paw could help to prevent this.

However, they had to wait until Simba was at least 18 months old before any work could be done.

Fully fused

“He couldn’t do anything until his bones were fully fused,” explained Theresa.

Once Simba was 18 months old, Theresa went back to Mark, who put her in contact with vet Kevin Maguire from the Brook Veterinary Clinic in Enniskillen.

“Then Kevin contacted Fitzpatrick Referrals and they asked him for photographs and then videos of Simba walking, which we sent to them,” said Theresa.

She added: “When Fitzpatrick Referrals saw the photographs and videos, they sent back an email saying that to get a permanent prosthetic, which would be drilling up into Simba’s bone, would be a ‘ballpark’ figure of £16-£18,000.

“But Noel Fitzpatrick, or whoever looked at it in his practice, didn’t recommend that.

“They recommended a prosthetic that would be like a boot that would go on and off his leg and he’s given me a ballpark figure for that for around £5,000.”

On Monday of last week, Theresa got a notification that an appointment at Fitzpatrick’s Referrals was available for Simba next week, on March 2.

Simba will then have to travel over to the clinic three to four times over a two- or three-month period.

Scans

“I’m guessing at this initial appointment they will do scans and measure him up for the prosthetic, and then he’ll have to go over again to get it fitted,” said Theresa, explaining that when Simba returns home, he will then have to walk on the prosthetic to get used to it, and she will document his progress.

“It’s really exciting – we just can’t wait,” said Theresa, who is looking forward to travelling over to England to bring Simba to his first appointment.

“I know lots of dogs have three legs, but if there’s something you can do to make his quality of life better [we’ll do it], because he’s a member of the family,” Theresa told this newspaper.

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