Supervet

[Jenko109]

Now I dont normally watch it. In honesty I feel like much of his conversation with customers is put on for the cameras and some of the work he does leaves me feeling uneasy.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.da...practice-row-bionic-tortoise-drove-brink.html

I saw this which would indicate that other vets are also in disagreement over some of his practices.

Furthermore, I've just heard him reference his 'ethics committee' who would tell him if the animal had to be put to sleep. Why would he require an ethics committee, unless there have been some serious questions asked?

Just interested in everyone elses opinion.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I can't have him at all, for a variety of reasons.
Never watched more than a couple of minutes of his show as it just makes me angry/upset.

 

[AmyMay]

I think he’s a wonderful, compassionate, kind and mad scientist (well vet obviously). But just because you can do something it doesn’t mean you should. That’s obviously where the ethics of how far he should push the boundaries comes in. The 2018 case obviously gave him and his practice pause for thought - hence the creation of the committee.

 

[splashgirl45]

I did watch at the beginning but the things he did seemed IMO not the best for the animals and I got quite upset at a couple so never watch him now

 

[Clodagh]

On the whole he’s amazing, and pushing the very boundaries of what’s possible.
But it’s not for me.

 

[CorvusCorax]

My favourite thing that I know about him is that the Britney Spears hit 'Toxic', co-written by his ex, Cathy Dennis, is supposedly about him.

 

[Clodagh]

My favourite thing that I know about him is that the Britney Spears hit 'Toxic', co-written by his ex, Cathy Dennis, is supposedly about him.

Really!? Well I never ?

 

[twiggy2]

I dont like him, his ethics or what I hear about him from people who have worked with him.

 

[ycbm]

I'm afraid he makes my skin crawl in the advert that's been running on telly. What he does always makes me think "just because you can doesn't mean you should".

Having said that, vets are under immense pressure from some owners who want their animals kept alive at all costs.
.

 

[MurphysMinder]

I know some vets feel he has given owners unrealistic expectations as to what can be done to save a severely injured animal . There’s no doubt he has done some pioneering stuff but I’m not sure it is always in the animals best interests .

 

[TPO]

My favourite thing that I know about him is that the Britney Spears hit 'Toxic', co-written by his ex, Cathy Dennis, is supposedly about him.

You learn something new every day!

Never watched his show as what I knew about his practices was definitely not for me.

In full agreement with the "just because you can doesn't mean you should" statement

 

[Nicnac]

I was referred to his clinic with my flat coat who had suspected bone cancer as terribly lame shoulder which didn't respond to normal treatment. I cannot fault the care. As soon as they opened him up and saw it was cancer with a strong suspicion that it had most likely spread, they phoned and they were fully on board with my decision not to wake him up. I had a lovely Danish vet so no contact with NF.

We went back that evening to pick him up and the dignity afforded to my dog was quite something.

I don't agree with a lot of what he does and feel it's too experimental, but on the other hand, by experimenting we learn and others benefit. It's so important to realise when we need to stop - not something he's wired to do.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

I am also in the 'just because you can doesn't always mean you should' camp. Plus I felt his faux emotional struggle and concern sometimes grated and didn't ring quite true with me, all seemed more part of the showmanship performance to cynical old me.

I don't watch him after giving it a go a couple of times and would not want him as a vet for my pets.

 

[scats]

I think he’s a kind person who clearly adores animals and he’s a very skilled engineer, but sometimes I do think animals suffer during the process.

As someone else has said, Toxic was allegedly written about him. I love wowing people with that one!

 

[Ratface]

Now I dont normally watch it. In honesty I feel like much of his conversation with customers is put on for the cameras and some of the work he does leaves me feeling uneasy.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.da...practice-row-bionic-tortoise-drove-brink.html

I saw this which would indicate that other vets are also in disagreement over some of his practices.

Furthermore, I've just heard him reference his 'ethics committee' who would tell him if the animal had to be put to sleep. Why would he require an ethics committee, unless there have been some serious questions asked?
I'm in the "do not strive to keep alive/better a week too early than a day too late camp when it comes to animal euthanasia, whether a pet mouse, cow, horse or tortoise. Don't like the man at all. He seems (to me) like an arrogant, self-serving showman and I'd no sooner take an animal to him than fly in the air.

Just interested in everyone elses opinion.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

I watch this and do cringe at the sickly sweet presentation but I have to admit that the surgeries they show are amazing with what they achieve. I try to focus on the incredible joint replacements and his work on spinal problems. I don't like prosthetic legs/feet but have no idea how I would react if it was my dog and I could afford the treatment. He is a genius and very driven so probably not the easiest person to deal with.

 

[ycbm]

I watch this and do cringe at the sickly sweet presentation but I have to admit that the surgeries they show are amazing with what they achieve. I try to focus on the incredible joint replacements and his work on spinal problems. I don't like prosthetic legs/feet but have no idea how I would react if it was my dog and I could afford the treatment. He is a genius and very driven so probably not the easiest person to deal with.

A couple of years back I saw a Westie with two prosthetic implant hind legs, tied up outside a shop. I thought "no, just no". Then the owner came out of the shop and that little dog danced around in complete joy on those two steel rods, waving his front paws in the air, as if he hadn't a care in the world. I'm on the fence about that procedure now, I think I'd want to know the ongoing risks and the ongoing drugs, if any.
.

 

[Clodagh]

A couple of years back I saw a Westie with two prosthetic implant hind legs, tied up outside a shop. I thought "no, just no". Then the owner came out of the shop and that little dog danced around in complete joy on those two steel rods, waving his front paws in the air, as if he hadn't a care in the world. I'm on the fence about that procedure now, I think I'd want to know the ongoing risks and the ongoing drugs, if any.
.

I think if I had a young dog and could afford it those implant type prosthetics are amazing.

 

[Esmae]

I am fascinated by the science and the engineering, however I do have misgivings regarding the man. I have thought at times that he takes things a step too far, given the life span of the dog and the recovery time of the procedure. That said, some of the results are amazing. I suspect that he comes under the "God and surgeon" joke. What's the difference between God and a surgeon? God doesn't think he's a surgeon!

 

[bonny]

He must be doing something right judging by the size of his practice and the amount of money they must turn over.

 

[Horseysheepy]

I've been feeling uneasy about him for many years, and I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way.

 

[fetlock]

I think he’s a kind person who clearly adores animals and he’s a very skilled engineer, but sometimes I do think animals suffer during the process.

As someone else has said, Toxic was allegedly written about him. I love wowing people with that one!

The rumour originated in June 2019 on a gossip site called Popbitch.

Cathy herself said the song was written over the course of a week in Sweden. There are four people credited with writing it. Some of them mght have got a credit for simpy changing one word of course. She did say the song wasn't finished after a couple of days so she edited the lyrics at night in her hotel room. She could have penned the lyrics 99% on her own or tidied them up after input from all of them. Far as I can find when searching on it, that's not absolutely clear.





And according to Helen the Vet...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1139923424141291520

 

[SAujla]

My favourite thing that I know about him is that the Britney Spears hit 'Toxic', co-written by his ex, Cathy Dennis, is supposedly about him.

Mind blown, should be a thread ending post from you ?

 

[CorvusCorax]

The rumour originated in June 2019 on a gossip site called Popbitch.

Cathy herself said the song was written over the course of a week in Sweden. There are four people credited with writing it. Some of them mght have got a credit for simpy changing one word of course. She did say the song wasn't finished after a couple of days so she edited the lyrics at night in her hotel room. She could have penned the lyrics 99% on her own or tidied them up after input from all of them. Far as I can find when searching on it, that's not absolutely clear.



View attachment 97608

And according to Helen the Vet...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1139923424141291520

Thanks for the 'splain, I still think he's a man who experiments on other people's pet animals and would eat himself if he was made of chocolate

 

[misst]

So many years ago he was the last resort for my 6yo JRT who had mysteriously stopped weight bearing on her rt fore. She was needing to be carried everywhere and very unhappy. She was in obvious pain but every test came back normal. We were seriously looking at PTS after 6 weeks as nothing helped and she was getting more distressed. We were ref to Fitzpatricks and I was reluctant to go because of the things I had seen.
NF was super kind to me who was a blubbering wreck. He diagnosed her immediately almost on sight with a radial nerve paralysis. Scans showed a minute cyst on her nerve up in the brachial plexus. Amputation on dog of her build (queen anne legs and stocky body) was not an option, he felt. Eventually we tried massive doses of steroids for the inflamation. It worked beautifully though I had a fat dog for a year.
He was amazing with me and my dog adored him. So although I disagree with some of the advanced stuff he does, he also does a lot of routine stuff. He saved her life.
When the same dog was 12 she developed a massive epulis on her gum which grew back after simple removal by vet. I agreed for Fitzpatrick soft tissue establishment to see her. Initially I declined the surgery which involved removal of 6 teeth and a piece of jaw bone and some gum. I was advised (not by NF but by his soft tissue/cancer consultant) she would need to be PTS soon as it was growing so rapidly but that he was confident she would make an excellent recovery and it was not a metastatic tumour. I saw other dogs who had had the same surgery and he gave me some scientific journals with articles about similar cases. We went ahead with trepidation. She recovered in 2 days and was eating chicken feet in 3 days (stolen off our other dog !). She never seemed in the least upset or distressed by any of it. She lived another 2 healthy years and I lost her to dementia.
I am grateful to them for the happy healthy little dog I had for many years.
My neighbours dog had spinal cord injury and had emergency surgery there. His paralysis completely resolved and he also led a long happy life.
So sometimes they do brilliant stuff there. I am sure he is difficult to work with as he is so particular and always seems a bit "spectrumy" to me. But he is passionate and has made many groundbreaking surgeries become routine over the years.

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

I couldn’t watch past the 3D model of that goldie’s spine/hips. That dog must have been seriously struggling for ages.

 

[Moobli]

I watched him in the early days and was often amazed at his skill and ingenuity. The case of Dandi the GSD pup had me in tears and still upsets me to think about it. But over the years his touchy feely, gushing way with clients just turned me right off. And some of the experimental surgeries seem more about his ego than for the good of the animal. He’s no doubt brilliant at what he does but I think he’d be super hard to live with.

 

[Rowreach]

It’s interesting because the cohort he went through vet school with had him down as the least likely to finish the course. And are now wryly comparing their respective bank balances.

Someone recently told me that what the Supervet and others do is great because the discoveries can be transferred to human medicine - which bothered me even more.

Extreme veterinary intervention is always questionable imo for the simple reason that the animal has no choice and no concept as to why something is being done to it. And I do feel that too many animal owners are more concerned about their own sensibilities than the overall welfare of the pet.

 

[TPO]

I do feel that too many animal owners are more concerned about their own sensibilities than the overall welfare of the pet.

This 100x over. So many animals are kept going simply because the owner can't, or won't, face up to making the decision. To then have vets like him on TV/everywhere encouraging people to keep trying even in extreme scenarios does nothing to help animals with owners like this

 

[Morwenna]

I would never take a dog to him based on what I’ve seen and heard from people who have worked with him. I’m also in the “just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should” school. The work he does is incredible from a scientific / technical point of view but the recovery process for some of these animals is horrific and I wonder about the long-term effects (sister’s old dog had a common surgery as a young dog and the crate rest after just blew his brain, even though he was happy in his crate before). It does seem that the owners wishes carry more weight than what is best for the animal and that it gives him a chance to experiment / push the boundaries further. I know this is how veterinary medicine (and medicine) move on but I’ve never seen any conversations about the quality of the animals life after.