Happy tail as surgery improves retriever’s life

Mervyn and Janet Bryan’s dog Brody had a serious hip problem, which vets said would destroy his quality of life.

The couple first realised something was wrong when their beloved pet was just four-months-old.

Mervyn, 68, of Soothill, Batley, said: “He would sit down more and more while we were out for walks and then he started limping.

“We took him to our vet but they couldn’t find anything.

“Then they took an x-ray which showed that one side of his hip was basically wearing away. We were devastated.”

The couple were quoted £6,000 for the operation but it was beyond both their budget and insurance cover.

The pair started planning how to make the best of the time Brody had left, but were then given a lifeline by Yorkshire-based Calder Vets.

Recommended to them by a friend, the vets quoted the couple £3,500 which fell within their insurance cover.

Janet, 57, said: “We were not sure if we wanted to put him through such a big operation as we knew he would need lots of care afterwards.

“But without the operation he would have had a short life that we would have had to make the best of for him.”

Four months after the operation, Mrs Bryan said Brody was back to his old self.

“It has been a long haul but this week we have had the all clear to go ahead and treat him as we would a normal dog,” she said.

Calder Vets has 12 practices in Yorkshire, including an animal hospital in Dewsbury and branches in Mirfield and Heckmondwike.

Managing director Stuart Cooke said: “Our success rate is more than 96 per cent.

“We only select cases on their genuine need for a hip replacement and we would never turn away a case that was challenging in order to maintain our very high success rate.”