Supervet

LadyGracie Shortly after Spud had died I met the homeless man you mentioned and he had nothing but kind words to say about Noel Fitzgerald and his team. He was still mourning the loss of Spud when I met him, but was then bought another puppy by his sister; I seem to remember he named the pup Dave. Having a dog can literally be a lifesaver to someone who's homeless and the services of a vet who will give his time for free is a real blessing.

If an owner has the money (I suspect some take out a second mortgage) I have no quarrell with it, but it must surely make pet insurance much more expensive and perhaps out of reach to many, if it is going to cover these extreme treatments. Much as I admire Noel (and many other vets who now follow in his footsteps), at the end of the day these are pets, they are replaceable and being put to sleep is painless, they don't know it's coming, and if they did, would probably be glad to be released from their pain. But I do know how fond people become of pets, I fully understand why they try to save them. I do think Noel is genuine, is soppy about dogs himself, and His work has helped surgeons who work on humans. I would go to him any day for a joint replacement if he took in humans and I had the money!

We didnt know at that time just how famous he would become,it was just a referral hospital that our then vets used

We fortunately had taken out pet insurance,and had a good cover...her op at noels was just over £4,000...which insurance quite happily paid.

I suspect people would only get their pets referred to Noel if they had the right level of insurance or if their finances could stretch to it. My cat's operations cost £3,000 after he was hit by a car ... all covered by his insurance. In one of the previous Supervet series, they used to mention the cost, and I remember £10,000 being quoted for someone's dog, but nowadays cost isn't mentioned.

"I always wonder who pays for these operations."
I'm wondering that too - they can cost thousands, similar to a human operation.
I read that the cost of the innovative protheses etc is very high because of the research needed. And many operations are covered by insurance. He sometimes does an operation for free.

I always wonder who pays for these operations. Vets' fees are high enough for ordinary procedures, but these would break the bank for most pet owners. Would an insurance company stump up?

shysal I also wonder though about performing massively complicated surgery about which the animal has no choice.

I have slight worries that like any "miracle" worker he is in danger of falling for his own personality, fame and good looks. It pays to be wary of any Guru.
He certainly gets some good results.

Sadly I worked for one of them Deedaa he admitted he'd only taken up the career for the financial reward.
The practice was then bought by a vet who had a love of animals but sadly lacked personality.
Noel has it all

Lovely man, some vets hardly seem to like animals at all.

My labrador was referred to his hospital due to some elbow problems.
Noel was the same 10 years ago as he is on screen,warm ,charismatic,and drop dead gorgeous to boot.
He was so gentle with our girl he started operating on dogs at 10.00 in the morning and at 11pm at night in his scrubs he carried our girl to our car for us to take home...we had several appointments with him and he was same each time.

He does always go through the options very thoroughly with the owners and will tell them if the thinks further treatment wouldn't be in the animal's interest. I remember one programme when there was a very slight chance of saving a cat's life and he explained it very carefully to the little girl who owned the cat, so that she was able to say that she would rather he was put to sleep than suffer any more pain.

I used to love him and the programmes, but these days I am wondering if all his operations are really necessary. Animals can manage perfectly well on 3 legs. Obviously treatment of some of the spinal problems etc are needed, but is it cruel to put a pet through surgery and weeks of painful recovery? Having said that, I suppose if it was my animal I would want Noel to do all he could. My next door neighbour is a vet who has a three-legged, one- eyed cat. He can outrun all the local cats!

I've watched all these programmes, he really is a brilliant chap. I think he has two clinics now one for cancer treatment.
I was particularly interested when he was working with a surgeon for humans, the two learned from each other. Think it would take a very special person to be his life partner, he is so dedicated to his work.
I think he is sincere, one of life's eccentric geniuses. (genii ? )

I have some heroes and Noel Fitzgerald is definitely one of them!!

There have been quite a few series, he definitely is a genius and he genuinely loves all the animals he treats, in the last series he was treating a border terrier, he has one himself, the young lady who owned him couldn't afford a second operation so the vet paid for it himself. He also treated a homeless mans best friend, his elderly dog, for no charge. Apparently he is a perfectionist and expects the same from his staff, he does bite, but is so respected and such a good teacher that people clamour to work for him.

I just love this programme-Noel works miracles on some of these animals. I do think he's genuine, he's so committed to his work that I don't think he has the ability to dissemble.

This is the second or third series I think. The man is a bloody genius and I do believe he genuinly cares. I'm not surprised he's single, not many women could put up with the hours he works.
I bet he's a bit of a whatsit to work for though