Supervet star Noel Fitzpatrick opens up on 'darkest times' as he grieves best friend

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Channel 4’s The Supervet is back with five new specials as veterinary surgeon Noel Fitzpatrick checks up on some of the animal patients whose lives he’s saved over the years. “It was humbling because as a practising clinician, you don’t get to go into people’s homes, you don’t see what’s happening in their lives,” Noel says. “It’s lovely to see the longer term effects of what we do.” In this week’s show, Noel helps three-legged German Shepherd rescue Bran, who faced being put down if his remaining back leg – affected by hip dysplasia – couldn’t be saved. “Bran’s young couple weren’t given any hope,” Noel says, adding that Bran’s chances improved when he designed a hip replacement using an ice-cream scoop. “That was the basis of the implant,” he says. “I live in a world where the barrier to doing things is an ethical barrier, not a practical barrier because most things are possible.The boundary should be whether it’s the right thing to do or not, so I say to anybody, come into my office with me, look at the case and talk to the family with me, and then make up your mind because the technology can do most things.That’s what this series is about.” With the show marking its 10th anniversary this year, Noel says his practice hasn’t changed much in that time – and he’s still taking his emotions into the operating room with him. “People try too hard to separate their emotions from the situation but I don’t.

If you’re emotionally invested in every case, then your moral responsibility is to do your best for that animal,” he says. “I think the word ‘love’ is underused in medicine.

It’s not mentioned once in the textbooks and I think it should be mentioned all the time.” Noel is well aware of how enriching having a pet can be, with.