Most of the tumours that we see in mice
are mammary tumours.
So they’re essentially breast cancers.
the only hope, I guess, that that she has
is that if we can get in there and
get around the back of that tumour and take it off.
But really not, not kill her in the process.
Yeah.
Back at the Bondi clinic,
a devoted dad is waiting for Chris
to examine his 12 year old daughter's pet mouse, Pino.
He’s about a year old.
My daughter's pride and joy.
She's distraught about it at the moment.
In just 36 hours,
an ugly tumour has engulfed Pinos body.
David and Pino?
Hi.
You’re David, where’s Pino?
Pino’s in here.
Of course Pino’s in there.
He’s got a little tumour.
Okay, come on through and we’ll have a look.
Most of the tumours that we see in mice
are mammary tumours.
So they’re essentially breast cancers.
Mice are used in human medical research
to grow tumours
so we can actually study how cancers behave
and the best way to treat them.
But unfortunately,
some of those genes have got into pet mice.
Daughter Elliot has given Dad strict instructions
that she wants a medical update from Chris
as soon as possible.
The only hope, I guess, that that she has
is that if we can get in there and
and get around the back of that tumour and take it off,
but really not, not kill her in the process.
Yeah. Yeah.
If I was to do nothing for little Pino right now,
this tumour would continue to grow and would kill her.
I'm willing to give it a go if you’re willing to let me.
Yep. Sure. Yeah.
What is one person's vermin,
is the absolute centre of this little girl's universe.
And really, if they make an appointment,
then we'll see them.
Around here it’s all creatures great and very small.
- Laura. It’s not lunch. - Mmhmm?
It's a mouse.
A mouse?
Oh, my God.
This is Pino.
Pino’s being prepped for surgery
to remove a cancerous tumour.
Another few days,
and it would have killed the pet mouse.
Big day.
If that lump was unattractive before.
Got a bad feeling that once the fur’s gone,
it's not going to look any better.
With her anaesthetic,
this is probably the biggest challenge of all.
You don't return the carry mouse equipment
in your average vet hospital,
so you do have to make some adjustments.
So I've cut a piece of glove out and I'm going to put this
over the top of the anaesthetic tube and then tape in place.
That then gives you the bare bones of what's going to be
a mouse anaesthetic mask and you just hope
that she's going to like it.
It all gets very serious all of a sudden
once the clock's ticking like this.
She can really only be under anaesthetic for 5, 7, minutes.
That's about it.
The idea is hopefully
just to get in around it
and to shell it out like a pea.
Just working the way through these blood vessels
that are feeding this immense tumour one by one,
just trying to crush them as we tear them
in the hope they won't bleed anymore.
People would think that, hey, it’s only just a mouse.
But to Elliott, Pino isn't just a mouse, big part of her life,
and you carry that on your shoulders
during the whole surgery.
So she's been under for about 6 minutes now.
So we’re right at the end of our window.
It's just breathing,
just an occasional breath every now and then.
And each time he does, you get filled with hope.
But then she stops again.
It’s just....
awful.
Just coming round the back of the tumour now
It's quite tightly adhered to the wall of the chest,
which is going to make it this difficult to get off.
At the Bondi clinic,
Chris is continuing the delicate surgery
to remove a massive tumour from a much loved pet mouse.
Even with so much going on during that surgery,
I still had moments to think, Gee,
there's a little girl at school wondering
how her little mouse is getting on.
There we go.
You can see how close that tumour
was to growing into her chest.
That's her lung right there and a heart beating behind it.
So this is just millimetres away from absolute disaster.
The anesthetic’s still going,
we got to find a way to get this skin back
together neatly and tidily and not lose her in the process.
With the stitching finished, Pino should wake up quickly,
but as the minutes go by, the tiny
mouse is not regaining consciousness.
It’s alright. Hey, it’s fine.
Don’t need to stress.
There’s a little girl waiting to see you.
She’s in school right now thinking about you.
You’ve got to come home for her.
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
I’d say you look like a drowned rat
but that's just not really appropriate for you, is it?
Pino might have survived the surgery,
but there's still a huge fight ahead.
To remove something like that
would be a decent operation in a Labrador.
We're talking about a mouse that weighs maybe 40 grams,
50 grams, and that's got to be ten or 20 right there.
She’d be going through a lot of shock right now.
She's really just lost close to half the blood in her body.
At the moment you can see she’s hunched over,
breathing deeply, just trying to force
that blood around her body
to satisfy the needs of the brain
and all the different organs,
because they'd be screaming out for blood,
but the blood just ain’t there.
She’s half the mouse she used to be.
Get you looking good.
Really don’t like the brush.
Little Pino’s recovering after Chris
removed her massive tumour, the pet mouse nearly died
on the operating table after a huge loss of blood.
To nearly being dead in the surgery
to all of a sudden being alive and full of energy.
It's quite a transformation.
She's now ready to go home to Elliot.
I think it's time for some home delivery.
- How are you? - Good thank you.
I’ve got someone to see you here.
Oh, Pino.
She's no longer a full bodied Pinot.
- She’s... - Pinot light.
She is Pinot light.
I got to tell you, I don't want to freak you out, but she....
She came pretty close to the edge.
She was in a pretty bad way.
That came out of her,
It's pretty amazing that.
Oh, yuck.
I could not rest my head.
If she had died, I just.
It would be so sad.
I kept thinking about it,
and then occasionally I felt like crying.
If you'd have told me
that my biggest achievement this week
would have been saving a tiny mouse,
then I probably would have laughed.
But after meeting Elliot,
it does feel like a huge accomplishment.
Thank you so much.
That's okay.
You obviously love her so much.
So the least I could do is was give her a chance.
Yeah.
I'm glad it worked out.
See you little buddy.