My first impressions of this puppy are not good,
"but the most concerning thing is she seems to have this very strange"
"sort of head tilting that's going like this."
"I'm particularly concerned about Neospora."
It's a certain type of parasite, a protozoan
that can be present in cattle
and then dogs can get it and it's very bad news,
particularly in puppies.
Neospora, more than 1600.
I just had a call
from a good friend of mine, Jill, who runs a Border Collie rescue center,
"and she's just received a really desperate case."
It's early morning and Scott is on his way to Berkshire
for an emergency call out.
This time it's a nine week old puppy.
I've never heard Jill so worried before,
so I need to get there straight away
just to see what's going on.
She was the last puppy left of the litter,
"and obviously nobody wanted her because of how she is."
Oh, she's such a good girl.
Jill's incredible.
"I mean, she dedicates her entire life to looking"
after Border Collies that have come from desperate situations.
"And they come to her house and the heaven that she offers."
She's an absolute saint as far as Border Collies are concerned.
You are a good puppy.
"Today, it's Jill's latest arrival, Malala, that she's so concerned about."
I've rescued her from the farm.
She's obviously a very poorly puppy.
Hey, keep still.
"The little Border Collie is badly malnourished"
"and is also struggling to control her head and body."
Hi, Scott.
Oh, my goodness.
This is the little one for you, isn't it?
Hello, baby.
Oh, my goodness.
You're so cute.
Oh, dear.
Wow.
She's very floppy, isn't she?
I think she's lucky she's alive, actually.
You decided to rescue her, haven’t you?
Yeah.
"I just want to shower her with love, really."
"Because she's such a pathetic little thing."
"And she would definitely have died where she was."
Bless her heart.
So I'm hoping that Scott will be able
to do something for her.
It’s okay, baby girl, it's okay.
As soon as he examines the little pup,
"Scott immediately suspects another serious issue."
"What seems to be the problem here is that you look blind to me."
Yeah, but she doesn't matter
"- if she's blind.
- It doesn't matter."
"My first impressions of this puppy are not good."
Go on, darling.
Hey, good girl.
Oh, my goodness.
She's just the definition of neglect.
She's very thin.
"But the most concerning thing is she seems to have this"
"very strange sort of head tilting that's going like this."
Hey, good girl.
She definitely has an abnormal gait.
The way she's walking is very stumbly,
and she's unable to keep her balance.
Come on.
Oopsie.
Oh, dear.
"Did I leave my box in the way?
Sorry, baby."
She simply cannot control her own body's movements.
She's not got just a few issues.
There's a lot of issues here.
This hip is feeling really quite weird.
It's very stiff, swollen joints.
I think she's just...
Oh, it’s alright sweet heart.
Oh, baby.
Oh dear.
"The little pups swollen joints are obviously painful,"
so Scott will now take her back to the practice
so she can be sedated and given a more thorough examination.
This puppy is in such a terrible state.
"I am really, really worried about her future."
"It’s alright.
You’re safe now."
Oh, come on.
You're safe now.
Go on then.
"What’s this?
This is the clinic."
Let's go and see the girls, shall we?
"Scott's arrived back at his Richmond practice"
with little Border Collie Malala.
"- Hi.
- This is Malala."
Short...
"- Lala for short.
Yes.
- Lala?"
Hi Lala.
"- Say hi.
- Hi."
They're met by concerned nurses
Gemma and Sam.
Are you wriggly?
"- Oh, what’s wrong with her?
- She’s got a head tilt."
"She's got a little head, tilt.
And she's got these very,"
"very lumpy joints which we’re going to look into today."
The saddest thing is that she's actually blind.
Oh no, Lala.
Oh.
Hey.
Hello.
"Seeing the girls lavish Malala with all their love"
and attention, it's just so beautifully heartwarming to see.
Lala.
"She wants auntie Gemma not Dr. Scott."
"Come on then.
Un-hand."
Come back to Scotty.
Come on, beautiful.
"Come on, then, Sam.
Let's get cracking."
"What I need to do now is do a barrage of tests to work out"
what the problems are caused by.
"And if there's anything I can do to help this little puppy"
and help to improve her future.
Oh, good girl.
"It’s alright, it’s alright.
Good girl."
Given little Lala a sedation in order to take some X-rays,
"but also to be able to look properly into her eyes."
Do everything I need to do.
It's best that she's a little bit sleepier
than she is right now.
Come on.
Let’s have a look at some of those joints, shall we?
"First up, Scott is X-raying Malala's legs."
X-ray.
Right Sam.
"So you can see how white some of these bones are here"
"and yet how almost translucent they are in other places."
So this dog hasn't had enough calcium, that very much suggests
the old school disease of rickets.
Rickets is caused by malnutrition
and for Malala to have such a severe case
at such a young age, you can just imagine what sort of appalling diet
this poor puppy's had.
"Her bones can easily break and literally tiny little micro"
"fractures develop just so easily because it's so brittle."
Just so sad that it could have been prevented.
Yeah.
Rickets is caused by a lack of vitamin D,
"but fortunately, with proper nutrition, the condition can be cured."
"But the little dog's vision, loss and severe imbalance"
are far more complicated.
"This case is really challenging on so many levels."
Malala's got so many different symptoms that could be caused
by so many different things.
"And also her early part of her life we don't know anything about."
What I should normally see in
the back of this eye is a beautiful carpet of
kind of greens and yellows.
But what I can see here is just shades of gray,
and I can see them in both eyes.
With a growing suspicion that Malala's blindness and imbalance
might be connected.
"Scott is hoping blood tests will provide some answers."
So I'm taking some blood to test Malala for a couple of things.
"First of all, there's a few parasites that can affect"
"the nervous system of a young dog and also cause them to be blind."
"I'm particularly concerned about Neospora."
It's a certain type of parasite, a protozoan
that can be present in cattle
and then dogs can get it.
"And it's very bad news, particularly in puppies."
Should we get some food?
What’s in here?
The results of the blood
tests will take several days.
But Malala's rickets treatment can begin
" straight away with some nutritious food."
"The good news is, is that with good nutrition,"
"we should see this puppy much more comfortable."
Don’t gulp it down too quickly, you’ll get a bellyache.
"Scott is also planning to take Malala to an eye specialist"
"to see if anything can be done to restore her sight."
She has literally captured
the hearts of every single person at the practices.
"She means so much to us now, and we're really hoping that"
"this little dog is going to pull through and live a happy, healthy life."
Oh.
Excuse you.
That’s what happens when you eat your food to fast, isn’t it?
Come on then.
Let's go and see that eye doctor.
Hey?
Yeah, let’s go and see the eye doctor.
Sounds scary, but it won't be.
She's very nice.
"Next day, Scott has arrived at the Royal Veterinary Hospital"
"with Malala, hoping for a miracle for the little rescue pup."
"He's meeting ophthalmologist Mariam Matus Riera."
Hello.
How are you?
"- Good, thank you.
- And you.
Very well."
"- More importantly, this is Malala.
- Oh hello, Malala."
Shall we have a look at you my love?
See what we can do for you.
So, do you want to come to the consult room?
"- Yes, please.
Lovely.
- Let's go."
"It might be unrealistic, but I'm just hoping that Marianne"
will find something that we can do to help treat Malala's blindness.
So what we do now is we’re going to dilate her pupil
"so we can have a good look at the back of her eye."
Hey, puppet.
Some drops.
This puppy is so gorgeous.
She's had such a tough start in life.
And now I just want the best for her.
And hopefully that means vision.
So I know I look like Darth Vader.
Now, with this,
"the aim to use this instrument is so it allows"
me to look at the retina.
So at the back of her eye.
"Okay Lala.
You going to let me do this?"
Yes, good girl.
I know, good girl,
Darth Vader is scary.
Yeah.
This is very important, my love.
"This is very, very important.
Puppet.
Good girl."
Good girl, my love.
Good girl.
"- There we go, good girl.
- Well done baby."
Hmm okay, so her retinas are not good.
Her retinas are really severely damaged.
"The prognosis is not looking good for Malala."
Her retina is really unhealthy.
There's no blood vessels at all.
And that is quite shiny, which tells me that is really abnormal.
So it's really, really has degenerated
to the point that is nearly atrophied.
"And that's not good news because it's not the tissue"
that we can make it regenerate.
Once it goes, it goes.
Oh, dear, oh, dear.
That’s no good, is it?
That’s no good.
"The changes present in her eye are something that you don't see"
very often in puppies, and it does mean that
Malala will never regain her vision.
"- Oh, wow.
- Good girl."
"Where's Scotty?
Where’s Scotty?"
Come here.
Despite her blindness
"Malala is young enough to be taught to follow voices"
and the sounds of footsteps to help her get around safely.
"Well done.
Oh, you're so clever."
Finding exactly what's caused the puppy's
"blindness and her balance problems is the next big challenge."
"Scott is pinning his hopes on the blood test results"
for some answers.
Oh, what a good puppy.
Oh, fantastic.
Sadly, there's no technology here at the RVC
"that can help little Malala to regain her vision."
But on the positive side, I've heard about another special puppy
that the RVC does have the technology to help.
"She's coming in for what's really cutting edge surgery"
"and I know everyone here is really excited about it."
And I can't wait to hear how it goes.
At Scott's Richmond Practice,
rescue pup Malala's blood test results are now in.
Toxoplasma.
Negative.
Excellent.
Very good.
"Scott is hoping to find out why the young dog"
is blind and struggling with her balance.
He suspects a dangerous parasite
"called Neospora could be the reason."
Neospora,
more than 1600.
I'm totally shocked, the results are in
"and the Neospora level is just through the roof."
"So she has definitely been exposed to this disease."
Neospora is a potentially fatal parasite that attacks an animals
"brain and spinal cord, gradually shutting down their body."
Gutting.
Most of the time,
"puppies or dogs that get Neospora end up dying from it."
It's a nasty condition.
It causes all sorts of things
from ascending paralysis, where they just get weaker and weaker.
They can't eat, they have liver problems.
They have breathing problems.
They have muscular spasms.
It's a horrendous condition.
Good gal.
The little pup is waiting upstairs
with nurse Sam and receptionist Kirsty.
"- Hi, guys.
- Hi, Scott."
"- Heya.
- Teaching her a few tricks."
"- Oh, yeah?
- She’s doing very well."
Oh, well, I'm sorry to be the deliverer of bad news,
but unfortunately, I've just got the blood results back,
and she's got Neospora,
which is pretty bad.
"So basically means that she does have Neosporosis"
the clinical disease.
"And unfortunately, at any point she could deteriorate badly."
"And we're talking paralysis.
We're talking,"
"unable to walk and swallow and liver problems, breathing problems."
It's hideous.
Malala will be started on a course of antibiotics immediately
to hopefully wipe out the parasite.
She now has a tough battle ahead of her
as her body tries to fight the disease.
I’m so sad
"just seems to be one thing after another that we keep finding."
It’s not fair, is it?
I'm willing with every part of my being, that this beautiful little dog
gets through okay.
Such a good girl.
Yeah that nasty Neospora isn’t going to get you, is it?
No.
Hey?
You’re so nice.
Hey?
Next day,
Scott has a special delivery to make.
Oh, that’s my baby.
Come on.
That's my baby.
"Come on then.
Let’s go see her."
"It's a big day for little rescue dog, Malala."
"- Hi, Jill.
- Oh, hello Scott."
"- I’ve got your baby.
- Oh!"
Malala!
Hello, darling.
Hello.
"The young pup is finally well enough to be reunited"
with her devoted carer Jill.
"You’re home.
Yes, you’re home."
"It's always a wonderful feeling to come back and see Jill."
But even better, when you can reunite her with her baby, Malala.
"Malala is just such a beautiful little dog."
And she's so plucky and tenacious.
"And I'm sure that Jill missed her a lot."
You’re home.
"Scott, has been treating Malala for six weeks for a deadly parasite"
"that has left her blind and attacks the brain and spinal cord."
For now, antibiotics seem to be keeping the problem at bay,
but she's not out of the woods
"and needs to be closely monitored for the next few months."
"What it means is that Malala is under a bit of a dark cloud."
At any point when her immune system is weakened,
"all the clinical signs that we saw right at the start can happen again."
She's on the right medication to protect her
from getting any worse at the moment.
Yeah, we need to make sure she's as healthy as possible, as stress
free as possible.
To keep her immune system as strong,
to keep fighting the disease.
Because if she can get to her
first birthday party, her prognosis improves dramatically.
Yeah.
"Research has shown that if a puppy gets to their first birthday,"
there's a much better chance
that they actually don't have the disease that will linger long term,
which should mean that if she gets to that first birthday, life is good.
Well, I'm glad she came to me anyway,
"because she wouldn't be here now, probably."
Oh, without doubt
Jill and I know that you're the one that will help her through this.
Oh, I will.
I will.
"Won’t we Malala, we all will, because we love you, don't we?"
Yes, we do.
She's got to get better for all of us.
"She's too much love to for anything to happen to her."
We'll just fight it together.
Shall we show mummy the dance?
Hey?
Should we show mummy the dance?
"Lala, ready?
Lala."
Lala, come.
Oh, she's making me look like a fool.
Come on.
"Lala, come on.
Why are you not dancing."
Malala and I decided at the clinic
"that we were going to perform a little dance routine"
to perform at her first birthday party.
Come on.
I worked out that
she would follow the tap of my feet,
and then she would dance around me.
"Lala, spin.
Oh my goodness."
"- She says, why are you doing that?
- I know."
"But as soon as we get to Jill's place, she leaves me hanging"
I’m dancing around like a lunatic.
"But at least Jill found it funny.
Here we go.
That's it."
Here we go.
Through the legs.
through he legs.
Hey, good girl.
There's room for improvement there, I think.
But Malala did well.
That's a good girl.
That's it.