The Supervet

Exactly where the emotional pull of this series comes from can vary. Normally it’s the bond between a person and their ailing pet, which they love as if it were a child. This week that’s Rusty, a one-year-old rescue dog whose hips and knees are dislocated, requiring elaborate surgery that’s fascinating for us but terrifying for Rusty’s owners, as we see from their faces when Dr Noel Fitzpatrick warns them she might not survive.

Sometimes it’s just a question of spreading happiness, as with Doug the pug, whose spinal cord cyst is stopping him from having Instagrammable fun with his young owner. And sometimes there’s something more serious going on: Buster, a bulldog with joint problems, is brought in by Rachel, whose own respiratory condition is worsening. The hope is that they can help each other recover.