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(CNN) -
Russian rescue dog Monika has a new chance to live after having titanium legs fitted, just months after doctors suggested she should be euthanized due to her serious injuries.
The operation was carried out by veterinarian Sergei Gorshkov, who is based in the city of Novosibirsk and has fitted 37 animals with prosthetics since 2015, although Monika is the first dog to benefit from his work.
Monika photographed at a clinic in Novosibirsk on November 19, 2021.
Two weeks after the operation, the dog is adjusting well to her new mobility, and Gorshkov says that she will soon lead a normal life, although he was "surprised" by the speed of her recovery.
"I don't think we were optimistic about it," he told CNN.
"But on the third day he started getting up and walking around the clinic, going from room to room."
However, it was not easy to get Monika into the operating room.
Workers from the town of Plastunovskaya initially found her without her claws in December 2020, and volunteers who rescued her suspect that she had been mistreated.
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Monika was found without legs in December 2020.
Monika was transferred under the care of Krasnodar city-based animal rescue volunteers Marina Gapich and Alla Leonkina, where her damaged limbs were amputated and she received a blood transfusion.
3D printer prosthetics
Gapich told CNN that she and Leonkina had "sleepless nights" for Monika, and that they disagreed with the vet's advice to euthanize her.
The two women contacted Gorshkov and raised 400,000 Russian rubles (more than $ 5,400) for the operation.
Then Monika's prostheses had to be printed on a 3D printer in the city of Troitstk, not far from Moscow, and biocoated at the Tomsk Polytechnic University.
Only after that could Gorshkov carry out the procedure.
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For the veterinarian, much of his work has taken on new meaning over the past 18 months, as "pandemic pets" are especially important to some.
"I am happy to give a new life to animals, because especially now, during (the pandemic of) covid ... people find some comfort in animals and then by treating animals, I treat people."
Veterinarian Sergei Gorshkov caresses Monika at the Novosibirsk clinic.
And Monika has already made a place for herself in the hearts of the volunteers who rescued her.
When asked if the dog will stay in Novosibirsk, Gapich's answer was a resounding no.
"We are her caretakers, we are responsible for her!" She told CNN, adding that she and Leonkina were in contact with a London-based animal behaviorist who could be consulted about Monika's case.
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