Pet owners pay £5,000 for collie to have the UK's first canine knee replacement

But she is back on her paws again after becoming the first dog in Britain to have a knee replacement - paid for with the £5,000 her owners had saved up for a new bathroom.

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So eager were Julie and John Parker to ease seven year old Grace's pain, they didn't think twice about showering the cash on their beloved's pet veterinary bills rather than splashing out on their intended home improvements.

A team of vets opened up the knee in her rear left leg, removed damaged cartilage and inserted a metal and plastic prosthetic joint during the three hour operation.

The state of the art canine treatment was introduced 18 months ago in the US but has never been performed in this country before.

Housewife Mrs Parker, 51 and her husband, 52, who works in a police control centre, drove 222 miles from their home in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, to bring Grace to Willows Veterinary Centre in Solihull, West Midlands, where the operation was performed on Wednesday.

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Today, as Grace gingerly took her first steps with her new joint, Mrs Parker said: "It has been expensive but we had the money saved anyway for a new bathroom. Grace is more important to us than some new tiles and a shower.

"We know it will take time for her to recover but I hope she'll soon be bounding around like a puppy."

The vets' practice is one of only three in Britain registered to carry out the delicate operation and its staff underwent specialist training in the US.

Chief veterinary surgeon Malcolm McKee said: "There were some nervous moments and there were times when there could have been problems. But, I'm glad to say everything went according to plan.

"Before she was very immobile and in a lot of pain, but this should now give her five or seven years of good quality life."

Orthopaedic veterinary surgeon Toby Gemmill, who helped to operate on Grace, said: "These techniques are extremely new and this sort of surgery has only been carried out 14 times in total.

"The problem Grace had before was that she had worn a lot of the cartilage between the femur and tibia away so it was bone rubbing against bone.

"Now, there is a metal against plastic articulation which will remove the pain and help her move much more freely."

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Grace was first diagnosed with arthritis three years ago when vets in the North East repaired ligaments in her hind legs.

Mrs Parker began giving the pedigree dog tablets to sooth her joints but the medication aggravated another condition she suffers from called colitis, a digestive disease.

The couple's local vets then told them about the ground breaking knee replacement surgery being offered at the Willows.

Mrs Parker said: "I'm so glad the surgery went well and Grace is starting to recover.

"I was on tenterhooks all morning on Wednesday, just praying that she'd be alright and when Malcolm called me and said everything was fine, I breathed a huge sigh of relief."

Mr Parker said: added: "Grace appears to be recovering well. The cost was worth it and hopefully will enable her to move around without too much restriction in the future."