Smartie the Pony Ferne and Rory's Vet Tales

Hi, I'm Rory. Today I'm in Yorkshire in England

to meet Matilda and Millicent, who have a pony

that needs to go to the vet's. And we can come too.

And I'm Ferne. I'm at a zoo in London to find out how the vets

are caring for some of their clever creatures.

# Ferne and Rory, telling you the story

# Of some poorly pets

# We will take them, show you how to make them

# Better at the vet's

# Vet Tales

# These are our Vet Tales

# Vet Tales

# Ferne and Rory's Vet Tales. #

Hi, I'm Millicent.

Hi, I'm Matilda.

-BOTH:

-And this is our pony, Smartie.

We've had her since we were little.

She's very gentle and we love brushing her chest and her coat.

We look after her every day.

She is our best friend and we love her.

-Hi, Matilda, hi, Millicent.

-Hi, Rory.

-Hi, Rory.

-And you must be Mum Emma, hello.

-Hi.

-Do you want to see our pony, Smartie?

-I'd love to.

-This way.

-See you.

-Bye!

Oh, wow!

-Hi, Smartie! Can I give her a pat?

-Yeah.

Oh, she is gorgeous!

So tell me, Millicent, she is not the youngest pony in the world?

-How old is she?

-23 and a half.

-She's older than both of you put together?

-Yeah.

Given she's a bit older, is she in good health?

-She's good for her age but she's got arthritis.

-Poor Smartie.

Arthritis can cause pain, stiffness and swelling in joints

like knuckles and knees.

It can affect animals and humans.

Medicine usually helps to reduce pain and swelling, though.

It's also important that she gets regular checkups at the vet.

-Isn't that right, Millicent?

-Yeah.

-We're taking Smartie for a checkup, do you want to come?

-I'd love to.

Let's get ready, come on.

This is vet Ben.

He mainly looks after horses and ponies.

Once Ben had to help a horse who got his head stuck in a tyre

and vaccinated another horse who lived with dairy cows.

-Hi, Ben!

-Hello!

-Hello!

-How are you getting on?

-Good.

What will you check with Smartie?

The first thing is to ask these two how she's getting on.

-She's been good.

-OK when you've been riding her?

Yes, tiny bit stiff.

But otherwise OK and doing everything that

-she and you want to do?

-Yes.

-That's grand.

We'll look and see how she's got on last time, check her over and

see her walking and trotting, see how she's moving.

-Hello, Smartie. Is she getting her tablets OK?

-Trying to avoid them.

You've got a way of getting her to have her tablets?

-We mix it in with her dinner.

-That makes it OK?

-Yes.

-That's good.

What are you feeling for down there?

Checking the joints. We're worried about stiffness.

Sometimes if joints are under stress and a bit arthritic,

they produce extra fluid to try and ease them.

-Feeling it gives you a good idea.

-Does that look swollen?

-No, not too bad. She had the farrier out since last time?

-Yes.

So she's had her feet trimmed. They look nice and neat.

-What does the farrier do?

-It cleans Smartie's feet.

That's right! A farrier looks after a horse or pony's feet.

What are you looking for in the back legs?

Just to see. Last time, she was very sore when we bent her legs.

We're checking and seeing those this time.

-How's she feeling today?

-OK today.

How can you tell if she's sore? Will she resist you or kick back?

She tries to resist or she's a bit uncomfortable, but

that was as it was last time. We should look at her in the paddock.

Let's get out to the paddock, then. Here we go. Come on, Smartie.

Arthritis is a medical condition that causes the swelling

of joints like the knee.

It can become painful and sore when trying to move the joint.

Medicine is sometimes used to help.

Making sure your pet has a balance of rest and exercise

is really important.

Whoa.

So, could you lead her away for me in walk, have a turn and then

have a few strides and trot back?

-OK.

-OK? Thank you.

-OK.

What are you watching for, Ben?

Just assessing how she moves.

Because she's got some arthritis, we're checking to see

how her stiffness is.

We look for the length of stride and whether there's any

unlevelness to show that she might be lame.

But she's walking OK, a bit stiff behind, so I think some

of her arthritis is still holding her back a bit

and I think she could do with encouraging those back legs

to bend and use themselves a bit more.

What would you recommend to improve it?

Nice, consistent riding by these two,

regular exercise is good but something that might be useful

-is hydrotherapy, a bit of swimming.

-Great.

-We can do that, can't we?

-Yes.

Hydrotherapy is a bit of movement and exercise in water.

-Shall we get Smartie ready for a dip in the pool?

-Yes.

While we do that, let's see who else Ben's been helping today.

While vet Ben was at the stables, there were other horses that

needed checks, too.

Cam the grey gelding had his teeth checked to make sure they

were clean and healthy.

And Ben checked Mickey, a bay gelding, to make sure his

eyes were clear and that he could see OK.

It's time for Smartie to have some hydrotherapy.

We've come to the special pool where horses and ponies get treatment.

I can't wait to see how Smartie gets on.

-Hi, Gail.

-Hello, everybody. Welcome to the hydrotherapy pool.

Gail is the hydrotherapist.

Stuart and Becky are getting Smartie ready for her swim.

I'll be looking to make sure that she's using all her legs evenly

and correctly and that she's breathing properly,

and the swimming process should help her mobility, her sore feet,

and help her feel better.

Will it be painful for Smartie when she's in the water or will it be OK?

Not at all. Hopefully she will enjoy the experience.

-You, ready guys?

-Yeah.

-Yes.

-Let's get ready.

-See you later.

-Is this going to be good, guys?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-I think so, too.

Off you go, Smartie.

-There she goes, she's off!

-She's away.

SNORT!

Oh.

-It's impressive.

-Well done.

Good girl, Smartie.

Come on, Smartie, doing well!

She's had two laps, she's going to go back in and go round

the other way now, I think.

-How do you think she's doing, guys? BOTH:

-Really well.

-Yeah?

Come on, you're doing great.

Look at her legs go.

What's she doing with her head?

-Keeping it up high so she can breathe properly.

-Exactly.

How does her breathing sound?

SNORT! Excellent work!

Well done, Smartie.

SNORT! SNORT!

She's heading out now, she looks quite tired.

She's done so well, four laps in total.

-I think this is going to be really good for her, don't you?

-Yeah.

After a nice rubdown, Smartie gets to go in the solarium

where these warm lights will heat her up.

So, Gail, how did Smartie do?

Really well, you should be very proud of her.

I think her swimming lessons will help her sore feet

-and she deserves a gold star.

-Brilliant, what did you guys think?

-She did really well and very fast.

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-Oh, Gail, thank you very much for that.

-Our pleasure.

Matilda and Millicent, I've had an amazing time meeting you guys

and seeing this lady swimming as well.

I'd like to come back soon and see how you're getting on, is that OK?

-Definitely.

-Fantastic. Now, I wonder what Ferne's been up to?

BEEP! BEEP!

Today, I'm at a zoo in London where a team of vets help to care

for lots of different animals.

I'm here to meet vet Amanda,

who's going to introduce me to one of them.

Let's go.

-Hi, Amanda, hi, Veronica!

-Hi.

-So who have we got here?

This is Jimmy, one of our coatis, he's one of our older animals.

-How old is he?

-Around 11 years old.

-Wow.

-Something like that.

-That's quite old for a coati, isn't it?

They can live to be 15 so he's getting to the upper end

of his age range.

-What type of coati is he?

-Ring-tailed coati.

Coatis are from Central and South America, where they live

mainly in the forests and spend a lot of the time in their trees.

Why do we need to check Jimmy today?

We're going to do an overall health check on Jimmy today.

Because he's older, we monitor his health closely.

Also, he recently had a scratch on his eye

-so we want to make sure that that's completely healed.

-Oh, OK.

What are you listening for with his heart?

We listen to their heart to make sure the rate and rhythm is normal,

then to the lungs to make sure they sound nice and clear.

Like when you go to the doctor, they listen to your heart and lungs.

-He doesn't have any heart problems?

-His heart sounds good.

-Fantastic.

We check everything, make sure he doesn't have any scratches or

scrapes and check his ears. He's distracted by the jam today!

-He's doing a good job!

-What are you looking for in his ears?

To be sure they're nice and clean, there's not a lot of waxy debris

and no scratches or anything that would indicate an ear infection.

-I think he's getting a clean bill of coati health.

-He looks wonderful.

-What about his weight?

-He's one of our smaller animals.

He's 3.5 kilos and they can get up to five kilos.

We monitor the body weight and condition of our animals very

closely because we want them to be a healthy body weight

because, just like people when they're overweight,

they can be prone to diabetes and other problems.

Jimmy weighs 3.8kg today which is a good weight for him.

-Well done, Jimmy.

-I'm just having a look in his eyes.

Previously when he had the scratch in his eye, it was cloudy

because the eye was irritated.

I can tell the cloudiness has gone away because that eye has healed.

It looks really good.

It's great that this little coati has a clean bill of health.

Veronica and Amanda, thank you for letting me

see how you keep coatis like Jimmy healthy. It's been really fun.

You're welcome, thank you for coming to see Jimmy.

Recently, I met sisters Matilda and Millicent and their pony,

Smartie, who'd been having hydrotherapy sessions.

I'm back now to see how they're all getting on.

Hey, guys.

-ALL:

-Hi, Rory!

-You're all looking well.

-How's Smartie been?

-She's a lot better.

-That's brilliant.

-So the hydrotherapy's worked well?

-Really helped.

Have you been riding her like vet Ben asked you to?

We've been cantering, jumping and trotting.

-She's moving well when you guys are on her?

-Yes.

-Brilliant.

Millicent, are you ready to take her for a ride now?

-Yeah.

-Let's see her in action.

Come on, then, Smarts.

Off she goes, let's see how she's moving around.

-She's trotting well, isn't she?

-Yes.

And is that how she's been?

She was stiffer before she went to the hydrotherapy centre.

-This has helped.

-Yeah.

-Are you going to have a shot now, Matilda?

-Yeah.

Let go...

Wow, Smartie's even doing small jumps!

-Brilliant, well done! Guys, hasn't she done well?

-Yeah.

I think that hydrotherapy is definitely helping, don't you?

-Definitely.

-Yeah.

Thanks for joining us and finding out all about

this lovely pony, Smartie.

See you next time for more Ferne and Rory's Vet Tales!

ALL: Bye!

# Ferne and Rory, telling you the story

# Of some poorly pets

# We will take them, show you how to make them

# Better at the vet's

# Vet Tales

# These are our Vet Tales

# Vet Tales

# Ferne and Rory's Vet Tales. #