Episode 10 Junior Vets on Call

Pets, wildlife and all sorts of other creatures are in trouble.

The nation's vets and animal carers need assistance.

And now, thanks to you lot,

-BOTH:

-They've got it.

When we yelled, "Help", you didn't let us down.

And we've built a network of volunteer junior vets...

-..on call and standing by...

-..ready to jump in...

..and fix up ill and injured animals..

-..whatever they are...

-..wherever they are.

DOG BARKS

SHEEP BAAS

CHICKEN CLUCKS

DOG BARKS

Today, a horse with a limpy leg...

-..a puppy with a poorly paw...

-..and what are you feeding your pets?

Crisps, popcorn, marshmallows...

Surgery on big, hoofy animals is not for the faint-hearted.

Today is a really big task. Junior Vets, where are you?

-BOTH:

-Junior Vets, standing by.

My name's Alenya and when I grow up I want to be a zoologist.

And my name's Ruth, and my dog Princess is always

teaching herself new tricks.

So what's your dog's latest trick then, Ruth?

We went to the supermarket and we were all trusted to stay in the car

and as people walked by Princess would beep the horn.

It was so embarrassing and so cute at the same time.

And Alenya, what's this I hear about you wanting to work with animals?

-Is that right?

-Yeah, I want to like work with tigers and stuff,

but also I really like computers, so...

-There's a gap in the market, yeah?

-Yeah.

I've fixed your animal up and now your computer's fixed as well.

Well, we'll be working with animals today. Ready for the challenge?

-BOTH:

-Yeah.

-OK. Let's go.

Take one horse vet practice in Towcester...

SNORT

..add some animals in need of help...

HORSE BRAYS

..mix in one top, international vet, Cedric Chan, and what have you got?

An amazing day of vetting, that's what.

Junior Vets, we're going to meet Lacey today,

an eight-year-old, Irish Sports Horse.

Poor Lacey was kicked by another horse two months ago

and she's still feeling really sore.

-ALL:

-Hi, Lacey.

-She's so majestic.

-Why did Lacey receive that kick?

It's quite common that horses altogether they fight a little bit

sometimes to work out who's boss

and unfortunately Lacey came off second best this time.

It was kind of sad at first, you know?

-Seeing her with the...

-..limpy leg.

-Yeah.

Is this the hardest part of being a vet?

Having to see all these animals hurt?

It's nice to be able to know that we can help them.

That's the main thing. So we're going to try and get her better

again and hopefully get that leg fixed.

Cedric was really worried about her too,

so you knew that it must have been something quite serious.

Really major.

It's serious all right. Let's see what's going on inside Lacey's leg.

OK, Junior Vets, this is one of the X Rays we've taken of Lacey's left

hind tibia which is equivalent to our part of our leg, there.

Can you see anything that you wouldn't be happy with,

-on that X Ray?

-Around there?

-Yes, exactly. Spot on.

Little bone pieces everywhere...

.. and crevices where the bone should have been...

..It just looked quite abnormal.

The infection's got into the bone,

the bacteria have gone into the bone here and, if you like,

have eaten the bone away a little bit.

It's looking like Lacey's

going to need surgery to sort that leg out, and fast.

INEL: You see that?

That's a sign of a happy owner who's just had his pet

sorted out by an expert vet.

I know what you're thinking, but no, it wasn't me.

DOGS BARKING What's this? That sounds like pets

in need of help. Junior Vets, where are you?

-BOTH:

-Junior Vets, standing by.

I love dogs and what to help as many as I can.

I would really love the idea of becoming a vet.

Jamie, I hear you've got a wicked reason to why you've got a reason you

want to be a vet? I bet it's the passion and the need to help other

-animals, right?

-Yeah, and it pays well, so...

Yeah, yeah, yeah(!) The passion, the need to help out animals.

-Jay, are you ready?

-Yeah.

-You sure?

-Yeah.

-You positive?

-Yep.

All right, cool. So boys, let's go do some vet work, yeah.

Unpaid vet work.

Wendover Heights in Aylesbury,

a busy old vet practice that's going to keep my junior vets

well busy today, for sure.

Aw, look. It's Mrs Boylan and her staffie, Pippa,

who needs treatment on her poor, sore knee. Pippa that is, not Mrs Boylan.

So, what Pippa's got is a luxating patella.

What it is, is her kneecap is moving

in and out in the wrong position.

It sounded really painful and pretty sad

because she must have been going through a lot of pain.

Yeah, horrible. I felt really sorry for her.

I'm not usually a fan of dogs, but this one's quite cute, actually.

Oh, she's lovely, isn't she? She's really good.

-As long as she don't jump at me.

-Oh, she won't be jumping.

LAUGHS Oh, yeah. The knee thing.

-Yeah, exactly. The knee thing.

-I think that's why we get on.

'Yeah, Pippa hasn't been doing much jumping lately

'which is causing another problem.'

-To me, she looks like a fair-sized dog.

-Yeah, she's a bit overweight.

The extra weight must have put more pressure on her knee,

causing it to be more painful.

So what we're feeling for, is we're going to try and feel for her ribs.

See how easy we can feel them and have a feel for her waist as well.

-There's a bit of belly, there.

-Bit of a covering there, yeah.

'Yep, you could do with losing a couple of kilos, Pippa.

-'If you don't mind me saying.'

-Good girl.

'More importantly, that knee joint needs sorting.'

'The answer is an underwater workout.'

'I can't wait to see this.'

Now, here's where you ask us your animally questions.

-JOHNNY:

-And I make Inel go and find out the answer.

-You, what?

Will you investigate on whether this fact is true?

A single piece of silk from a spider's web

is thinner than human hair,

but at the same time five times stronger

than the same width of steel. Investigate.

Don't worry, Zita. They call me, "Inspector Fact-Finder."

-No, they don't, Inel.

-Oi.

But we will be back with your answer very soon, Zita.

JOHNNY: At the horse clinic, Junior Vets, Ruth and Alenya, are

investigating eight year old Lacey's leg injury with vet, Cedric.

What we've got to do under anaesthetic

is actually remove all of that infected bone

for Lacey to get better.

That sounds like a big operation. Check this out.

It's a special, padded room for Lacey to have her anaesthetic,

as when she goes down she could easily crush someone.

This is dangerous work. Stand well back, Junior Vets.

I was scared.

-She's really putting up a fight.

-She wouldn't respond to the anaesthetic.

When they were trying to get her against the wall so she wouldn't

hurt her leg worse it looked like she might have fell

on the people, as well.

Wow. She's out for the count. That was intense.

But now, we're ready for surgery.

-When they brought Lucy in on the winch...

-It's good, keep going.

..I was like, "Is this really happening?"

Let's get her under control.

'Now that's how you get a horse into surgery.'

This is unbelievable.

'I'm with you there, Alenya. Unbelievable.'

'And I get the feeling, we ain't seen nothing yet.'

INEL: 'It looks like Pippa the staffy is ready for her workout'

'with Junior Vets, Jay and Jamie.'

'This special treatment is really going to help her knee feel better.'

Good girl. That's it. All done. Good girl.

'Ha. Pippa looks quite at home on the treadmill, I reckon.'

-So, does she know what's coming now?

-Yes. She's done this before,

so she's a little bit of an expert now.

'Thought so. And just wait for what happens next. Go for it, Jamie.'

'The treadmill fills with water. Stay calm, Pippa. You're doing just fine.'

Right, then. Pippa, are you ready?

'And she's off!'

-Come on, Pippa!

-Good girl.

-'Awesome aqua moves, Pippa.'

'This is going to make her muscles stronger and slim her down a bit'

'so she'll put less strain on that poorly knee.'

-Good girl, well done.

-Good girl.

-Now, give her a treat.

'Good work, girl.'

At first she seemed a bit wary but then she really got into it

and enjoyed it afterwards.

Yeah, I really think she was enjoying it.

Pippa, ready?

All right, now make sure you've got tension on the lead a little bit,

-but not enough to pull her.

-Yeah.

'Woo!'

'Pippa's moonwalking now. Yeah!'

'all right!'

'Keep pushing, Pippa. Nearly there.'

-Good girl.

-'All done. Jamie, let's release the hound.'

There we go.

-'Oh, nice. A lovely, warm shower.'

-Good girl.

'And back into the arms of her loving owner, Mrs Boylan.'

So, how do you think her leg's doing after the treatment?

-MRS BOYLAN:

-She's not lifting her foot as much as she was.

So it's really good, yeah. I think she's improving.

I think she's done brilliantly.

'And brilliant work Junior Vets. Hey, Pippa.'

'Loving your new swagger, girl. Ha!'

'Vetted.' DOG BARKS

Earlier, Zita got me busy with this question.

Will you investigate on whether this fact is true?

A single piece of silk from a spider's web is thinner

than human hair, but at the same time five times stronger

than the same width of steel.

Investigate.

Well, yes. It is all true.

Spider silk is five times stronger than steel of the same diameter.

-No way, really?

-Oh, yeah. And get this.

Spider webs can withstand hurricane-force winds.

How do you know all this, Inel?

I just found this brilliant WEB-site. Ha!

Ugh.

JOHNNY: 'Back at the horse clinic,'

'Lacey the horse's world has been turned upside down.'

'No, really. It's been turned upside down.'

'THAT is an infected leg bone. THIS is major surgery.'

'THEY are junior vets, Ruth and Alenya, and they're all over this.'

So, let's get scrubbed up now.

'Ruth needs to be completely covered up because she is going to be at the'

'business end with vet Cedric, throughout.'

We need these hats really to try and keep the area we're operating in

nice and clean. OK, so we don't want any hair falling in there

and we don't want us to breathe any germs in there either.

So that's why you have to wear a mask as well.

If we bring any germs into surgery

it could cause serious problems for Lacey.

We use these antiseptic solutions

and we're going to get our hands and our arms nice and clean.

I knew that this just got super serious.

This is going to be really tense and everything just became real.

Looks like Alenya is teaming up with anaesthetist, Claire.

-CLAIRE:

-We want her to be nice and light.

We don't want her to be too sleepy.

Here we go.

-CEDRIC:

-You're a proper junior surgeon vet, now.

Everyone's in place. Let's do this.

So you cut straight down...

Swab me, please.

I never thought I'd be doing this.

No, it's something interesting to do on a Thursday morning, isn't it?

-Yep.

-Right, swab for me, please.

That's some very good assistance here, well done.

Can you see the sort of darker tissue at the bottom?

It shouldn't be like that.

So that actually is abnormal bone, straight away.

So that's infected bone that shouldn't be loose at all.

So this all needs to be cleaned away or else this will not get better.

And Alenya, don't mean to worry you but Lacey's counting on you.

I just felt so much pressure it was like...nothing

I've ever felt before.

Concentrate, Alenya.

-CLAIRE:

-So if you count the beats and start about...now.

Stop, now.

-It was seven.

-CLAIRE:

-Times that by four.

-That is...

-Please be good at maths.

-28.

Phew. You are good at maths.

Hang on, what's happening down the other end with Ruth and Cedric?

Just put your finger there and feel how rough that feels.

No, that doesn't feel right. It doesn't.

No, that's not normal at all. It should be nice and smooth.

We can see where the infected sequesterum are.

We're going to use this bone curette now to scrape out the bone there.

When you say, "We are going to scrape the bone out."

Cedric, do you mean...? Thought so.

Go on, Ruth. You can do this.

I'm really squeamish around blood

but as soon as I just saw that horse I was like,

"No. I've got to push aside all this fear. Got to do this."

-You went into like, professional mode.

-Yeah.

-OK, what does that feel like?

-It feels really rough and gritty.

-Gritty, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

-Horrible and gritty.

I thought she'd be a bit more grossed out

but she was like just, "I'll get my hands in this horse."

I was like... I was really surprised. I was proud of you.

Thank you. Thank you.

This is definitely a lot worse than you were expecting, isn't it?

Yeah, a lot of the time we take an X-ray and it underestimates what is

going on in there. Time, please.

-CLAIRE:

-You have an hour.

-The clock is ticking.

-We need to work fast.

No pressure, Ruth but it seems we need to get a move on.

MEOW

It's all go at the small animal surgery.

Here's another patient for Junior Vets, Jay and Jamie.

'Aw. Cute little puppy. And she belongs to vet, Milly.

'No pressure on you at all then, Junior Vets.'

Her name's Skye. She's 14 weeks old.

-Is she by any chance a Border Terrier?

-She is a Border Terrier.

Top marks for you, Jamie.

Why do you think we might be seeing Skye today?

The reason might be quite obvious.

Well, is it because she's like, broke her paw or damaged her paw?

Sore paw, that's my diagnosis.

Excellent diagnosis there, Inel.

'Aw. Poor, little Skye.'

'This giddy girl has only gone and fallen over'

'and broken two bones in her paw.'

Did her toes break because they're so weak?

So puppies are more prone to breakages

simply because their bones are a little bit softer

and the bones are smaller.

And while they're growing it does make them more prone

to having broken toes.

-Unlucky, Skye.

-I know.

-Unlucky.

-You've found a friend there, Skye.

When I first saw Skye she was like really cute

and she seemed really loving and the thought that she hurt herself

was hurtful inside.

Because such a nice dog had so much pain.

'That bandage looks a bit uncomfortable, Skye.

'But don't worry. If your broken paw has healed we can take it off today.'

We're going to give her a general anaesthetic

and then we're going to take an x-ray of her foot.

But before we give an anaesthetic it's important we give her

a full check over to make sure that we haven't missed anything

and that's she's safe to have the anaesthetic today.

-Like a car getting a full service.

-A full MOT. Yep, that's right.

'Ah, I see you're going for the old undercover checkup technique.'

'Jamie gives cuddles, Jay does the checks.'

'Skye is none the wiser. I like it.'

-Do I hold her like that, or...?

-Yep, that's fine. That's really good.

'How's Skye's eyes looking, Jay?'

-Yeah, they look fine. No redness or anything.

-Brilliant.

And if you have a look in her ears as well.

-Calm down, Skye.

-LAUGHS

-I just want to look in your ears!

-Nothing much. Go on, try now.

-Yep, clean. Clean.

-That's excellent.

'Finally, let's check Skye's heart.'

Count how many beats you can hear in 15 seconds.

Oh, look at the tension in the room. Look at it.

Oh, you can see the numbers rolling around in his head,

"One. Two. Three." But faster.

That isn't helping.

-You all right, there?

-Just feeling the boom-booms.

-Yep.

'Around 120 beats per minute.'

'Fast for a grown-up dog, perfect for a puppy.'

She's fit and healthy and more than safe to have the anaesthetic today.

-Right, let's get to it, boys.

-Come on, Skye.

DOG BARKS

We like driving in our Barker.

He never lets us down.

Especially when it comes to finding your brilliant animal videos.

# Doggy doggy lift your tail up

# Doggy doggy lift your tail up

# Doggy lift your tail up Doggy lift your tail up

# Doggy lift your tail up And show us what you've got. #

SQUEAK

Rosie, you've got a story for us?

A little while ago I had a butterfly breeding set

that I got for Christmas. And when all my butterflies hatched one

of my butterflies couldn't spread its wings properly

so it couldn't fly.

One day when I came back from a weekend away

I found that my butterfly that I had named Jump was dead

but I buried him in the garden and this is his grave.

It's gone a bit soggy and horrible now, but he's still in there.

My Jump.

You know what, Rosie?

It looks like you gave your Jump a great send off there.

Don't you think, Johnny?

Yeah, when you lose a pet

a little ceremony to say goodbye can really help.

Hopefully, Daniel can cheer us up. He needs our help.

I have a troublesome cat. He eats crisps, popcorn, marshmallows...

Oh, where are they? At the cinema?

Yeah. Eh, needs more veg though, right?

-..sweetcorn, peas...

-See, now we're talking, Daniel.

-..bread, fudge.

One time he even ate a scone.

He ripped open the packet and he ate the scone inside.

I didn't get much lunch that time.

Hey, you're greedy cat is coming nowhere near my lunch.

You should hold on to your own grub for your cat's sake, Daniel.

What do you mean, "For your cat's sake."?

Well, some human foods like onions can make them really ill.

It's better to stick to a cat food diet.

Yeah and maybe get yourself a massive lock for your fridge.

And maybe a big guard dog, or something.

CAT HISSES Yeah.

JOHNNY: Junior Vets, Alenya and Ruth are removing infected bone

from Irish Sports Horse, Lacey's, leg.

OK, so it feels a lot better there, now. How does it feel?

Yeah, it's a lot smoother than before.

'I have never seen anything like this in my life.'

-This is amazing. Absolutely huge.

-Yeah.

'We've got one Junior Vet hands on in upside down horse surgery...'

I mean I'm all right with the blood. I'm not feeling queasy whoa.

'..and the other in charge of keeping Lacey under anaesthetic.'

'We don't want it to wake up while they're still operating

because it could harm the injury that it already has.

So, it's all about the Junior Vets working as a team together?

-CLAIRE:

-Very much so. Really important to keep the horse alive,

successful surgery and a good outcome.

So, Ruth. Are you finding this a bit gory?

-Are you getting a bit squeamish over it?

-No, I'm good. I'm good.

And apparently this isn't even a lot of blood, so...

Well, it looks like a lot of blood from where I'm standing to be honest.

It's a bit like a horror movie. But you're doing a really good job.

'For this to work,

'every bit of infected bone needs to be taken out of Lacey's leg.'

OK, Junior Vets, we're going to take an X-ray, please. OK. Let's go.

'This is seriously nerve-wracking.

'The X-ray is going to tell us if the operation has worked

'and made Lacey's leg better. Fingers crossed.'

You can see it's nice and clear now.

So you've actually got everything.

I'm happy with it now. It's all good. All the infected bone is out.

So much relief.

'That's fantastic news. The operation has worked.

But Lacey has been in surgery for a long time

and her leg needs stitching back up.

-CLAIRE:

-We want our surgeons to get a wriggle on, don't we?

-Yeah.

-Ruth, Alenya didn't want to say hurry up but hurry up. OK.

-It's not easy!

LAUGHS

'Nearly there.'

'Done.

'Let's hope Lacey makes a full recovery.'

INEL: 'Back at the vets,

'me and Junior Vets, Jamie and Jay need to see

'if Skye's broken toes are better.

'Now, this wriggly pup needs to be very still.

'Anaesthetic please, Milly.'

-Into the muscle.

-'Sleep tight, Skye.'

So she is very sleepy now.

'Well done, Jamie.

'Those eye drops are going to stop her eyes getting all dry

'whilst she's out for the count.'

And if you just want to rub them around, that is perfect.

'A little oxygen to help with her breathing

'and we can check if Skye's bones have healed.'

Her paw was so tiny

that I was nervous I was going to break it even more.

I tell you what, we don't need Phillipa anymore because look,

we've got Jay. Jay knows what he's doing.

Got to say, that must be like having your shoes on for five weeks.

Well itchy. Oh. And the relief to take it off!

'First impressions, Junior Vets?'

Yeah, the left one's a lot smoother.

I can feel this one here, it has like...

In this one there's like bumps.

'Loving your work lads,

'but there's a better way to find out for sure if Skye's toes have healed.

'X-ray.'

If we just switch off the lights over here.

That's brilliant. X-rays!

Taken.

'Right, here we go.'

-This is it. The moment of truth, Skye.

-Drumroll, please.

Moment of truth.

-And there's our picture from today.

-Oh, there we go.

-So, how does that look, guys?

-Yeah.

-It's brilliant.

It's like a brand-new foot.

That means that Skye can have the bandage off full-time now.

'Result. And look at that,

'Skye's soon giving Jay and Jamie the run-around.

'Now that's what I'm talking about.

'Vetted.'

JOHNNY: 'Junior Vets, Ruth and Alenya

'have helped horse Lacey through her leg surgery.

'Now we all need her to come round from the anaesthetic safely.'

LACEY SNORTS

She's groggy, like...

'It all looks a bit scary

'but this top team have things completely under control.'

-LACEY WHEEZES

-Steady.

She's doing really, really well.

'She's steady, at last.'

She's standing and she's great.

'She's not only standing, check this out...'

Well, Junior Vets that was a big operation but Lacey looks good.

-She's back in her stable now and all has gone well in the end.

-Yeah.

What an unbelievable Junior Vet effort today.

Alenya and Ruth stayed so focused during that sensational surgery.

The Junior Vets today were fantastic.

They were hands on, got involved with the cases

and really took their responsibilities seriously

and I was very, very impressed by that.

So, Junior Vets. That was the end of an absolutely exhilarating day.

Oh, wow. I think I definitely want to work with animals now.

It was so amazing.

And Ruth, I mean did you actually expect to be so hands on today?

No, like when we got here

my expectations were like scooping up some poop, but now, oh my gosh.

It was just an amazing experience.

And I really want to do something like that again in the future.

And complete doggy devotion and dedication from Jay and Jamie.

Ah, I tell you what boys,

they talk about dog whisperers but you two... Woo!

Sorted those dogs right out.

I mean, Jay, how do you think Pippa took to that hydrotherapy?

Oh, she was fine. I reckon her leg will be better in no time.

And Jamie, do you reckon you're ready for a dog of your own?

Yeah, I think so. And Skye was amazing.

-She was just herself throughout.

-Yeah.

Oh, and Inel. Who do I call about my invoice?

Yeah...I'll sort that out now.

Junior Vets, this lot are loving your work.