Episode 5 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.

Today, we've got a wonky dog...

A toothy horse...

And a howler of a pet problem.

DOG HOWLS

This small animal hospital has some

major animal issues to deal with.

We're going to need some junior vets

who are seriously up for the challenge.

Junior vets, where are you?

BOTH: Junior vets, standing by.

I asked my mum to get me a pet

and she got me a bearded dragon.

I am an animal expert,

but I'm just not a fan of dogs.

Oh, there you are, junior vets.

So, Anthony, what's this I hear about you having a bearded lizard?

No, bearded dragons.

Bearded dragon, bearded lizards,

I don't mind whether it breaths fire or not.

And, Jaheem, what am I hearing about a fear of dogs?

Erm, well, I had a bad experience with dogs, so...

Do you think you're going to be able to find the courage to help

any dog that's in need today?

I don't give up, so I will find it.

Well, I think there's some animals in need in there,

-so shall we crack on?

-BOTH: Yeah.

-Well, let's do it.

Towcester Vet Centre is in Northamptonshire.

And, sorry, Jaheem, but it's full of dogs that need urgent help.

Oh, hello! I think this is one of them.

-Hi.

-Hello. This is Tilly.

It was, kind of, scary, because I've had bad experiences with dogs.

-How old is she?

-She's about 15 months.

Come on, Tilly.

So, Tilly, my friend, what's up?

Only one way to find out.

Walkies!

We started to walk her up and down numerous times

and we still couldn't identify the problem.

I was really hard, wasn't it?

Yeah, it was cos, by just doing a tiny walk you can't see the problem.

-But we finally got there in the end.

-Yeah.

Now a dog problem needs a vet called Cat, I reckon. Oh, perfect!

Cat the vet, how about that?

Right, junior vets, you've seen her walk.

What do you think is wrong with her?

Well, from what we've been able to see, it looks like

that, when she walks, her legs aren't really positioned right

and they're, kind of, in like this...

And she's walking a bit flat.

And that is become she's had a growth deformity as a puppy.

So, what we need to do is, we need to correct that.

-BOTH:

-Yeah.

And look at these X-rays.

Poor Tilly's legs are really bent and they're getting worse.

Surgery is the only way.

We're going to go into theatre now.

-OK.

-You OK with blood?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, I think I'm OK,

just a bit nervous, cos I've never done anything like this before.

This is going to be a tricky operation.

Tilly needs a metal plate in her leg, to help straighten it out.

Are you up for this, junior vets?

How you feeling about it?

Nervous, but I've dealt with blood before.

-Do it for Tilly.

-For Tilly.

-And justice.

I like it, lads.

Tilly, you're in safe hands.

# Horsey, horsey, don't you stop

# Just let your feet go clippity-clop. #

Unless you're in pain,

cos if you're in pain, just stop, mate. Immediately, yeah?

Yeah? I mean, if you're feeling poorly or anything, help is at hand.

I do know a couple of junior vets.

Well, where are you?

BOTH: Junior vets, standing by.

I want to be a vet and I managed to train my pet fish.

I love horses.

I want to work with horses.

# The click-click-clop You don't stop. #

-How's it going, girls?

-Good.

-Good.

-Good, good.

-Claire, I hear you like horses?

-And hamsters.

-And hamsters, as well?

-Yeah.

Well, good thing you're here, cos I'm pretty certain there's horses.

Don't know about hamsters, though. What about you, Rosie?

I hear you've got a goldfish that you tamed?

Yeah, it sucks my fingers and I stroke its belly.

Is that true that goldfish have a three-second memory?

Oh, another thing. Is it true that goldfish have three-second memories?

Tower Farm Riding Stables near Edinburgh

is home to loads of horses that need vet care.

Ah, here's vet Matt and that looks

like our first patient.

-Hey, hey, what's happening, Matt?

-This is Blue, here,

and he needs his teeth looking at.

Horses' teeth grow all their lives and they get sharper and sharper.

What we need to do is we need to rasp their teeth down once a year

with this tool here, so they don't stick into the horse's cheeks.

Why can't the horses ground their own teeth down?

We give them nice, soft hay.

In the wild, they'd be eating hard food and heathers and bark and twigs

and things like that, so in the wild they knock off the sharp points.

Whoa! Look at that bit of kit! Hold on, Matt.

Some of this equipment looks like it's made for buildings,

not for horses.

-Doesn't that hurt them?

-No, it's completely safe.

We'll take your word for it, Matt, for now.

-Right, shall we get started?

-Definitely.

-Yes.

Super. Let's go.

Hey, Blue, don't look so worried. This injection should calm you down.

-Let's get this gag on, shall we?

-I'll help you.

-You'll help me.

Now Blue has chilled out,

we need a strong volunteer to put his protective gag on.

Ah, Claire. Perfect.

-See if you can get one more click, girls.

-That's it.

-Go on.

Sorted. Ready to vet.

Imagine if you could ask any question about an animal

and get it answered.

Yup, I've imagined it and so has George.

Take it away, my man.

Do goldfish actually have a memory of three seconds?

It's been bugging me for years and years and years.

And how would they find out that they have a memory of three seconds?

Leave this with us, George.

We'll get back to you on that one.

Are Jaheem, Anthony and Tilly ready for surgery?

Good girl.

Tilly needs to be out for the count

before her bent legs are straightened.

It's going to be a big operation.

Lucky the junior vets are on hand, then.

Now this has got something called surgical spirit on it,

which helps to clean the leg before I put the line in.

So, if someone wants to, they can just rub that on the scrubbed bit.

Tilly, she was really nice and I got her trust,

so it was like the first time I actually got a dog's trust.

I'm just reassuring her

and making sure that she knows she's in safe hands

and that she doesn't get too stressed out and worried over it.

You can really see her legs there, the way she's sitting,

-how deformed they are.

-Yeah. Don't worry.

That's just allows us to give drugs

and anything she needs straight into her bloodstream.

-She's been very brave through this.

-Yeah.

So far, so good.

So, we're now going to make her really sleepy,

so this is a medicine that will just put her completely to sleep.

It was, like, weird to hear her heartbeat,

cos it was like a squashed bag.

All the fur from all of here needs to come off, OK?

It was a bit weird for me shaving a dog's leg, because I,

obviously, never experienced anything like that before.

-Practise on each other, if you want.

-Not me. You can't practise on me.

Really just hoping the surgery can go well,

because we've grown a bit of a connection towards Tilly

and we really do want things to go well.

-So, you guys are really helping Tilly's life?

-Yeah.

And who does that make you feel?

-I feel like a hero.

-Like a hero.

If it all goes well, you will be a hero, Jaheem.

Back at the Riding Stables,

Blue the horse needs some essential dental work.

-Her breath stinks.

-Phoo-ee!

Blue's mouth needs a good rinse.

I think Claire might have this one covered.

Good job, Claire. Perfect job.

There's a lot coming out, isn't there?

-It's all on his tongue.

-Is it all on his tongue?

-Yeah.

Mm-hm. It's minging all right. Keep going, Claire.

-It's manky.

-It is a bit manky, isn't it?

It was really disgusting in the mouth.

-It was a bit smelly, as well, wasn't it?

-Smelly.

We're going in again.

Why do I feel I'm going to get dragged into this?

You touch his tongue.

Me? Why can't Rosie do this?

Argh!

Rosie, take over, please!

It's slimy and eurgh!

Yeah, it was pretty horrible.

Any rough teeth in there?

How far does it go up?

One of his teeth is right up here.

Actually, a horse's teeth take up more space in their head

then their brain. No wonder this is such a big job.

Eurgh!

-Keep going.

-You're doing a good job, Rosie.

How many you got?

One.

We're going to grind the teeth down, so it's nice and smooth,

so when he has a good bite of food, he doesn't have any sharp points

that are going to dig into his cheek and tongue.

Well, bring on the power tools, junior vets.

-Good girl.

-Come on, Rosie.

Good. That's it. A bit more.

Yeah, there was a lot of pressure,

because if you put it in the wrong place or it wasn't on the tooth,

it would really hurt her, so it was quite pressuring.

That's it, Rosie. Perfect.

Oh, it just reminds me of being at the dentist.

Nice one, junior vets.

Blue, your teeth are looking lovely. Clean and smooth.

Earlier, if I remember rightly, George asked us this...

Do goldfish actually have a memory of three seconds?

It's been bugging me for years and years.

And how would they find out that they have a memory of three seconds?

Well, the answer is... Oh, I've forgot.

-Johnny.

-Goldfish have much longer memories.

In experiments, some could remember when to push a button for food

even though it was only active for one hour per day.

Yeah, but do goldfish have three second...

-Inel, don't start with that again.

-What?

Back in surgery, junior vets Jaheem

and Anthony are scrubbing in for Tilly's operation with Cat.

Here's one finger pick,

so you want to pick all the dirt underneath your fingernails.

Um, Cat is our vet, not actually a cat.

The patient is a dog, Tilly, who needs a plate on her leg bone,

to correct her bendy legs.

Feeling a bit nervous now, because theatre is definitely going to be

tense and tough, so I'm going to just hopefully do the job.

You managed to get your hair in then?

Yeah. We had to put my hair under anaesthetic,

just so it went to sleep first and then we got it in.

-So, yeah, it's good.

-Excellent.

Jaheem's job will actually be to help the anaesthetist today.

Yeah, I can hear something.

He has to make sure Tilly is safe and unconscious at all times.

-Big job, Jaheem.

-Those are swabs.

So, occasionally I might say, "Can I have a swab, please."

I was just really nervous, because I was so inexperienced, I thought

I might mess it up,

and for Tilly's sake, I really didn't want to do that.

Is she asleep, anaesthetist?

She's still breathing, so that is good.

That is very good.

This is intense. I can't look.

You might not want to either, if you're squeamish,

right about now...

I feel, kind of, bad, because it feels like we're hurting her,

but actually I know that this is actually what's best.

That is a lot of blood.

All her blood was pouring like a volcano erupting, like...

This is the plate we're going to use.

Can you see two different size of holes?

Why do you think that might be?

Because at one side, the bones are bigger

and then, nearer the bottom, they're smaller.

Absolutely right.

This is one seriously big operation.

There was lots of blood, which was very overpowering

and, in the end, I felt very faint.

-I've got bit of a headache.

-You look a bit pale.

-Do you want to unscrub?

-Yeah, that's OK.

I'm with you, Anthony, all the way.

And we'll go and have a little sit down, mate.

No worries.

Hey, Jaheem, we need you to step in and scrub up.

It's down to you now, mate.

Anthony, he left because he had a headache,

so I had to be there, to be the main man.

I feel good, because now I will experience his job, too.

Going to be straight in there, eh?

Straight in there. I'm going to keep all my nervousness inside.

Great effort, Jaheem.

Just because I left, it didn't stop you from doing what you had to do,

so I think that was really, really good and professional.

What are you doing now?

I've drilled a hole and now I'm putting the screw in.

This is the critical point in Tilly's operation.

Then...disaster.

I think I might actually have to leave the room.

OK, that's fine. Go.

A key member of the surgical team can't stop coughing

and needs to leave the theatre.

Cat must make a quick decision.

Right, I've got a job for you now.

Can you go under there again and come stand next to me

-and hold this leg for me?

-Yes, you heard.

Junior vet Jaheem is now Cat's first assistant.

Hold your nerve, Jaheem. Tilly's depending on you.

At a busy riding school,

stable manager Debbie is worried about Sam the horse's limp.

Don't worry, Debbie. Junior vets Claire and Rosie are on their way.

How did she get her injury, do you know?

She came in from the field with it sore,

so I guess she must have injured it, done something to it up there

and she's got a wee bit of a swelling on it.

So, which of Sam's legs is causing her trouble, junior vets?

Is it the back left one?

When Sam started walking, it was really hard to see which leg it was?

That's not a bad guess, actually.

I think it's the right front

and although you may think you've got the wrong end,

if the right front is sore,

the back left can also look a bit funny as well.

-She's, like, dragging it along the floor.

-Hm.

But she's also just slightly nodding when she comes down on the good leg,

so she's putting less weight on the sore leg.

So we know which leg it is, but what's wrong with it?

Any clues, Matt?

So, what I've noticed here, junior vets,

is that Sam has got a swelling on the back of her tendon area here.

Oh, yeah! See that?

A tendon is what joins muscles to bones.

I know my stuff, mate.

But we need to try and work out what is causing that swelling

before we can work out how to treat Sam.

-In here, guys.

-Do you know what?

I reckon we need some fancy kit to look inside Sam's leg.

Perfect. An ultrasound scanner.

If you can help me get this gel on her leg,

so it transmits all the sound from her body into my machine.

Hold your hand out, Claire.

-There we go. Cold gel.

-This is freezing cold.

Keep a close look at the screen. See what you can see.

See where the arrow is?

It's all black. That's because there's bleeding.

She's bled into one of her tendons.

And that's what's causing the problem.

Ah, Sam, mate, that sounds painful.

What we need to do is rest Sam, so it heals,

but she also needs to be bandaged, to support that leg,

so she doesn't do any more damage to her tendon.

Good first-aid skills, Rosie.

It all provides padding

and we don't want anything to be tight on a horse's leg, because

it can damage the skin. So we need to use lots and lots of padding.

-I think I did a pretty good job.

-I think so, too, Rosie.

A few weeks rest, Sam, and you'll be right as rain, girl.

Yup, another satisfied customer.

Now, by the power of our trusty doggy car Barker,

we can find out what you and your pets have been up to.

Come on, Barker.

# Doggy, lift your tail up

# Doggy, lift your tail up

# I said, doggy, lift your tail up

# And show us what you've got. #

First up, Alana and her dog Tan.

I've got a pet with a hidden talent.

Tan. She can sing Old MacDonald Had A Farm.

Right. One, two, three.

# Old MacDonald had a farm

# E-I-E-I-O

# And on that farm he had a dog

# E-I-E-I-O... #

TAN HOWLS ALONG

# Anywhere... #

# Old MacDonald had a farm

# E-I-E-I-O. #

TAN HOWLING

Yeah, you're right. It was amazing.

APPLAUSE

Nice on, Alana and Tan. But what's up with you, Patrick?

I have a very troublesome pet called George.

He's a budgie and every time I let him out of his cage,

he flies really high up and doesn't come down.

-Yeah, budgies can be a little bit flighty.

-Yeah.

Well, at least it's not an angry budgie, though.

He also attacks me when I go near him,

so I would like to be better friends that him.

-You spoke to soon, Inel.

-Yeah.

Well, at least is shows that Patrick clearly loves his bird.

Must be frustrating, though.

Yeah, but luckily for Patrick, there are things you can do.

Is there?

Spend time with your budgie. Talk to it.

Let it fly free in your room regularly

and put your hand in its cage.

I'm going to try that.

If you do that, Patrick,

you'll build trust and soon have a loyal pet.

Tilly's still in surgery and junior vet Jaheem has been promoted.

How's he doing, Cat?

Perfect. You're doing a really good job.

Anthony's taking a breather,

so Jaheem is flying solo for this part of the operation.

I am so impressed, mate.

That's perfect.

I felt brave now, because I was holding a dog,

I was actually holding a dog for actually once,

so it was a big achievement.

You're going to feel some pressure,

because I'm going to be drilling against the bone.

Wow! That's amazing.

The metal plate is attached to Tilly's legs, to straighten it up.

It was weird.

I couldn't believe it, because they just drilled her bones

just straight through it and screwed it in.

Very impressive, Jaheem.

-Are you all right?

-Yeah.

-You're very brave.

Yes! Anthony, you're back.

What a trouper.

-Feeling better?

-Yeah.

What happened earlier, Anthony?

My head just started hurting and I think was going a bit pale

and I just thought it would be best if I remove myself.

I was really glad to be back in theatre, because I really want to

help Tilly and get the job done as fast as possible.

You can relax now. You can put her leg down.

You did a brilliant job. I couldn't have done that without your help.

-Thank you.

-You're welcome.

-Really well done, Jaheem.

-I was so proud.

I was like, it was an upper level, like, a new achievement,

so I was really proud of myself. I never thought I could do it.

Ooh, there's a lot of blood.

But Tilly's operation is nearly over.

Put all the tissues back together again

and make sure that it heals nicely, and that it looks nice, as well.

-You don't want to leave a nasty scar.

-No.

-Just there.

-Here?

-Yup.

Ta-da!

Right, let's go see if X-ray's ready.

Now that's what I call teamwork.

Who's next up at the riding school, Claire and Rosie?

Ah, three ponies are due their vet checks.

I reckon the junior vets can do with an extra pair of hands.

Right, girls, it's time to round up some ponies.

Highlight of the day. Right.

I've never done this before.

-How do we do this? How do we do it, Claire?

-Go!

See that? Smooth. He didn't even know I did it.

Come on.

I wanted to go that way, but she wanted to...

HORSE GRUNTS All right. Yeah.

Right. Who's first, Matt?

I need to check out Furby here, to see if she's fit and healthy.

So, the first thing we're going to do is check out her heart.

Now, her heart is as big as a football.

And it's right on this side of her body.

Not that big. Like, that big...

She's a big animal

and a fast heart rate would be a sign that Furby wasn't very well.

It's really slow. Does that mean she's healthy?

That means she's healthy, yes.

So the next thing we're going to do, junior vets, is check Furby's gums.

-And you can see she's nice and pink there.

-It's really pink.

Right, there's one more thing we've got to do.

And that is take the temperature.

But we don't take temperatures in horses from the mouth.

Put it in their ear.

Warmer.

In the nose.

No. I'm afraid we take it from the bum.

I'm already holding Furby here, and that's the most important part.

-Reckon that's a job you can help me with?

-Yeah, Rosie.

-Let's have a go.

IMPERSONATES ROSIE: I'm up for it.

Nice one, Rosie. OK. Thanks for volunteering as well.

IMPERSONATES ROSIE: No problem, Inel.

Putting the thermometer up the bum wasn't really

the highlight of the day, cos it was pretty disgusting.

In you go. All the way in. All the way.

-What do you see?

-Up his bum.

-38.1, so it's healthy?

-Healthy. Good job, Rosie. Well done, you.

Furby's vetted. Now, for the rest of you.

Next, Topsy.

-Healthy.

-Healthy.

-Healthy.

-Then, Val.

-Higher heart rate?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Do you mind doing that, Claire? Are you not squeamish?

-No.

-3.7.9.

-37.9.

-37.9.

-Perfect.

-That's pretty good.

Another healthy horse. Good job, Claire.

-I'm an...

-MISPRONOUNCES:

-expert...

-Expert.

-Expert with horses.

Three healthy, happy horses.

Junior vetted.

How's Tilly the spaniel getting on with her wonky leg?

Her big operation is over.

Now, junior vets Jaheem and Anthony need to find out

if the metal plate has done the trick.

What does the X-ray show, Cat?

Marvellous. I'm really pleased with that.

My plate is where it should be and we've got limb alignment there,

so good job, junior vets.

Fantastic news, Tilly.

Your leg is all straightened up.

As soon as you're better, they'll sort the other one out for you.

Right, here we are, two hours after she's come out of theatre

and she's still quite sleepy.

Right, let's see who she is. Tilly!

We've, kind of, grown quite close to her,

considering we've spent most of the day with her,

so it's really good to see that we've made a difference.

It's like coming to collect our trophy,

but we're just seeing our patient.

So, shall we see if she wants to have some food?

Oh, she says, "Yeah."

Good girl.

Aw, that's right. Get that down you, girl.

Good luck, my little mate.

-Bye, Tilly.

-See you next time, yeah.

Truly brilliant junior vetting today.

Claire and Rosie vetted nonstop

when they were on call at the riding school.

Messy, manky, marvellous work, though.

Well, I think Rosie and Claire did amazingly well.

I gave them some hard tasks to do, but they just got stuck in there.

Really important to make sure all the horses that are used here in

the riding school are healthy and I can sleep well tonight.

And great work from Jaheem and Anthony,

who faced seriously heavy-duty surgery.

They interacted and were very sympathetic with the animal.

Jaheem was very good as my surgical assistant,

I couldn't have finished that surgery without him.

And Anthony did extremely well when he was monitoring

the anaesthetic, which is such an important part of the operation.

So, junior vets, that's the end of a really tense day.

Jaheem, earlier on, you said to me

that you weren't such a big fan of dogs, in particular.

Yeah, it changed my mind a lot, because by helping out a dog

and seeing that she trusts me, it's actually a big achievement.

I wasn't really expecting to go into surgery, but you know I just

tackled it and did all I could and made sure I made the most of it.

Thank you, junior vets, this lot are loving your work.