Episode 7 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 volunteered Junior Vets.

On call and standing by.

Ready to jump in.

And fix up ill and injured animals.

Whatever they are...

Wherever they are.

Coming up today - a big dog with a wonky walk.

A seal needs saving.

And Lauren wants help with her cat... Whoa! She's huge.

Yes, yes, Mrs Dawson. Just bring Misty in

and we'll get her fixed right up. OK, OK, bye-bye, bye.

-PHONE RINGS

-Hello? Oh Mr Johnson, yep, yep.

Just take the two tablets and that'll be fine. Yeah, he loves it.

Put it in his doggy treats, OK? Bye.

-PHONE RINGS

-Hello, yep?

-PHONE RINGS

-Can you please hold?

I've got another call coming in.

Hello? Yep, no, I told you two tablets for...

-PHONE RINGS

-Yeah, for Toby, yeah.

OK. OK, Misty? OK? Toby?

Misty? Toby? Misty? Ahh!

Junior Vets, I need your 'elp!

BOTH: Junior Vets standing by!

I love animals, but I don't have any pets and I can't wait to help 'em.

I like animals, but they don't seem to like me very much.

I have two fish so they don't bite.

Ah, good timing.

I'll tell you what, today is going to be a busy day.

There's a lot of sick animals and a lot of mashed-up pets.

-Are you up for the task?

-TOGETHER: Yeah!

-Are you sure?

-TOGETHER: Yeah.

-Let's go help some animals.

Greenside Vets might be in a small village in the Scottish Borders

but it's like vetting from the future here.

And Red, the collie,

is hopefully going to get

some cutting-edge treatment today

that could help her with her hip-joint problems.

Yeah, she's quite anxious so we'll just be very gentle.

Good girl. Well done.

Poor Red, she is nervous. What's happening with those hips, Andy?

It's not a nice round structure as it is here.

Looking at all the X-rays and I'm like, "That's not normal."

The hip joint, it isn't as strong and as stable

and that causes instability.

Yep, Red's hips haven't grown properly

and that's caused a painful joint problem called arthritis. Poor girl.

This will be causing her discomfort and she's a young dog.

She's five years old.

I just felt that if I didn't help Red she would just suffer more.

So this is a progressive condition, so what we're seeing today, if left,

would be far worse in years to come.

And it would potentially shorten her life.

It was just like, "Whoa! That's really sad for a dog that young."

Oh, no, this doesn't sound good for Red.

Andy, what can we do?

So this is a very new technique in this country where we use

the animal's own cells to treat the problem.

So stem cells will go into the joint

and they will reduce inflammation and pain.

Whoa! Red's own cells could fix her?

How cool is that?

It was pretty high-tech, you know.

Yep, told you.

So Red needs to be unconscious for the surgery

to remove her special healing cells. Get a grip, Sean!

And just keep pressure on that vein until I get the needle in

and I'll tell you when to release it, OK?

How quickly will she, like, fall asleep?

-She's already asleep.

-Is she already?

Phew! So Red's not going to feel a thing.

Sick seals at the seaside in Scarborough need saving.

Calling all Junior Vets!

BOTH: Junior Vets standing by.

Puppy-loving Junior Vet ready for duty.

Junior Vet here, ready to work with sick animals.

Mia, they're not actually going to be sick.

I really hope not.

So, Mia, sick animals are an issue?

I have a phobia of sick.

You don't like sick?

Just human sick.

-Ah, so you're OK with shark sick?

-Yep.

-You'd be fine with a prawn that puked?

-Absolutely.

Oh, right, OK. Now, Anna, have you got any phobias at all?

-I'm scared of swans.

-Scared of swans?

I think you're right, them long necks, you just can't trust them.

Just so I know, you are all right helping sea creatures?

-Yeah.

-Excellent! Let's do it.

Scarborough Sea Life Sanctuary -

full of cool aquatics from around the world including sharks. Aggh!

It's also a hospital for local sea life

that's got itself into a bit of bother.

Junior Vets, meet your first patient, Jane the grey seal.

All hands on deck!

-Hi, guys.

-BOTH: Hi.

-Nice to meet you.

-So do you want to have a look at your little seal?

-Ah!

She is only four to five months old.

Oh!

And, unfortunately, when she's been trying to find and learn how

to catch her food, she's got tangled up in some fishing wire.

And the fishing wire's gone round her neck.

She looks like she's in a bit of pain now.

I was really excited because I love seals. They're really cute.

She looks a bit grumpy, so the way she going to tell me

that she's grumpy is by snarling, trying to bite and move around, OK?

No wonder Jane's in a bad mood.

She's had a horrible time

and seals would much rather be in the water than out of it.

In fact, some of them can hold their breath

for nearly two hours and they even sleep under water.

So I need you to do something, you need to be straight on it

cos we need to try and do this as quickly as we can.

Vets, are we ready? Let's do it.

Fishing wire has cut poor Jane's neck and it needs sorting out

before it makes her really ill.

First she needs a proper, all-over vet check. Anna?

How does Jane's heart sound?

It's kind of, like, different sounds, beats of waves.

So you can hear the heartbeat? That's really good.

It should be like lub-dub, lub-dub.

Phew! A nice healthy heart but Jane might still have a high temperature,

and that could mean an infection.

Let's get to the BOTTOM of this, Anna!

You can see that small hole there, just put that into there

and then press the button once you're in.

So, Anna, how do you feel about taking the temperature

from a seal's bum?

It wasn't pleasant but it needed to be done, so...

It's 37.2.

That's a really good temperature.

Well, I'm impressed and it's a great start,

but Jane's wound is still a worry.

Cor! You lot don't half set us some tough animally questions, you know.

And we love the challenge.

Well, I do anyway.

Well, so do I!

The amazing animal facts that I would like you to find out

if they are true or not are -

are all polar bears left-handed,

and do most elephants weigh less than a blue whale's tongue?

Whoa! I hope those things are true.

We'll have a dig around and let you know in a bit, Samantha.

Ah, Red the collie's even cuter now she's all sleepy

but Junior Vets Luke and Sean are looking sharp,

ready for this cutting-edge vet work.

Red has a painful hip problem and this treatment could change her life.

Sean, is dog shaving as easy as you're making it look?

It's actually really hard to shave a dog.

Well, I think you did well, mate, and Luke that's a lot of cleaning.

-It's been like a good hour just cleaning...

-An hour!

Like an hour of just cleaning it, just cleaning Red, just like...

Now they need to remove this fatty tissue

so it can be sent to the lab and treated

so it has special healing powers and can be used to repair Red's hips.

What's happening, vet Andy? Just tell us how it is.

Right, I'm going to make a small incision through the skin,

there will be a wee bit of blood, OK?

Ergh! Less of the blood, thank you, Andy!

Seeing inside the dog and I'm like,

"Ah, so that's what inside a dog looks like."

Is that the fat?

Yes, that's the fat, OK.

-It looked really weird.

-He was just stretching it!

Looked kind of small but...

Yeah, it's small but it could save her life.

It looked like a wee tiny mini brain but it was just really disgusting.

It looked like gunge.

Wow, Junior Vets, you're getting really stuck in now!

But what's that you're using to seal up Red's wound?

Surely it can't be glue?

So this is like superglue.

We're running it down the length of the wound.

Oh, OK, OK, it is glue.

Yep, and that's one special delivery of Junior Vet doggy fat

ready to be sent off to the lab.

That's it, so that's our fat sample.

Hopefully, the healing cells in it

will have Red's hips sorted within months.

And look at this, a few hours later Red is ready for home.

Sean, make sure owner Julia knows the score.

All right, she's been fed and things so she'll be fine

and she was very brave.

OK, she looks in good shape. Thanks very much.

Good luck, Red.

Junior Vets Anna and Mia have a big job on with grey seal Jane.

The poor thing swam into some fishing wire.

How's her neck, Sarah the vet?

-See there, there's a really deep wound.

-Ow!

So we need to clean that up and make sure that's going to heal properly.

Anna's all over this with iodine solution.

What exactly does that do, Sarah?

We're just trying to make the wound as clean as possible.

Ah, so that's goodbye to any nasty germs.

I was really glad that Anna did it because if she didn't do it,

it could've got infected and, yeah, she did a really good job.

It looks really painful and she's been really, really good.

How long does it take to heal it up?

It might take a couple of weeks to heal cos it's quite a deep wound.

Jane's badly dehydrated - the team need to get fluids down her, fast.

There you go, get it all in, excellent.

This might not look like loving vet care but trust me, people, it is.

This liquid could save Jane's life.

Will she be released back into the wild?

Yes, she will, yeah.

As soon as she's healed and she's feeling all happy again

and she's eating lots of fish, then she'll go back to the wild

but she needs to weigh about 35 kilos, so then we know

we're sending her out with a little bit of a packed lunch in her belly.

That's a SEAL of approval from a happier, healthier Jane.

It was scary but exciting

and I'm glad that we've done everything that we can.

She'll thank us one day.

Now, earlier, Samantha asked us

-not one but two tricky animal questions.

-Greedy!

Are all polar bears left handed,

and do most elephants weigh less than a blue whale's tongue?

Polar bear hands? Inel, I've got this one, right?

No, she said left! So are polar bears right-handed?

What? No!

In fact, polar bears use both paws exactly the same so that's not true.

Ah, shame.

But get this - a blue whale's tongue weighs nearly three tonnes, which is

around the same as your average-sized female African elephant,

so that is true.

ELEPHANT TRUMPETS

'OK, Junior Vets Luke and Sean - up for meeting your next doggy patient?

'This is Boris the rottweiler and he's a beauty.'

Here he is, big boy Boris. You ready for him, boys?

I saw Boris and just thought he was going to be, like, really mean,

but he came up and he was like a big teddy bear.

But big Boris has some serious health problems -

arthritis in his legs

and a life-threatening condition in his spine called wobbler disease.

He keeps on limping.

I just felt really sorry for him, thinking of all the pain

and discomfort he'd be in.

-Didn't you?

-Mm-hm. I felt really, really sorry for him.

Boris should be powerful and perfectly balanced.

Rottweilers are natural herding dogs.

Years ago they guided cattle to markets in Germany.

This is a tough case for Andy because Boris is his dog.

Is that hurting him?

He's walking like that because it is uncomfortable to walk.

Remember Red?

Earlier, my Junior Vets help take some fatty tissue from her

and Boris is having the same type of treatment.

His healing cells are already back from the lab.

So what's the plan, Andy?

We're going to inject stem cells into his spine to try

and get him walking much better on his back legs.

All right! Look at that!

He's getting... You're getting the full works, bruv.

-I reckon we should get him sorted straightaway.

-I think so.

-Right, let's do it.

-OK, you ready?

-Sean, led the way.

No, this way, Sean.

Sean, we want to be going this way, mate. Sean?

You're going the wrong way, mate. Sean?

Tell him it's this way.

Just doesn't listen to me.

Looks like you've got things under control now, Sean.

A big dose of anaesthetic and Boris should be straight under.

A little bit more, OK.

'Hang on, Boris still looks wide awake.'

Should we sing to him to make it, like, work faster?

It might do, depends on your singing?

Oh, please, depends on my singing? Huh!

# Go to sleep, Boris.

# Go to sleep

# I say go to sleep

# Why ain't you sleeping? #

'See?! It's working.'

# And I said, he's going to go to sleep... #

Inel's singing - whuf! - I was almost deaf because of that.

It's the best thing ever.

# Slee-eep! #

See that? Wow.

Usually it takes about half an hour but out for the count, look.

'Right, now Boris is asleep, he needs stem cell injections into

'his legs and around his spine,

'so work fast with those clippers, Luke!'

Now, this is the futuristic sciencey bit.

Here we've got dry ice, OK? So this is minus 80.

Wow! Precious healing stem cells made in the lab from Boris' fat.

To be a part of that is amazing, but it's also extremely risky.

Do you think it'll work?

For his spine, I'm not sure - there's no guarantees.

And what if it doesn't?

Well, if it doesn't work, then that's not good news for Boris.

Fingers crossed, people.

That's the Sea Life Sanctuary by the, er, sea.

And they are the Junior Vets, Mia and Anna.

Hope you're feeling brave, girls, because I've heard Lindsey

needs your help with...some sharks.

Precious baby sharks that are ready to move into the grown-ups' tank.

-Do you know what these are?

-Stingrays.

Actually, these are English rays.

Hang on, I thought we were working with sharks?

Also in the shark family, so technically they're sharks.

Oh, right.

I mean, yeah, I knew that.

As well as the rays, Lindsey's breeding programme is also

helping these bull-huss sharks.

We've actually got some now that are big enough

to come back in with their parents.

So you guys are going to catch my babies and you're going to

get in the tank with the sharks and put the babies in the tank for me.

You OK with that, Junior Vets?

Will they sting us?

Nope, because these ones haven't got a sting to them.

What will happen if we stand on them?

Cos I really don't want to stand on one.

The key to it is if you just shuffle your feet like you're doing

a bit of a dance, they'll actually move out of your way

because they have a fantastic way of picking up vibrations.

Junior Vets, are you ready to help the precious babies get back

to their parents?

Remember, nice and easy.

I don't want to fall in.

You're OK, you're not going to fall in, we won't let you.

Where are they?

Oh, I think it's swimming into my net, it swam into my net.

OK, brilliant. Lift her up, then. There we go.

Aww, a tiny-weenie shark baby can rejoin Mum and Dad. Sweet.

There's one swimming there, Anna. Can you see it?

There we go, and he's in!

Well done, Junior Vets.

All the baby bull-huss sharks are sorted.

Now it's the tiny rays' turn for the Junior Vet treatment.

Come back a tiny bit, that's it. Lovely.

It's really exciting and I'm really proud.

Look at your ray you've just caught.

-So now she can go back and see Mummy and Daddy, eh?

-Yep.

-Awesome.

If only we had a dog car that could play brilliant videos of you

and your pets. Hold on, we have. And a song.

# Doggy, lift your tail up

# Doggy, lift your tail up

# I said, doggy, lift your tail up

# And show us what you got. #

First up, girl-and-dog duo Eve and Patch.

I've got a question for the Junior Vets On Call team.

My Jack Russell cross whippet cross Staffy - Patch -

has an unusual habit.

How come, when I hold a note like this...

-# Gehh... #

-PATCH BARKS

How come he sings along with me? Why?

Why does he do this?

I don't think he's singing along, Eve.

I think that's doggie language for, "Please stop."

Are you sure? I mean, that's a pretty catchy tune, you know.

# Mguhhh... #

Please stop, man!

Anyway, I think Lauren's got a problem with a giant cat.

Oh, yeah?

Yes, I do. She's right there.

I don't see no giant cat, man.

Whoa, that is a giant cat!

Look, its head's bigger than her!

This is Fidget and she's staring at herself in the camera

at this moment.

She brings in loads of mice and they all go under the fridge

and then we have to get the fridge out.

Ah, I don't like the way he's looking at me.

He's looking at me funny, look. Look at his eyes.

I'd say at least five times we've had to get the fridge out,

like, from the wall.

Well, I can't out-stare Fidget but I can answer this one, Johnny.

Go for it.

You see, in the wild, cats bring their kittens prey, like mice,

so they can practise their hunting skills.

Pet cats still have an urge to bring mice and birds home too,

even when they don't have kittens.

A collar with a bell will help Lauren, it'll warn those

poor little mice that Fidget is coming.

Good idea, although I would've thought her massive shadow

and booming footsteps would've done that anyway.

No, Johnny, it's an illusion.

You see, Fidget isn't really a big cat she's a...

Yeah, I knew that.

I can see lots of big funny fish but where are Junior Vets, Mia and Anna?

Ah, that's a relief.

I thought they just might be hiding because they're about to

reunite some baby sharks with their parents.

And that means getting in the shark tank.

But the water needs to be exactly the same as their previous home.

Junior Vets, we need you now.

So just hold it there for one minute.

And the temperature is about 12.3, so remember those numbers.

So you can stick your hydrometer in now, all the way in.

What about the salt levels, Mia?

It's a bit over 32.

Ready for this? Time to enter the shark tank.

You all good?

It's so weird.

Wait for me!

All right, here goes nothing.

It's actually quite cold.

The fish are just bumping into me, I'm like, "What's that?"

Check this out, the Junior Vets are the only vets in

the shark-transfer team.

What an honour!

Before the babies can leave the Junior Vets' bucket, we have

to make sure the water is the same as the big tank.

So, Junior Vets, what are you doing now?

I'm going to measure the temperature with this device

so that it's the same temperature as in here.

I'm doing the salt.

So that they don't get a shock when they go into this water.

-Make sure they're the same.

-Oh, I see.

-Yeah, just the same.

-Great!

Salt content is bang on, now, what about the water temperature?

It's just a bit below.

So last time it was 12.3 and now it's 11.5,

so it needs to be a bit higher.

OK, a difference in the temperature could be dangerous.

This transfer might not be quite as simple as we'd hoped.

Gentle giant Boris the rottweiler is really poorly, so he's in

surgery with Junior Vets Luke and Sean.

They're trying to fix his arthritis and a spine condition called

wobbler disease that makes it hard for him to walk.

I feel a bit worried because it's very risky.

Boris is vet Andy's own dog.

We're nervous, so it must be even harder for him.

Kind of nerve-racking doing it to your own dog?

It is a little bit.

Ten million healing cells made from Boris' own fat are about to

be injected around his spine.

We're really hoping it'll work. We've all bonded with big Boris.

He felt like my dog for a while.

Yeah, it felt like you could just give him a big huge cuddle.

You saw how weak he was when he was walking

and if he doesn't get any better and he starts...or he gets to a point

where he can't stand up, then it won't be fair to keep him going.

We might have to consider putting him to sleep.

-So it's almost a last resort.

-Last resort for Boris.

This treatment is so new, there's no guarantee it will work.

-That's the last one, Boris.

-Here we go, well done, Boris.

I could probably take you off the gas now, put you on some oxygen.

Boris has been well looked after by my Junior Vets today.

Poor fella. We're thinking of you.

'Junior Vets Anna and Mia are just about to reunite baby sharks

'with their parents...'

It looks like it's trying to jump out.

'..but if the temperature difference between their old home

'and their new one is too big, the shock could kill them.

'Lindsey, what do we do next?'

What we need to do now is we need to mix the tank water into the buckets.

Yeah, we do that when we put new fish in the tank.

-At home?

-Yeah, at home.

-Awesome.

So these two are pros. They've done it all before.

Fish at home are quite small compared to the ones we dealt with.

Oh, yeah, probably goldfish at home.

So, Anna, you're pretty cool considering you've got

two sharks in your hand.

Yeah, I quite like sharks.

I don't see why people think they're man-eaters.

Some of them are but they're quite graceful in the waters.

I see, so this could potentially be a new pet for you?

-Are you going to go home and be like, "Mum, I want a new shark?"

-Yep.

My mum told me that I wasn't allowed a shark.

How's that water temperature doing?

That's at 12.2, so I'm happy with that. If you'd like to gently tip

your buckets, so they can actually gently swim out on their own.

Welcome to your new home, my little fishy friends.

And how's this for a thank you?

A final farewell from our grateful re-homed shark babes.

Go on, you, go and find Mum and Dad.

Talk about Junior Vets in at the deep end today!

Sean and Luke worked hard with not one but two poorly dogs.

They did very well today, they maintained their focus,

it was a long day.

They were very confident in everything that I asked them to do.

And Anna and Mia saved a seal and helped sharks move home safely.

I've been doing this job a long time and to see an animal come

in with such a neck wound like the seal has and those girls just going

straight in there with no questions asked, absolutely fabulous.

And I really hope they go forward and be a vet

because I think they'd be awesome at it.

I mean, to start off with such a sad case with the seal that had

quite a deep cut in its neck from the netting.

I mean, for you to go straight in, that was impressive.

It was quite hard to deal with at first because it's not nice

seeing an injured animal but it's nice to know that we helped him.

It's really helped me experience

what sort of things you'd do as a marine biologist

or a vet, so I think it'll help me a lot for the future.

And it's also nice to end on a positive experience cos you

got to release some babies into a much bigger house here, haven't you?

That was so fun. It was exciting.

Yeah, it was really nice. And they'll have a nice new home.

And guess who else has a nice new home?

Yep, 11 weeks after getting Junior-vetted,

a fully-fit Jane the seal was released back into the open ocean.

-Thank you, Junior Vets.

-This lot are loving your work.