Episode 1 Junior Vets on Call

Pets, wildlife and farm animals across the UK are in trouble.

But don't worry,

because coming to the rescue are today's team of...

Today, cute dogs need fixing.

A limpy lamb.

And look who's coming to dinner!

Now, some of these big noisy,

heavy cows are in need of some vet attention.

I'm not going to be doing it, though.

Junior vets, help me out!

Junior vets, standing by!

My twin brother, Cameron, knows a lot of animal facts.

And my sister, Christy, loves animals

but is a bit scared of the big ones.

Our first twin junior vets, now is that going to be double power,

or double the trouble?

BOTH: Double the trouble!

HE LAUGHS That's what I like. Synced up.

Now, Christy, we're going to be working with some big animals today,

are you all right with that?

Well, once I fell off a horse,

it didn't hurt that much so I think I'll be OK.

That's what I'm talking about, she's a trouper.

Now, Cameron, I hear you're the animal man with the animal facts.

Yep. When a bee stings, it dies.

Boom!

But answer me this, Cameron, if a cow eats green grass, why

is its milk white, and why is its poo brown?

I don't know, maybe we'll find out today.

Well, I'm hoping we'll find out something even more exciting today.

Word is they might soon be the clatter of not-so-tiny hooves

on the dairy farm horizon.

MOO!

That's right, I'm talking baby cows.

Farm vet Morven is on the case already,

reckon she could do with some junior vet help.

Okey doke, guys,

so, welcome, we've come to Alan's farm today to see his dairy cows.

Now, we're coming to see if the cows are pregnant or not.

How do you know if a lady cow is pregnant?

Well, what we're going to do is use an ultrasound scanner today.

Is it kind of like when my mum had me, she got, like, little pictures?

Yep, absolutely.

You guys will have a screen and what we'll do is we'll have a wee look.

We should be able to see a little baby calf in there.

Unfortunately, that means we're going to stick the probe

-up its bottom.

-I'm so glad you volunteered for that, Cameron.

-Exactly.

-Top man.

If you want to be a vet, you kind of have to be prepared to do...

Extreme animal work.

Yeah.

Oh, well, I hope we have some pregnant cows here today.

So, junior vets, how many cows do you reckon are pregnant?

-About three.

-I'm going to guess four.

Oh, well, the pressure is on. But there's one way to find out.

-Let's get going.

-I'm ready.

Right, let's get our cows in line so we can do the business,

a tasty barley snack should do it.

Roll up, roll up.

Come on, ladies. Get a "moooove" on!

HE LAUGHS The suspense is killing me.

DOGS BARK

Everyone here is working their socks off to get these sad

and lonely pets back to full health so we can find them a new home.

So, junior vets, can we fix them?

Of course we can!

BOTH: Junior vets, standing by!

I want to help all animals, and I have no fears, not many, anyway.

I'm confident and ready to tackle anything.

Bring it on!

OK, Zoe and Nadia, let's do this.

Margaret Green Rescue Centre is the place homeless dogs come to,

well, find new homes.

Here's one of them.

Oh, Delilah the Beagle.

She's here because her last owners struggle to take care of her.

She needs a new home, but before that, David the vet needs to

give her an important operation, and he needs junior vet help.

Hi, junior vets. Meet Delilah.

She's with us today

and we're going to give her a nice check over and then we're

going to spay her so that she can't have puppies any more.

So this procedure, that the junior vets are helping with today,

that's really going to help Delilah find a new home?

Yeah, hopefully it's going to mean that she's going to be

healthier in the future and protected from various conditions

that are associated with spaying.

It's going to be more convenient for the owner and, most importantly,

it's going to prevent her from having puppies in the future.

Yeah, I know Delilah would have cute puppies,

but this place really knows that puppies often become unwanted dogs.

-She's so cute.

-She's so sweet.

I just want her.

-She was adorable.

-I wanted to keep her.

We were, like, fighting over who wanted to have her.

-We were like, to our mums, 'Can we take her home?

-I obviously won that.

No, I won that.

Right, Delilah, we need to make sure you are strong

and healthy enough for surgery today.

So we're just going to check in her eyes there, all right?

And on her gums, that her colour is nice and pink.

If she doesn't have pink gums it might mean that there is a

heart problem, so it might make it a little bit more risky.

Zoe, could you check Delilah's ticker's in good shape, please?

-What does it sound like?

-It's like ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom.

That's so cool!

Nadia, can you check for any lumps or bumps that shouldn't be there?

Will the junior vets be able to feel Delilah's dinner from last

night in there?

When we do an anaesthetic we have to make sure that they don't

have any breakfast, so she's probably quite hungry right now.

All good. Now an injection will make Delilah sleepy before surgery.

-It didn't even hurt her.

-She's such a good dog.

-Yeah!

-OK, so now what we're going to do is we are going to put her

back into her kennel just to let her calm down.

Nice and quietly, and we'll leave her alone for a bit.

Take five and chill, Delilah, don't worry, you're in safe hands.

Back on the farm, me and junior vets, Cameron and Christy, need to

find out if these dairy cows are pregnant.

How are we going to do that, Morven?

I'm going to stick my hand up their bottom.

I kind of feel that that would be quite weird as an everyday job,

just sticking your hand up animals' bums, but I mean, it's nature,

-it's like...

-Someone has to do it.

Yeah.

Thankfully, that someone is vet Morven who has a cool

bit of kit to help us find out if our cows are expecting calves.

So this is our screen that we're going to use to view it.

-That's your screen.

-So how are you going to see what's happening?

I see the picture that you're seeing in my goggles.

-Look at that, she's got a VR headset.

-There we go.

Hopefully, there'll be a little calf in the centre of that.

Now, cows have big bums so we're going to need a big glove.

That glove is going to be dirty when you come out.

It certainly is! Let's get going, shall we?

Where ready to go, and so is our first patient.

HE GROANS

She's evacuating her back passage as we speak.

It's not stopping!

Will I stand in the poo?

Well, you can...

Hello, Cameron's keen to get stuck in.

-The poo didn't really bother us.

-You know, it's what they do.

When she got to go, she got to go.

Right, let's see if we can find some calves.

Standby, Mrs Cow. We are going in.

What can you see?

Some circles and like a table-shaped thing.

But the two circles that you can see there are, unfortunately,

that's an empty womb.

Boo! That means no calf in our first cow.

GROWLING What is that that noise?

Morven, is that the cow pumping or is that the cow, er, snoring?

That's the cow pumping.

It was one of the loudest pumps I've ever heard.

Yep, disgusting!

Right, let's have a look at number two.

We're in.

There's something in there, yeah.

There's a black blob inside the white blob.

This is exciting!

The cow's pregnant.

How far do you think she is?

About eight, nine weeks in calf.

Eight, nine weeks, well done, guys. High five.

Well, actually, whoa, where have your hands been?

Sweet!

And cows' pregnancies last the same as humans,

so that little one will arrive in seven months' time.

Well, any more?

Ooo, and we're in.

Can you see anything, Christy?

-No.

-Go right a bit.

-Oh, wait, what's this?

-Is that not a leg?

It is!

That's an awful lot smaller than the last one we saw,

so I reckon that one is probably only about six weeks.

It looks a bit like a chicken drumstick there.

It ain't no chicken drumstick, Christy, that's another baby.

You're on a roll, junior vets.

-There is something down at the bottom.

-There, yeah, we can see it.

Turns out four cows are expecting calves.

-Which means I guessed right.

-And I didn't.

Congratulations, Farmer Alan.

There are four cute calves on the way.

We know you love asking as animal questions...

We love answering them even more.

Hit us, Catriona.

Is it true that if a cow lies down in its field it's going to rain?

Weather-predicting cows? The old folktale can't be right, can it?

Not so fast, Inel,

there are experts who think they could be something in it.

Cows lie down when they need to keep warm,

and it gets colder just before it rains, so...

So it could be true.

-Er, maybe.

-I'm not so sure, Catriona, I say

if you want to know if it's going to rain,

check the weather forecast, innit!

Back at the dogs' home, it looks like Delilah's

ready for surgery with junior vets Nadia and Zoe.

Don't worry, Delilah, it's just a little jab,

you should sleep right through this.

Sweet dreams, girl.

She got sleepy really quickly.

Her tongue is long.

Delilah's in good hands here. You're both looking calm and focused.

-I like it.

-So, we need to shave this whole area.

Right? If the eyes point down that means her anaesthetic's

just about right.

Everything needs to be spotlessly clean to protect

Delilah from nasty germs.

Perfect. Right, are we all ready?

The team are going to take out Delilah's reproductive organs

and this will stop her having unwanted pups.

Right, so, the first thing we're going to do, is we're going to

just make a little incision.

These are the ovaries, here is her womb.

I turned around all of a sudden, I was like, "Whoa,

"I'm looking at a dog's insides."

It was like, "Oh."

Don't worry, Nadia. Looks like Zoe's got this one.

Yep, that's it, just dab it all around. That's it.

Delilah's heart rate needs close monitoring.

-I got 54.

-So her heart rate per minute is?

-104.

That's it, thank you.

This sounds complicated.

-So her capillary refill time, would you say...

-1.5.

The nurse was, like, asking me for what the heart rate was,

and it was a lot of pressure because I might have done it wrong.

Right, this is the crucial bit. Are you ready for this, Zoe?

See that pink slight nodule,

do you want to have a feel of that? Just touch that?

-It feels really weird.

-Yeah.

Now, in a minute, I'm going to get you to do some cutting. OK?

Whoa! This is serious stuff.

-Ready?

-OK.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

I had to cut Delilah's tube.

I didn't even know I could do that.

I thought I was going to faint in there.

That's it, and cut through there.

Junior vet, on the tools, in surgery, this is intense.

One more. Perfect. So we are all done.

That was really scary.

I thought I was going to do something wrong.

She kept looking at me, and I was like, "Wow!"

Job done.

Delilah is stitched up and Nadia must carefully start to wake her.

Will it take a while to wake up after the operation?

If we start turning her down gently before the operation is

finished, I think you'd be surprised how quickly she wakes up.

Yes, a 30-minute nap and Delilah is a bit drowsy, but up and about.

So, Delilah looks to be doing pretty well, actually.

Hello.

-She's coming to say thanks.

-It's nice to see her.

I think she might be wanting to have another little snooze off now.

So maybe we should leave Delilah to it.

Have a little kip, you deserve it.

And good luck finding a new home, girl.

Junior vets Cameron and Christy are on call with farm vet Morven.

Farmer Bill is worried about one of his lambs.

Well, he shouldn't be, the team have this one.

What seems to be the problem?

We've got a wee lamb that's got a sore foot.

Do you happen to know which one?

It's the one with the red bit on its head.

What's its name?

-You can actually name it.

-Oh, nice.

-We could call it Dixie. Charlie?

-We could do Ruby.

-Yeah.

-Ruby? We're going for Ruby?

-Yes.

-Good.

Hmmm, Ruby, nice name.

How long has Ruby been lame?

It started about a week ago.

And we've treated her once and things,

but now the professional's in.

-Let's take a look, then.

-Sounds good.

-MORVEN:

-Right, first things first, we've got to catch her though.

I think sheepdog Meg might be able to help with this.

We could kind of go around the back of her and then shepherd her down.

Right. So what if that doesn't work? Can we think of another option?

Sorted. Let's go, come on, Meg.

There she is.

Oh, no!

Thanks, Meg. Nice moves. They don't call you a sheepdog for nothing!

I don't think Ruby exactly wanted to be caught because you know...

She's just a lamb, so we weren't expecting her to just stand.

Good catch, Morven.

She's not getting away this time.

It's good. We all worked together and we got her in.

We'll get some gloves on and have a wee look at her, all right?

Ruby's not used to being handled,

we need to check the lame lamb quickly, junior vets.

Sometimes they lose a little bit of weight, so we'll just check.

You know, it's not that easy to put them on the scales all the time.

So, what we do, we just have a feel.

And just see if we can feel along their backs.

See if you can feel their spine.

And see you if there's a nice little covering of fat on there.

-I can't really feel the spine that much.

-So, that's a good thing.

Obviously, we can't feel her spine

so that means that she's still doing pretty well.

I'm actually going to turn her on her bottom.

Good girl.

OK.

Now, in lambs there's a couple of causes as to why

they might be lame, OK?

Sometimes what happens is they get an infection in their belly button.

OK? Their belly button is in there. You guys have a look.

I feel a wee lump, there.

-How big is it, do you think?

-Not massive.

-A circular kind of...

I don't think it could be infectious.

I think it's just a bit of dirt or something.

I think you're right, Christy, I think if there was an

infection in there it would be much, much bigger than it is.

No belly button infection here. So it must be her foot.

I'm guessing an infected foot is going to smell pretty nasty.

Oh, flip!

-Yes, it does smell.

-Yeah?

Yes, I think that's the infected foot.

It smelt of blue cheese.

Her left foot, there's still hair there.

There's none of that white, oozy skin,

but then if you compare it to the right hoof, you can see

that it's a bit oozy and there's a bit of blood in there as well.

We'll give her a wee spray and we'll give her an injection, OK?

Perfect. That's great.

Good. And then we'll give her a wee jab as well.

I didn't see any big reactions to it, she was nice and calm.

Bye, Ruby.

Now get some greens down you, Ruby.

Get 'em.

Come on, Barker,

are you going to share your great animal video treats?

What's that, boy?

OK, we'll do the song.

# Doggy, lift, lift, lift that tail up

# Doggy, lift, lift, lift that tail up

# Woo! Lift, lift it up

# Lift it up and show us what you got! #

What have you got for us, Lucy and Lydia?

This is Randall, he's a social dog, very much part of the family.

He's got an interesting habit when he sits with us.

He can't be that much a part of the family, I mean,

where's his plate?

Where's his bacon and eggs?

That, my friend, would be unhygienic.

Well, they can give him a bib, or something.

He's not a baby, Inel.

He sometimes thinks he's a baby, and loves cuddles.

Thanks, Lydia and Lucy.

Randall is one cool dog.

Back at the farm Cameron

and Christy are checking out Farmer Bill's new lambs.

Awww!

Hang on a minute, that's a nasty looking lump on your face,

little guy. It looks real sore.

Basically, they've got a virus which is a bit like a coldsore in people.

But in sheep it causes little growths on the side

of their mouths, and they can then get a wee bit infected.

Whoa, whoa, is this contagious?

-Erm, it can possibly be contagious, yes.

-I'll step back.

Like any professionals Cameron

and Christy must protect themselves before helping their patient.

So, gloves on.

Me and Meg, what we are going to do, we're going to watch

the Borders so they don't escape, ain't that right, mate?

Yeah.

You go first.

Be careful, Christy.

The virus usually clears up on its own, but this lamb is really

suffering and needs urgent junior vet attention.

After your practice last time, do you guys want to try and catch 51?

-Yep.

-OK.

-Right, OK.

No problem, Morven, we have our top animal wranglers on the job.

I'll shepherd the other four.

I'll shepherd these ones back.

There we go. That's us. Good.

-It's OK.

-Look at that, good handling skills there, Christy.

OK. So we'll have a wee look at these sores, shall we?

So, you can see they are a wee bit crusty on the top

and also, see they are a bit yellow?

If a wound is yellow it means that there's a little

bit of infection.

Her mouth looked really sore because she's just a little lamb.

-We really wanted to help her.

-Yeah.

This poor lamb is looking a bit thin.

Can you feel its spine?

-You can feel the bone quite a lot.

-Yeah.

-Is that a bad sign?

If you can feel it spine it's obviously not got very much

fat or muscle on there, so it's not thriving.

Oh, her mouth is so sore it's stopping our lamb from eating.

She needs treatment.

Let's get to work.

Who would like to have a go at taking the temperature?

Good-oh, Christy,

how do you think we're going to take her temperature?

-Bum?

-Yeah. We're back to the bum.

I tell you what, Meg, this is just a recurring theme.

It's not putting you guys off, though.

When the job needed doing, I guess I kind of just got stuck in.

39.9, that's high, isn't it?

It's in the normal range,

but it's getting towards the top of the normal range.

'The old magic antiseptic blue spray should do the trick, Cameron.'

That's it, Cameron, don't be shy, man.

Be generous with it. That's it.

-Smear it on.

-I've done a pretty good job, I think.

Just a little jab and you'll soon be feeling much better.

-There we go.

-Well done, Christy.

That extra milk is going to help make her big and strong.

Does she find it hard?

I think so, I think it's a bit uncomfortable for her,

which is why she's not sucking very well,

she's taking her time about it.

Sweet job, junior vets, medicine delivered

and our lamb is on the road to recovery.

See ya!

The rescue centre in Dorset has been Fern the lurcher's

home for the last month now.

She just wants to find a new owner to love her.

If you just saw her, and you didn't know, like,

her background story you wouldn't think that she was an abandoned dog.

Well, cheer up, Fern, because guess what,

you've got a new home lined up today,

as long as you get through junior vet checks with Nadia and Zoe.

-Can you tell me if her teeth look good?

-Yeah.

-They look good.

-They look good, don't they?

-Nice and pink.

Nice and pink, and not red.

You can't feel any lumps or bumps on her?

No lumps and bumps.

That's really good news for Fern.

What's next, David?

Then the final thing we need to do is just to have a listen to

her heart.

-It's much faster than the other dog.

-Yeah, that's what I thought.

Hmmm, a bigger dog should have a slower heart rate.

Does this mean something might be wrong, David?

Each dog is different, and actually, sometimes,

it may be because one dog's a bit more frightened than another.

Don't be scared, Fern, I think

you're looking pretty good to go, girl!

-Are we happy for her to go to a new home? That's the question.

-Yes.

-I'm not happy, I want her to come home with me!

-You want another one?

You can't take every dog home, Zoe!

Her new family, Fran and Pipkin the dog, are waiting.

Fern was actually the first dog we looked at.

And I just fell in love with her straight away.

She's so lovely. We've been really excited about today.

Pipkin is very excited.

Hello.

She likes you.

Yeah. I'm falling in love.

There's a lot of love in the room!

But it's time to say goodbye, Fern's going home!

Hello! How are you?

Oh!

-It's emotional.

-Who's that?

Pipkin was, like, all jumping up and down, and it was just,

it was really delightful.

When we saw them run into each other we were just really happy.

Are you looking forward to having Fern as your new dog?

We can't wait to get her home.

I'm going to take her to pick up my boys after school today.

And we're going to go out for a nice walk tonight.

She's all healthy, by the way.

Yeah, she looks really well, doesn't she?

She looks really healthy. She's come to cuddle you and say goodbye.

We fell in love with her when we first saw her.

Yes, she's so lovely, isn't she?

-You're very lucky.

-She's a lovable dog.

Yeah, we all love Fern. But I think I know who loves her best...

Pipkin!

-Here you go.

-Have a nice time with Fern.

I will. Thank you for looking after her, she looks brilliant. Thank you.

Awww! Don't you just love a happy ending?

Junior vets, you've made a lot of animals happy today.

Ba-boom, ba-boom.

She likes you.

Tell you what, guys, you two got stuck in!

I know, it was so fun meeting all the animals today like the cows

-and the sheep. And it was so fun!

-And well done, Christy,

on the guess of the four pregnant cows, that was your call.

Well, it was a 66% chance,

so three or four would have been pregnant anyway, I guess.

Yeah, I like those odds. They were in your favour.

Well, one thing's for sure, this lot are well and truly...

Fancy getting vetting yourself?

Well, get on the CBBC website right now and start earning hearts

and points by helping the animals that need YOU.