Episode 7 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 Junior Vets on call.

Today, sporty horses get fixed up, a bunny is feeling funny

and, hey, stop stealing biscuits!

PHONE RINGS

Hello. How can I help?

INDISTINCT

Your pet python has outgrown its living area?

(It's a pet python.)

Yeah, yeah, sure. We can take care of that for you. No problem.

Junior Vets, where are you?

BOTH: Junior Vets standing by.

I decided to become a vet

after I realised my first job I did wasn't possible.

I love exotic animals. The more exotic, the better.

Ah, great. Let's get straight to the point.

Ben, are you up for dealing with a snake patient?

Yeah. I love snakes. They're awesome.

Katie, what did you want to be before a vet?

I wanted to be a train-driving doctor.

I don't know how we got from train-driving doctor to a vet.

Eh, it's all about the journey, not the destination.

Right, let's go fix some animals.

I'll do your Tuesday shift.

Wendover Heights is a busy vet's practice in Buckinghamshire.

All sorts of pets come through these doors looking to get fixed up.

Here is Mrs Brown and her rabbit, Barnaby.

This bunny has been feeling a bit funny.

Luckily for him, Steve and junior vets Ben and Katie are on the job.

So this is Barnaby.

Can you see anything that looks a bit odd or abnormal?

Is it his eye?

Yeah. You can see his right eye is all bulging out

compared to the other eye.

-Is it an infection here?

-Yeah.

Barnaby was in a lot of pain, it looked like, anyway.

Yeah, his eye was really bulging and big.

Barnaby first came in at Christmas with a swollen eye. At the time,

we had a look in his mouth and we found that he's got a tooth root

infection that's making his eye bulge out.

So his teeth are so big that it's messing up his eyesight?

Absolutely.

I thought I had big teeth, but you win, Barnaby. You win.

Seriously that needs sorting, Barnaby.

What's your plan, Steve?

Sometimes vets have to remove his eye so we can get to the infection,

but today, we're going to do our best to try and save the eye.

Is it looking good for him?

Hopefully we can fix him.

Barnaby, the top team is on the job here.

We're going to check you're in good shape for the operation.

And stop. How many?

55.

OK. So 55 in 10 seconds.

You're in shape, Barnaby. Yeah. Been going to that bunny gym.

Barnaby's had his pre-op check and ready to go to surgery.

This arena will soon be filled with the pounding of hooves

in an exciting, enthralling, and yet unpredictable polo match.

Now, the horses involved are real athletes and like all real athletes,

their health will need to be maintained and checked.

We're going to need some help. Junior Vets, where are you?

BOTH: Junior Vets standing by.

I would like to be a vet, but I want to keep every animal I treat.

Vet, actor, vet. I can't really decide what I want to be.

Are we ready for this?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

OK. Well, let's saddle up.

This place is where horses come to play hard.

They compete in all sorts of sports, including polo.

This is a thrilling game for tough horses, who need the best vet care

to make sure they're match fit and injury free.

We've got Twist waiting for us.

Such a brilliant name.

It looks like Charlie and Zac have their first patient.

Go down at her pace, that's it. Perfect.

When we first saw Twist she was really pretty and sweet as well.

Twist has been off her game recently.

Let's find out if her owner can fill us in.

She makes a bit of a noise that comes from her throat

and from her chest.

She doesn't breathe properly so that sometimes restricts what she does.

She enjoys the game so much.

She is so happy out there with her ears forward,

but I'd like to know whether it is actually causing her any problems

whilst she's out there.

OK, to the polo arena with vet Claire.

We need to get Twist out of breath so we can hear what's going on.

What sound can you hear there, guys?

It's like a bag full of air

and you're pushing it through a tight space.

Absolutely. Perfect.

She had really loud breathing and it almost sounded like

she had something stuck in her throat.

HE RASPS

THEY LAUGH

It was piggy, like, snorty, like...

It wasn't right.

It's quite normal for horses to

flare their nostrils when they are taking a stride and breathing out,

they can go...prrrrr.

That's quite normal.

But if you listen to her, what she's doing,

she's breathing out, but then she's making noise

when she's breathing in as well.

It's really constant.

Do you reckon she is in pain when she keeps doing this, or not?

Not in pain, but just having to work much harder

than the next horse would to get that air in and out of her lungs.

It must feel kind of horrible.

We wanted to know what was wrong with her to make sure

it wasn't anything major.

Could what we discover today maybe impact her polo career?

Absolutely.

That wouldn't be the news we wanted today, Claire.

Better get to the bottom of this.

We need to take a look inside.

This should do the trick.

It's a special camera called an endoscope,

and I know where it's going!

Good girlie! Tickly, isn't it?

You know, you put a torch, camera,

shoved it up her nose with the camera and then see what was wrong.

Do you think it's irritating her or hurting her?

-It's like somebody putting a straw up your nose.

-Oh.

-Eugh!

We need to see what is going on in Twist's airways.

This will show if there is a serious problem

that could end her polo career.

Do you think there is an inflammation somewhere?

Well, that's what we're looking for.

Have we got any inflammation?

There is a problem that these sort of horses get very,

very commonly which means that the side of the larynx

doesn't open properly because the nerve has been damaged.

Animals, like humans, have a larynx.

This organ, which is called the voice box, is where sounds are made.

It is also involved in breathing.

I was looking at Claire's face to see if it was worried.

We kept looking back at Claire then the monitor

to see if there was anything major.

I hope this is good news. We want you playing polo again, Twist.

Actually, that looks pretty good.

Twist was going to be all right.

It was good to say to Karl, the owner of Twist, that she is OK,

she can play polo.

The airway at the moment looks fantastic.

It means that we're happy for her to carry on playing and providing

that she's not having real issues with her exercise

and that she's tolerating the speed of the game,

then she can carry on this season.

Great, thank you very much, Charlie. Thank you very much for that.

Twist is going to have the night off from the polo match,

but hopefully she will be playing again real soon.

In Buckinghamshire,

Barnaby the bunny is unconscious and ready for surgery

with Katie, Ben and vet Steve.

-Right, are you ready to get going?

-Yes, I am.

Let's see the teeth that are causing him grief.

It's these teeth up here that might be causing the problem, OK?

If we have a little squeeze of our abscess... See at the back?

Ah, there. So it's the back tooth.

-Yes. See the cream cheese coming out?

-Yes.

Oi! That ain't no cream cheese, that's minging pus!

Poor Barnaby.

These are a little bit wobbly at the back. Can you see?

Would that be coming out or not, or are we going to keep that in?

Well, we're going to see if we can get it out.

See how it's a bit looser than before?

Ready.

So here we have the tooth.

All right! The tooth is out.

Now to the horrible infection that's putting this bunny's eye in danger.

This bit here tells me how many breaths per minute

the bunny is doing.

So I need you to keep a really close eye on that and if you notice that

-the bunny stops breathing, you tell me straightaway.

-OK.

-OK?

Don't worry, Nurse Lou, Katie is all over this.

It was 35 and it has dropped to 32. How big is the margin?

-If it drops below 25 let me know. OK?

-OK.

I'm a bit of a control freak so I was always checking.

-Is something wrong, Junior Vets?

-Observations.

-It's gone below 25.

His breathing started to slow down.

I was quite scared for Barnaby.

Has the bunny stopped breathing?

Yeah.

Oh, no. Barnaby could be in trouble.

It was scary because we didn't think he was going to make it.

But Nurse Lou has seen things like this before.

She stays calm and knows exactly what to do.

We'll turn the anaesthetic gas off and just give a breath of oxygen

and then the bunny should start breathing again in a minute, OK?

-It is breathing again.

-It is breathing again now.

Well done. Good observation, guys.

We were really happy and relieved that he was OK because it

-was quite stressful.

-We probably saved his life, actually.

Top work, Junior Vets. That was scary for a moment there.

Here is another truth seeker asking a brilliant animal question.

Take it away, Olivia.

Is it true that there is, like, one million ants for every one person

in this world?

That's a lot of creepy-crawlies and I don't really like creepy-crawlies.

Guess what, Olivia? That is true!

For every human in the world, there are around one million ants.

Wow! Get out of here.

Yeah, true.

And although no-one has weighed all the ants in the world,

some experts reckon they would weigh about the same as all the humans.

No!

Suddenly I feel really itchy!

In Warwickshire, a big polo match is about to begin.

Maga the horse is hoping to return to the game after an ankle injury.

So she needs the green light to play from the match medical team,

Cedric, Charlie and Zac.

Junior Vets, we're going to see the horse move.

We're going to go for the trot because that's the best way

to see a horse if it has got a lameness.

If Maga is lame, she won't be playing tonight.

Will we see more of a distance in the head more than the leg?

Yeah, absolutely. So if you imagine it's a bit like you or I,

if we've got sore leg,

when that leg hits the ground, the head will go up in the air.

That's kind of what we're looking for, OK?

So this is it, the Junior Vets' polo pony fitness test.

OK, that's fine. Any comments at all, guys?

-Seems all right.

-His head wasn't moving horribly all over the place.

I think she's good enough to play.

Shall we take her into the arena and see her play some polo?

-Definitely.

-Let's go for it.

The game's in full swing.

It's a bit like hockey, I guess.

Two teams, a ball, goals at each end.

The difference is, there's loads of horses thundering about.

The match was quite vicious and quite dangerous.

We're going to keep an eye on those ponies and see how they're playing

and make sure they're not out of breath, no obvious injuries,

any cuts, that sort of thing.

If you see the way the ponies are riding off each other, it's almost

like tackling, tackling in football.

You have to be really alert.

When they're all running around and you see a leg that might be

limping when they're all together, you can't see whose leg it is.

What are the most common injuries that you have in polo?

They tend to get a lot of leg injuries, not surprisingly, because

you can see the way they're playing -

they're twisting and turning all over the place.

Other things that can happen are stick injuries.

Sometimes if a stick is...

thrown the wrong way to hit the ball,

it can sometimes hit the horse's legs.

It's the first break of the game.

OK, Junior Vets, let's go and look at these ponies.

We need to check whether these horses are still healthy

and injury free.

Let's look at this guy first.

-What's this one's name?

-Hope

This is Hope. OK. Let's have a look at Hope.

Always good to have a good look around first of all.

Looks comfortable and alert. What do you reckon? She looks pretty happy.

Breathing a bit fast, maybe?

-Yeah, maybe.

-We were really under pressure about it.

A lub-dub is one heartbeat.

Let's count how many lub-dubs you can hear in ten seconds.

It's like in car racing, where you go and change the tyres.

It's like that, but with horses.

That's it. We're just feeling for any heat, any swelling.

It's quite a big responsibility to be the one to say your horse is OK

because if you've misdiagnosed it then that's on your shoulders.

Now vet Claire and Charlie have to assess

whether the horse is moving OK.

What are we looking for, Claire?

You can see those ears are moving nice and gently, as they should be.

It was good. There was not any heavy nodding of the head.

Yeah, perfect.

-So happy for this one to carry on playing?

-Yeah.

-Excellent.

So far, all polo ponies still in mint condition.

And it looks like Maga is about to make a star appearance.

-Looking OK at the moment, do we think?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, definitely.

Good luck, girl. Don't worry, we're all keeping an eye on you!

Back at the vet's surgery, Katie and Ben are feeling the pressure.

Got to get going.

HE EXHALES

They're helping vet Steve with an operation on Barnaby the rabbit

and if you're squeamish, it all gets a bit more...urgh now.

Are you ready for this?

Let's see what's been making Barnaby's eye bulge.

Yuck! Loads and loads of disgusting pus!

Katie, I want you to have a little go at doing that.

I want you to go in like a spoon and spoon out some of the pus.

Look at that. No wonder Barnaby has been feeling rough.

It's tough work, though, eh, Katie?

I had to concentrate because we didn't want to hurt Barnaby

and we wanted to make sure he was safe.

We've got more pus than...we hoped so we're going to get

a bigger spoon.

It really stank...a lot.

A lot. A lot.

I don't think I can smell in this nostril any more!

Go down. Deep, deep, deep, look at that.

A big scoop. You can do bigger than that next time.

-I don't want to hurt him.

-You won't. I promise.

At least we're getting rid of it. It's good for him.

You said it, Ben. That's one degunked eye.

Now get that wound stitched up, Junior Vets.

I've got one or two more stitches to go and then we can start

waking Barnaby up.

And again. Go again. There you go.

High-five indeed, Junior Vets.

You were awesome! Barnaby's eye is saved.

I feel really... It's not emotional,

it's just moving that you know that you're going to make someone happy.

Yes, so true, Ben.

Barnaby is going to be one happy bunny, all right.

Our Barker doesn't fetch balls.

He never fetches sticks,

but he does fetch amazing animal videos from you lot.

There we go, two, three, four.

# 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

# Show us what you've got. #

CAR HORN TOOTS

OK, Charlie, what does your dog do?

I have a very naughty dog called Amber.

Naughty? She looks like a nice doggy to me.

She is quite insane. She does what you do.

-What, she chews up slippers?

-No, just watch.

He is always trying to steal food off the table.

HE LAUGHS

HE LAUGHS

HE LAUGHS

Snatched!

Clever dog.

I told you he does what you do!

Back at the polo match, it is Maga's big moment.

Junior Vets Zac and Charlie can't let her out of their sight.

He is number three.

Let's just keep a close eye on her. See how she moves.

After checking out her ankle injury with vet Cedric,

they passed her as fit for the game.

But how is she looking now?

She looks fine. She looks...

She is keeping up with the game, isn't she?

I was nervous in the middle of the game because I didn't want

Maga to break down, because it was on our shoulders.

It is such a big responsibility to make sure that they're all right

because we gave them the all clear so...

Maga has really got her swagger on now.

Here she comes on the charge.

She doesn't seem like she's holding back at all.

No, she's not. Look at that ride off there.

Nice shoulder-barge, Maga!

There was no leg problems so she got on with the game.

Put it there.

WHISTLE BLOWS

That's the game over.

-Shall we go and have a look at her?

-BOTH: Yeah.

Zac is straight in to find out from her rider Jamie how she coped,

right from the horse owner's mouth.

How did you think Maga did?

She seemed as sound as she has been for a while.

She played very well. A lot of power from her.

Strong in the ride-off so very pleased with her today.

That's great news, Jamie,

but we need to check out if Maga's injury has flared up.

To the horse clinic with you, Maga.

Here she is.

So what should we be hopeful to see and what not to see?

What we don't want to see is any tearing of the ligament

or any tears of the tendon.

We're going to need some of the clinic's clever kit

and a clean leg, please, Zac.

That's the most amount of clothing you've done for a long time,

isn't it, Zac, eh?

This fancy kit is an ultrasound, which looks inside Maga's leg.

This is the same kind of ultrasound that you'd use to check if a female

-was pregnant?

-Exactly the same.

Are you OK at the front there? You need to be aware of

the horse's movement and just gently hold it there.

Doing the ultrasound was really cool

and it was quite a big responsibility as well.

The team can see Maga's past problems.

OK, so there is evidence of old injury here, that's for sure.

OK, you can see there on the outside of the fetlock area.

Just where Johnny's finger is.

Can you see that area of white and black?

We know there has been a previous injury in here,

but it has been a few years ago and she did play very well, didn't she?

Hopefully nothing has happened since that game.

That was nerve-racking, because you didn't know if it was bad

or good, what you were seeing.

All my education is from Holby City!

The tendons actually look pretty good there.

Remember this horse had an old injury here before.

A big relief to see that she was OK and well.

Well, one thing is for sure, I don't think that ankle is pregnant.

I concur on that.

OK, Charlie, so that was a good scan of the leg.

I'm very happy with it. Are you happy with it?

Great. I think she is ready to go.

Looking at her playing today and looking at that last scan,

she is going to continue to have a good polo-playing life.

-Awesome.

-How do we feel about that that guys?

-Good, happy.

Back at the vet's, they don't just treat your regular pets, oh, no.

Mr Amy has arrived with something mysterious in the box.

Mr Amy, we're ready for you.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-What's in there?

The suspense is killing me.

-Thank you.

-Oh, it is moving.

-What do you think is in there?

-Either a snake or a lizard.

-Probably a snake.

-Oh, it is a snake.

-Wow.

-Ben, don't touch.

I love snakes, they are awesome, but you don't, do you?

No, not at all.

Not at all.

No idea why, but this snake is called Labby.

-What breed is it?

-It's a Burmese python.

-This is just a baby python.

-This is a baby?

It don't look like no baby to me.

He looks grumpy, though.

What's the problem?

-MR AMY:

-He has got a wheezy breathing.

Don't worry, Mr Amy, the Junior Vets and exotic animal expert Steve

are on it.

We just need to have a listen to see if we can hear the noise, OK?

Where is Labby's wheeze coming from?

Is this just a snake with the sniffles?

-I did hear that.

-Or does he have a chest infection,

which could mean big trouble?

We're going to look in his mouth. We need to use special tongs.

I want to help them, but I don't want to touch them!

Someone's going to need to take a sample of snake snot

and it is not going to be me!

-Katie, do you want to do the swab for me?

-Cheers, Katie.

-I'll do it if she doesn't want to do it.

-You do it. I don't like snakes.

I was really relieved

that I didn't have to take the swab from the snake's mouth,

but I'm quite glad that Ben did it.

I'm not sure Labby was so pleased about it.

He's hissing now.

That's the sample done.

Now we need to be sure the infection isn't in Labby's lungs.

Have a listen with a stethoscope and see if you can hear anything.

Oh, there is no holding Katie back.

Can you hear anything?

Kind of like a soft crackling.

Just to check there is nothing else going on,

we're going to have a feel of the tummy.

I didn't want to touch the snake's stomach,

but I wanted to help it so I just had a go.

She was really brave.

Look at that! Katie, first time touching a snake.

How does it feel, what does it feel like?

It's a bit weird.

Good job Katie has put those fears aside, because Labby needs help.

If the infection is in his lungs, it could be fatal.

An X-ray of his body should give the answer.

I was nervous about the result because I really wanted him

to be well and I didn't want him to have an infection

that may affect his health.

This is the moment of truth for Labby.

You've had a look and there is nothing obvious so we're going to

treat him for the upper respiratory tract infection.

It looks like Labby just had a bit of a cold.

Ah, so no big panic, see.

All we need is a snake lozenge.

He will be right as rain.

I was happy that Labby was all right and that the X-ray came out well.

-Do you like snakes a bit more now?

-No.

All of the Junior Vets have played blinders today.

Urgh!

It's moving.

She looks fine.

How does it feel to do a full day's work now?

Yeah, it was really cool meeting the snake in person and awesome being

-able to know that you've helped such a cool animal.

-It was, wasn't it?

And Katie, how did the Barnaby operation go?

It was really exciting.

At first I was nervous because I didn't know whether I'd do it

well enough or not, but at the end I was ecstatic

because I was so glad that I managed to help this animal.

You kept your cool there, girl.

-You were brave. Katie, you were fantastic...

-Oh, sorry.

Hello. How can I help?

I can take a hint!

It is safe to say this lot are now sound as a pound

because they've all been junior vetted!

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.