Episode 1 Junior Vets

How do you fancy handling squealing piglets in need of vetty attention?

PIG SQUEALS

Would you muck in to help a huge pooey horse like this?

Oh!

Could you cope with these fearsome creatures?

KITTENS MEW

No, they're the tiny homeless kittens!

Anyway, I'm Alex Riley and this is all new Junior Vets.

Pets, wildlife, farm animals,

all in need of expert help.

And at Edinburgh's amazing vet school, six raw recruits...

..have arrived to work alongside the school's top notch team.

Ah, as if I just did that!

In the coming weeks this lot will be pushed to their very limit...

..as they help to save the lives of sick and injured animals.

Six new junior vets.

But I can only choose one...

winner.

This year's head vet is...

PHONE RINGS

Good afternoon, Dick Vet Small Animal Hospital.

Aaaaaannnd...here come my new, hand-picked recruits!

Welcome to Vet School.

Now I believe you've got what it takes

to be the best junior vets in the country.

-But do you believe it?

-ALL: Yeah!

That's the spirit! And you certainly look the part. You look fantastic.

I'm glad you're up for it, because it's going to be tough.

It's going to be VERY tough.

Now, at Vet School, you work in pairs.

Today's pairs are going to be Nyatepe and Molly,

Josh and Robyn,

Jamie and Bonte.

-OK, are you ready to go and help some animals?

-ALL: Yeah!

OK, let's get to work!

Bonte's well up for helping animals,

but I hope she knows this vet lark's as tough as it gets.

I've always thought it'd be quite a cool job to be a vet,

but it looks like a lot of hard work.

Josh's house is rammed full of fluffy animals, apparently.

He loves 'em! How much, Josh?

Animals mean everything to me.

They're just like part of my family

and I just want to look after them when I'm older.

Meet Robyn. She's the one on the right.

Now tell me how long, exactly, have you dreamt of working with animals?

I've always wanted to be a vet since I was about two, but I don't

like seeing animals in pain so that'd be the only problem with it.

This is Nyatepe. He likes mending things.

He's thinking of mending either people or animals when he's older.

I've got lots of medics in my family,

but I think I would rather work with animals than humans.

Molly's told me she can be a bit sheepish around some animals,

so, erm, why did you think coming to vet school was a good idea?

I want to prove to everyone that I can do it, because I haven't

had much experience and that's why I feel that junior vet would help me.

At home, Jamie looks after all sorts of rescued animals.

But he's not keen on his mum's goat. What's that all about, Jamie?

Big animals, erm, scare me quite a bit and also,

I don't like blood, guts and gore.

There's already a load of animal patients

needing a bit of junior vet help.

And a trailer load have just arrived at Edinburgh's Gorgie City Farm.

Nine wriggling piglets that look a bit of a handful.

It's a huge first time challenge for brand-new junior vets,

Molly and Nyatepe.

-Oh! Oh my gosh!

-Ha-ha-ha, so cool!

I've always wanted, like, a pet pig.

You know when you've finished tea and you don't eat it all,

you can just, like, give it to the pig.

Aww, look at them all!

Oh, this is amazing!

-Aww, not so bad.

-Calm down!

Disease can spread like wildfire on a farm

so these lot can only stay if they are fit and healthy.

My junior vets will be working with farm vet Andy, but only if

they can prove they're confident animal handlers.

They've just arrived at the farm.

So, we've got to weigh them,

put numbers on them so we know who's who,

and give them a vitamin and mineral dose to make sure

-they all stay healthy so they'll grow nice and quickly. OK?

-Yeah.

But before we can do that, you've got to catch them.

Careful planning required here, you two.

We chase them into the corner, one of us picks up the pig

and the other one, give the dose and put the number and then

the person that's holding the pig puts them into the weigh crate.

-Do you want me to try catch it first?

-OK, yeah.

Out! Come on!

So Molly is the appointed picker-upper of pigs.

Hang on, that's not Molly?!

-Looks like you've got one.

-Ah, it's so heavy.

-He's got him.

I felt like I can do this, and then I picked it up.

Aye, they're quite noisy!

PIG SQUEALS

But he was just like straight in, picked them up,

and I wasn't even ready for him.

Whoa, what's Molly going to do with that thing?!

We had to like get the drench gun in the mouth and like squirt it in.

Yep, get in further. Get further in.

But it was really hard, because they used to go like that.

Go in the corner of his mouth. Don't be shy.

There we go. Now give him a good dose. There we are, lovely.

Now Molly's not just spray painting the piglet for a laugh.

She needs to mark him up so we know he's been checked and vitamined.

Right, Nyatepe, do you want to put him into the weight crate for us?

Weigh that piglet, junior vet!

Shut the gate quickly. You got the number, Nyatepe?

-Er, it's 12.

-Excellent.

What would happen if one of the pigs was underweight?

Well, if one of the pigs was thin,

that might show that there was something wrong with him.

So it might mean that he's got worms inside him.

He might have some sort of an infection or it might just be that

his friends are all bullying him, and they're all eating his dinner.

So we'd have to figure out what the problem was,

-so we could help put it right.

-Yeah.

'I'm tired out just watching this lot work.'

-They look lively these pigs, don't they?

-They certainly are.

-If I open the door will you be able to catch him, Nyatepe?

-Yeah.

No!

'Whoosh! A flying pig all treated and back with his pals

'and two junior vets caught red-handed.'

Are you all right? Do we need to get you a bandage?

-Er, no, it's just paint.

-Right, OK.

-Aren't you supposed to paint the pig, not your hand?

-Yeah.

'Lovely. Molly and Nyatepe are now proven piglet handlers.'

'Later, eight more greasy piglets to capture, check and treat.'

Corner him, corner him. Walk into the corner and just stop him there.

Now he can't get out. Ooh, he can!

Jamie and Bonte are teaming up with equine, that's horsey, vet Matt,

at the Faside Stud Farm.

We've got a fantastic job today. We've got to sort out some foals.

Oh, wow!

This is a really tough first vet job.

They need to put a microchip inside a three-month-old foal called Spy.

It's a dangerous task.

The places where you don't want to stand is right in front of them

and you don't stand right behind them.

OK, so the best place is to stand at their shoulders

and give them a stroke.

Cos it was our first job I was slightly nervous.

-Ah, he's a bit jumpy.

-He is a bit.

We were both a bit nervous cos they were like running about and stuff.

This is also a new experience for Spy

so he's a bit edgy as well.

I'd keep your distance, you two,

until the experienced horsey types can settle Spy down.

Foals are small, but they can't half kick!

And Spy is no ordinary foal.

When he grows up he could well become a dressage horse champion

and rub shoulders with fancy horses like these.

But he could also be a target for horse thieves.

Popping a microchip into his neck will help find him if he's stolen.

Walk nice and slowly, nice and slowly.

Tread carefully, junior vets. Spy and mum are still a bit nervous.

-That's it. Perfect. He's beautiful, isn't he?

-Yeah.

It's all getting used to us. All this is new to the foal, you see.

Whoa, stay calm there, Jamie!

It was a bit weird when he was coming up to me

and like biting me on the neck.

He liked you, probably. Giving you a kiss.

Didn't know what to do.

Mum and foal are getting restless.

Ooh!

The team really need to crack on.

Do you want to do some disinfecting, Jamie, OK?

Why does it need disinfectant?

Because when the chip goes in we want to make sure that

it's nice and clean.

Come on, Jamie, you can do this.

-Just there?

-Yep, that's it.

Good man. Just a wee little dab.

Oh, oh, oh.

Good boy. That's it, Jamie, excellent. Good job.

Spy's now ready for his chip.

This is a microchip. This is space age stuff.

And each time we check it, it will give us a number

-and that will be unique to this foal.

-So clever.

-That's really cool.

-It IS cool, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Matt pops a nice clean, sterile microchip into Spy.

There's a bit of a jolt, but it's over in a flash.

-I think it's just a shock, really.

-Yeah.

And I guess he wasn't expecting it

because he hasn't actually had a microchip or an injection before.

Now Bonte needs to check Matt's handiwork

with a special microchip detector.

DETECTOR BEEPS

-Ah, that's cool.

-Why's it such a long number?

That's so we never run out of numbers for horses.

Result! The team's handiwork will help protect Spy

for the rest of his life.

And later, Bonte and Jamie are left wide-eyed with wonder

when they look inside a horse.

-Oh!

-Is that what I think it is?

Ah, look, cute kittens. Loads of them.

The nearby Edinburgh dog and cat home is over run with them.

They were born here after their mums were found abandoned.

Today, two litters have arrived at vet school and new junior vets

Robyn and cat-loving Josh need to help vet Nick

give them a very important vetty once over.

I was just like really hoping that they were all fine and well.

It's really important that you guys examine these kittens.

If they pass, and they're all healthy,

they can start to find new homes.

-Was that cat's mum abandoned?

-Yeah.

-Oh!

She was abandoned when she was pregnant.

I felt really sad when we found out they were homeless

because the kittens were so cute and I just couldn't imagine

anyone to be so cruel to abandon a pregnant cat.

1.02 kilograms.

Because mum was a stray, the chances of the kittens being ill are higher.

Look out for anything unusual, Robyn.

-Can you hear anything?

-The heart's beating really fast.

It's really fast, isn't it, in kittens?

Now what we're looking for is a nice lub dub, lub dub, lub dub, lub dub.

Josh, have a little feel down. There shouldn't be anything sticking out.

-If you a feel a sort of soft lump...

-Ey up! Josh has seen something.

-It's like he's got an extra thumb.

-Well spotted!

Cos I have at home, erm, we got a mum like it

and she's got the extra thumb.

-Do you know how many toes a cat normally has?

-I think it's four.

-Four on the back and five on the front.

-How did that happen?

-It's just how she's been born.

-Family trait.

Family trait, that's it. So do you think this one's good for re-homing?

-BOTH: Yes.

-Good.

There's one that's trying to escape.

And later, Robyn and Josh find out working with kittens

is trickier than it looks!

Don't know how I'm going to get it.

My junior vets are now out and about

saving animals with top class vet types.

But I'll be keeping my beady eyes on them

so that I can pick my vets of the day when the work is done.

Now I want to let you into a little secret.

I'm not a vet, but calm down, it doesn't matter,

I'm surrounded by them here!

Over 20,000 animals get sorted out here at vet school every year.

So this is the perfect place for my junior vets to train and work.

Because your average vet doesn't have one of these.

A computerised tomography thingy!

Wow! Look at that!

Or one of these. A linear accelerator!

Oooh, fancy!

I've no idea what that does.

Oh.

One thing I do know is my junior vets will be facing some

incredible animally challenges over the next few weeks.

And, at the end of it all, the bestest,

stand-out junior vet will be named head vet.

At a top horse farm near Edinburgh,

Bonte and Jamie are working with some very posh horses with vet Matt.

Their next patient is a mare called Lettie.

Now Lettie is pregnant,

but the last time we checked she was only just a few days pregnant,

so now we need to try and look inside,

and see if we can see an embryo with a heartbeat.

-If we can't, then Lettie's not going to be pregnant...

-No.

..and we need to try and work out why that is.

One in five mares lose their foals during pregnancy

so Lettie's scan is vital to check if everything is still OK.

Right, let's get started.

-This is an ultrasound machine and this can look inside you.

-Cool.

So, what we're going to do, is use this bit here,

-to see if Lettie is pregnant.

-OK.

Have you got any idea where this is going to go?

I think I have a little bit of an idea.

-Where do you think it's going to go, Jamie?

-Up her bottom?

It's going to go up her bottom. Quite right, yes.

Best leave the hand-up-the-bum thing to Matt, I reckon, junior vets.

He still needs your help, mind.

Pull your glove onto her tail. That's it. All the way up.

-Done line a pro. You've done that before, have you?

-No.

With major obstacles out of the way, there's just one big job left to do.

I'm going to have to make her a bit cleaner.

-What are you going to do?

-I've got to take her poo out.

-Urgh!

Oh, lovely(!)

Removing the poo will help them get a much clearer picture

of Lettie's womb.

-Wish me luck.

-Good luck.

This isn't painful for Lettie

but it's very uncomfortable for our junior vets.

Oh!

-There was like loads of poo coming out.

-It was like a mountain.

It was like...

-Look, there's more.

-Oh, lovely(!)

BOTH: Urgh!

THEY LAUGH

Her bum was like higher than us. I don't think we could have reached.

No.

-I'm getting there. There's less and less.

-It's all dribbling. Urgh!

I can smell that and that's disgusting.

With the dirty work done, the team can now insert the ultrasound probe.

Right, let's have a look and see what we can see, shall we?

And it's all eyes on the screen.

Fingers crossed Lettie is still going to be a mum.

Amongst all this grey tissue is her womb,

and there's her womb there.

-Is there anything in there?

-Let's have a look, shall we?

-Ah, is that what I think it is?

-Is that it?

That is actually a little foal.

If you look really carefully,

you might be able to see a little heartbeat flicking.

-Is that what that is there?

-Yeah, there it is there. Oh, yeah.

-See it flicking?

-Yeah.

-So it kind of pops?

-Yeah.

-So it's alive?

-It's alive.

Lettie's baby is safe and sound.

That's really cool.

-And it's no bigger than the end of my thumb.

-No way.

-Really?

It's got a long way to go, hasn't it, before it's a fully-formed foal,

like the one you saw earlier?

There's only one thing left to do - take Lettie out into the paddock.

-Yes!

-Do you want to do that?

-BOTH: Yes!

-Right, let's go.

So how do you feel our junior vets have gone on today?

Bonte is really, really practical

and Jamie asked some really intelligent questions.

I think for the first exercise they've both done amazingly well.

Looking after the horses has been amazing.

It's not every day you get to have a chance to microchip

a, erm, fool, fowl?

-What's it called again?

-A foal.

-Foal.

Yeah, it's been really good and we've learnt so much.

Well, thanks for that, Matt.

I won't shake your hand. I've seen the state of the floor in there!

-Ta-ra.

-Oh, fair enough. See ya.

Earlier, junior vets Robyn and Josh met their very first patient.

1.02 kilograms.

She's one of many homeless kittens

that need a crucial medical examination.

If they pass, they stand a better chance of getting a new home.

You've seen how to examine your kitten.

I'll give you a kitten each and you've got to examine it

and see if you can find anything wrong with it.

OK, you two, think like vet detectives

and look for signs of illness.

Sharp-eyed Robyn spots something's not quite right here.

-Isn't this the same one as a minute ago?

-I think it might be.

Cos it looks exactly the same.

That's because it is, Robyn. They've already sorted this one, Nick!

Next kitten, please!

1.22.

You don't want to handle them that much cos they look really delicate.

I don't want to give it away.

I can't believe how someone could be so cruel to abandon something

so cute like this.

-All clean?

-Yep, it's all clean.

-Good.

Ten, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.

-That sounds the same as the last one. Nice and strong.

-Good.

-This is definitely a boy.

-I think this is a female.

Well done.

Any signs of any ill health at all?

-You're quite happy.

-They all seem quite healthy.

-Good.

You're giving them a clean bill of health.

Yeah, these kittens can go up for re-homing.

I was really pleased that they were all OK, and they were all healthy.

That middle kennel is theirs.

Now let's get this lot fed and watered

so they can rejoin their mums.

They'll probably be pretty hungry.

So they have two between them?

Yeah.

How many cats have you got?

Nine.

It's been all new to me because I've never done stuff like this before.

Cos I've never had a cat.

Oi, watch out! One of your patients is on the prowl.

There's one that's trying to escape!

I don't know how I'm going to get it!

Well done.

Phew! Finally job done.

Kittens safe and sound thanks to my junior vets Catman and Robyn.

Ha-ha! Catman and Robyn!

Anyway... Nick, how did they do?

Both of them have got good animal handling skills, actually,

and surprisingly so for Robyn

because she's not had cats of her own before.

It makes you feel quite proud of yourself that you've sped up

the chances of finding a home.

Josh's powers of observation are good

and he noticed the extra toes on the kittens, you know, straightaway.

I think it's really mean how people abandon them.

If you get an animal, it's for life.

And the good news is that nearly all of the kittens have now found

loving homes.

At a city farm in Edinburgh, Molly and Nyatepe are busy

treating some noisy new arrivals with farm vet Andy.

Right, junior vets, let's get on with it!

Ooh, he doesn't want to get picked up, this one, does he?

Corner him, corner him, walk into the corner and just stop it.

Now, now he can't get out.

Ooh - he can!

This one, this one here.

Nah, I'll do this one. This one's first and...

They were quite fast but they all bunched up in one corner

so it was quite easy to grab them.

Even as a vet of many years of experience do you find

the catching of pigs a challenge?

Yes, and it's very noisy. They always squeal a lot.

OK - this might look a bit scary but Molly's drench gun is firing in

vitamins and minerals to help our piglets grow big and strong.

Who's next, who's next, who wants some vitamins?

Good work, Molly!

-Is he heavy?

-Yes, really heavy.

-Ha-ha ha-ha!

Each squealing piglet has to be popped onto the scales

to make sure they are all in good shape.

How much does he weigh?

-15.

-15 kilos.

15 kilos. That's a right old porker!

Are you leaning on it? It'll be weighing you and the piglets.

Ha-ha-ha!

Oh, my goodness!

Yeah!

Lovely! Excellent, show 'em who's boss - fantastic!

Excellent!

How do you think they are getting on?

They are working well together. It's important they work together.

Do you want me to hold the gate?

I tell you, you're getting slicker and slicker each time you do it.

Each one's that little bit easier, isn't it?

-We're so fast now!

-So fast!

Yeah!

All nine piglets sprayed and weighed.

-Ninth one, ha-ha.

-Fantastic! Well done!

-Thank you.

-Well done!

You must be exhausted Nyatepe, I mean, all that heavy lifting!

It were incredible!

Do you work out?

They eat loads.

-Are people going to eat these pigs?

-Yeah.

This is a working farm so all these little piggies are going to be

eaten when they grow up, which in some ways is sad

but then these pigs would never be born

-if they weren't going to be eaten.

-Yeah.

Because they have been bred and people are looking after them

so that that can happen.

-I wish they didn't have to.

-I know.

It's sad in some ways but in other ways it's natural.

Do you try to not get too attached to them

-otherwise you might get sad like when they've gone.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

It's important not to get too attached

-because you'd struggle to do your job if you did.

-Yeah.

You know, I thought I'd be falling on the floor trying to catch them

but I done better than I expected so I'm quite happy with that.

You done good, putting it in their mouth

-when they kept chewing it.

-I know. They kept trying to bite it.

It was really annoying. I thought I was going to hurt them.

Animals prefer often to be handled firmly.

If you grasp them and you're hesitant

and they wriggle and get away...

But you could see by the end he was just on them straightaway and good

strong hold of 'em, picked them up really nice and gently but firmly.

Molly did very well as well -

the first time you're asked to do something like that,

get a metal gun, get it in an animal's mouth -

that'd make people nervous. I was very impressed with them.

Here we go.

I'd say today was a great experience, a once in a lifetime.

When you think, well, one day I could eat them

and know that I actually helped them grow and made them taste tasty.

Good day's work.

All my new junior vets are cleaned up,

germ-free and back at vet school.

Now it's my job to announce the winners

of my first vet of the day award,

who'll be allowed to put their feet up and relax

while the others, well, won't.

-Hello. How you doing?

-Good, thanks.

-What a first day you've had!

-I know...

-Yeah.

Looking after, er, little baby and not-so-little baby animals.

Now looking after animals, there's always something that needs doing.

There's always work to be done

and after this some of you are going to be doing a very dirty job.

Urghh!

However, two of our junior vets have earned a well-deserved rest.

Decisions, decisions.

Jamie and Bonte started off a bit nervy with the horses but

finished the day riding high as vets in the making.

Robyn and Josh showed they are confident animal handlers

with a lovely gentle touch as they cared for the kittens.

But Molly and Nyatepe worked non stop with those wriggling piglets.

Brilliant team work!

So my first junior vets of the day are pig wranglers extraordinaire -

Nyatepe and Molly. Congratulations!

BOTH: Yeah!

Freedom!

Not for you lot, though. Kennels need cleaning.

Urgh, it stinks!

BOTH: It was really good.

I thought that we did quite good to win it

and whilst having a good time as well.

It makes us feel really happy that we were the first ones.

Fancy getting vetting yourself?

Well, get over to the CBBC website right now

and you'll find a special patient needing your expert help.

Next time on Junior Vets,

a wild boar kicks up a big fuss before surgery.

This tiny dog needs a scan in this huge machine.

And cow-sized heavy-duty head surgery down on the farm.