Jabba, Lolly and Hercules The Pets Factor

DOG BARKS

CAT MEOWS

I'm Stacey Dooley, and I adore animals of all shapes and sizes.

But sometimes, just like us, our furry friends get sick.

Thankfully, when they do, they can come to places like this,

where amazing vets will go that extra mile to fix them up.

Hello!

Meet rookie vet Rory.

Oh, I do love a friendly rabbit.

It smells like dog sick.

Ugh!

Every pet's best friend, Cheryl.

Hello!

THEY LAUGH

Ow! That really hurt!

The coolest vet in town, Cat.

Come on, honey.

Well, that's fine, you just sweep the floor while you come on in.

And always caring gentle James.

Aren't you gorgeous?

-GEESE HONK

-Oh, you can see what I mean!

They're the vets with the pets factor.

Coming up on today's show...

vet Cheryl performs a vital face-lift...

Hello, Jabs.

..on this poorly pug.

Once we take away a skin fold, we can't put it back.

PIG OINKS We catch up with James...

They're very loud!

..at his animal-packed home.

It does hurt when they go for you, I have to say.

And vet Rory is under pressure to make sure this little piggy...

-180, 190.

-That's fine.

..survives a risky anaesthetic.

But first, we kick off in Essex with Cheryl.

Morning!

Cheryl loves dogs of all shapes and sizes.

Hello!

But the pooches she treats the most are popular pedigrees.

Do you want to come home with me? He says, "Yes!"

Pomeranians, shih-tzus, and French Bulldogs.

DOG SNEEZES Bless you!

Come on, Jabba!

And one of Cheryl's favourites is booked in today. A pug called Jabba.

He belongs to 13-year-old Kelan.

Oh, you're very ticklish, aren't you?

And this passionate pug has a heart of gold.

Jabba can get really friendly. Even with cats.

I mean, I know that cats are, like, rivals to dogs,

but he's extremely friendly.

It's easy to see the inspiration behind Jabba's name.

But that's where the sinister sci-fi similarity ends.

This friendly pug is no intergalactic gangster...

he's 100% Jedi.

HE WHIMPERS But right now, he's feeling a little

on the dark side.

The wrinkly folds above his nose are rubbing together and

irritating his skin,

which is driving poor Jabba round the bend.

Jabbies!

Oh, you're so heavy!

Cheryl and Mum Julie have tried everything to soothe his skin.

You rub in there and I'll do his face.

-But with nothing working...

-Good boy.

..it's time for some serious action.

THEY LAUGH

Jabba the pug is having a face-lift.

Not the type that some of these Hollywood stars get.

He needs those excess folds of skin removing to stop them rubbing

together, which should fix the problem for good.

It has to be done.

It's not because I want him to look good, cos I think he's gorgeous,

but it's better for Jabba.

But with the day of the op here, Julie's nerves are jangling.

Come on, Jabba.

Oh, Cheryl, he wants to go out!

I know. That's because you're worried, so he's worried.

-So, stop being worried!

-I'm not, I'm fine.

Yeah. You're going to be fine.

Hello, Jabs!

Julie and Jabba have been coming here for a while now,

and I can tell she's really worried about him.

But he must be feeling really uncomfortable,

so she's doing the best thing.

So, when he's asleep, we'll decide how much to take away,

but we really want to remove all of that rubbing.

But as well as the excess skin around his face,

Cheryl has noticed this pug is getting a bit podgy.

-I don't give him any other food.

-You sure? No-one else?

-I swear.

Oh, well, he has had a bit of cheese.

THEY LAUGH

OK, well that's something else.

-It's just like us, OK? We are what we eat.

-But, Cheryl, he's a big pug.

He is a big pug, but he has definitely put on weight.

What have you been eating, Jabba?

Carrots!

Carrots?! Cheese!

I'm a believer in everything in moderation,

but too many treats are just going to make Jabba even fatter.

Come on, then. Whoa! He knows. He says, "I'm off!" Oh, Jabba!

You're making me cry, now, Cheryl.

-I'll look after him.

-I know.

-Don't cry. And it is the best thing.

-I know, you're the best, I love you.

-Thank you.

Have a lovely day. See you later.

Come on, Jabba.

It's a bit emotional. I didn't think I'd be like this.

I know he's in good hands.

I dunno, it's just hard to explain, really.

Good boy. You are heavy, aren't you?

Join us later when Julie's precious pug has a life-changing operation.

DOG BARKS

But next, we're in London with Rory.

-He's the new kid on the block...

-That looks really weird.

..who gets to help loads of pint-sized pets.

That's nice, isn't it?

There's something so cute about little furry animals.

-Hello!

-Hi.

-How are you?

And the patient needing his help today is this gorgeous little

guinea called Lolly.

Lolly's owner Tom is at school.

So, Mum Sarah has brought her in to see Rory.

When we arrive in the room, she squeaks,

and when she hears the fridge door, she squeaks,

and there's a real communication going on.

That's because Princess Lolly is on a seafood diet.

She sees food...

LOLLY GASPS ..and she eats it.

Yippee!

Though recently, this greedy guinea's love affair

with all things veg has come to an abrupt end.

She's developed these nasty sores on her face,

which is making her favourite hobby rather painful.

So, today, Rory and vet nurse Lucinda will need to put her

under so they can get a closer look.

And they've got some simple tricks to keep this little piggy

warm throughout the procedure.

So, Lu's just prepping what we call "hot hands".

We fill plastic gloves with warm water,

and it's just a nice way of keeping little furries warm.

We are always looking for ways to be thrifty at the vets,

and it's amazing what you can do with a simple surgical glove.

But doing a procedure like this on small animals like Lolly is

no laughing matter.

-It's all right.

-LOLLY SQUEAKS

I know, sweetie. Oh, sweetie, it's OK.

There we go. That's all it is.

Guinea pigs are really fragile creatures.

It only takes the tiniest little thing for their heart to stop

or for them to stop breathing under anaesthetic.

-She's getting a little bit sleepy.

-Yup. There we go.

It will be down to Lucinda to make sure Lolly's heart is ticking

properly.

-180, 190.

-Yeah, that's fine.

-OK, just get her on her back.

-Come on, little one. Right over.

So, for everyone, the pressure's on.

Stay with us to see what Rory finds lurking around Lolly's lips.

It looks as if there's some sort of infection around the mouth.

There we go, look at that. That can't be too comfortable.

And vet James has a helping hand to give this gorgeous calf his

own personal ID.

OK. Right. Squeeze...now!

But first, it's back to Essex with Cheryl.

Jabba the pug is about to undergo some major facial surgery.

And head nurse Jade is on hand to keep Jabba calm before

he goes under the knife.

Jabba? Jabba? Jabba, are you going to have a face-lift?

Yeah.

Jabba might not look too happy about it,

but he needs this surgery to remove excess folds of skin on his

face, to stop them rubbing together and causing painful irritation

under those wrinkles.

And with him sedated,

Cheryl can have a proper look at the infected area without him wriggling.

So, this is the skin fold that we're talking about.

And it's so folded, it gets all infected in here.

Look at his nose, it's all scabby and sore.

Look how bad it is.

Facial surgery on pets is pretty specialised stuff.

SHE SIGHS So, Cheryl's feeling the pressure.

It's quite a difficult procedure to make him still look cute and

make him look like a pug, but make him so he doesn't get sore.

This is one of the most challenging operations I've ever done,

and because of another issue with pugs,

they have a lot of trouble breathing,

which means that putting them under anaesthetic is even more risky.

I really like Jabba. He's very sweet.

I'm quite nervous. Nervous for Jabba.

Yeah, you happy?

Time to make the first incision,

and there's no room for error.

Once we take away a skin fold, we can't put it back.

So, we have to be really, really careful,

and you don't know until you do it how it's going to look.

-PARROT SQUAWKS

-If you're squeamish, look away now!

But if you can bear to watch, Cheryl's carefully removing a strip

of skin about the length of a finger from each side of Jabba's face.

What do you think, Jade?

Just another little half a centimetre, I think, down.

Yeah, I think so.

Definitely don't want it to not be enough.

-MACHINE BEEPS

-Yeah.

-Yeah, that's it.

That's the one. Cool.

But it's only when the sections are stitched back together that

Cheryl will know if she's got her measurements right.

We're nearly done and it's looking great,

and he still looks like a pug, which is just really good as well.

If ever I needed a face-lift, I'd definitely ask Cheryl to do it.

Thanks, Jade.

Time to bring this precious pug back round.

Oh, he looks so good.

Oh, Jabba.

Oh, Jabbie, you look like E.T.!

I love pushing myself like this.

And even if I say so myself, that's a pretty good face-lift.

Cheryl's done such a good job preserving that sad pug face.

The only thing he's down in the mouth about now is that

cheesy blue collar.

And we'll be back later to see how Jabba's getting on.

Ooh, so cute!

Now it's over to Bristol with vet James.

Here he comes. Good boy. Shall we go for a little wander?

Eh? Where are you?

At home in the Somerset countryside,

James kicks off his day exercising his faithful friend Olly.

Good boy! Good boy.

But this playful Labrador isn't the only animal around here that

needs his attention in the morning.

PIG SNORTS

-Hu-Hu.

-There's some hungry Kunekune pigs,

a henhouse full of impatient chickens...

-They're very loud!

-..and a gaggle of really grumpy geese.

It does hurt when they go for you, I have to say.

C'mon, gossies. Come on.

I have always loved animals, and since probably about the age

of seven, I had my heart set on being either a farmer or a vet.

And, living somewhere like this, I get the best of both worlds.

See, this is what they do.

Oi! Oi!

GEESE HONK AGGRESSIVELY

They don't take any prisoners. They are... Go away! You monkey.

Here, look. Have some food.

But it isn't all just goosing around.

Can I have my rake back, please?

Occasionally, James gets to work his vet-y magic on the locals.

So, look at these!

-In a nearby field...

-Hi!

..this herd of Devon Red cows belonging to James's neighbour have

just had calves.

Aww, look. Aren't they fab?

Puppies and kittens are so cute, but for me,

a baby calf is the top of the baby animal league table.

And it's this five-day-old cutie that needs his attention today.

After a calf is first born, there's a few things that we need to do,

and one of those is to actually put an ear tag into their ear,

which is essentially a little bit like having their ears pierced.

And the tag that we use has then got a number on it,

which then identifies each cow to each herd.

But he won't be working alone today.

This herd will one day belong to the owner's 12-year-old son, Seb.

-Hi, Seb!

-Hello.

-How are you?

So, he's keen to lend a hand.

He's quite a big calf, isn't he?

-We've named him Hercules because he's so big.

-Have you, already?

With Mum safely shepherded out of the way,

James and Seb can get to work.

Right, let's get our kit ready.

This isn't just a first for Hercules,

it's a first for Seb, too,

so James is going to show him the ropes.

We need to make sure it's one really firm action,

-and that will just make sure it goes straight the way through.

-OK.

-OK?

-And with jobs like this...

-So...

-..the quicker the better.

And what we do is, 1, 2, 3...

CLICK

Like that.

-There we go.

-Quite simple!

-LAUGHING:

-Yeah.

Brave Hercules has proved he's a tough cookie. Over to Seb.

OK. Right, squeeze...now!

CLICK

There we go. All done!

-SO, that's your first ear-tagging. What do you think?

-Uh, very intense.

-Yeah?

-But that was really good. Good fun.

When I was young, I used to help out in our local vet's, and getting that

hands-on experience really gave me the confidence to follow my dream.

-Look at them all skipping around!

-Aww.

-Aw, it's so cute, look!

And maybe one day, Seb will get that bug, too.

-I think you've done a great job. Well done.

-Thank you.

-Yeah, future farmer, I reckon. Or vet?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

CAT MEOWS

DOG BARKS

We're back with vet Rory and guinea pig Lolly.

She's come in today because she has some painful growths

around her mouth.

All right. I know, sweetie. Oh, sweetie! It's OK.

Putting small animals under anaesthetic is risky, so now she's

fully out, Rory needs to work fast to identify and treat the problem.

Ugh, Lolly's mouth looks so sore.

It must be like having cold sores or ulcers around your mouth

all the time.

So, we've really got to do everything we can for her.

This nasty crust could be the sign of something serious.

There we go. Look at that.

So, I just pulled that, and it's come off relatively easily.

So, what I'm going to do is, I'm going to send that off to the lab.

That'll be the first bit of sample.

This scab will go off to be tested.

With Lucinda keeping a careful eye on Lolly's vital signs...

Her heart rate's still around 200.

..Rory quickly removes the rest of the sores from her mouth.

There you go, see that come away?

There's actually what looks like

relatively healthy tissue underneath.

Now I'm just giving it a little bit of a clean

with some very dilute antiseptic.

And with that, it's time to bring Lolly back round.

We're back on just oxygen now.

And to help, Rory's got another little trick up his sleeve...

Let's see if little one wants to eat something.

..some tasty green veg.

Hi! Lolly, what's that? It's really good.

Promise. It is.

It's always such a relief

when your patient comes round from an anaesthetic. I can

look forward to calling the family and letting them know she's OK.

-And after a nervous day at school...

-Lolly's owners!

..Tom can't wait to be reunited with his much-loved pet.

What do you think of under there?

-Ah, that's good.

-Yeah?

Oh, that's great.

-And if you look in here, you'll see what I've taken off.

-Ohh.

-OK. Yeah?

Lolly is going to be feeling so much better now we've got rid of

those horrible sores around her mouth.

She isn't going to be completely out of the woods, though,

until we hear back from the lab.

Everything crossed that it's nothing nasty.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-Awesome.

TURTLE LAUGHS PUPPIES YAP

CAT HISSES GUINEA PIG SQUEAKS

There you go.

Back in Essex with vet Cheryl... Remember Jabba,

the pug who had a face-lift to remove this painful flap of skin?

Well, it's done the trick.

With those excess wrinkles gone...

-Good boy!

-..the sores on his nose have healed up.

Go on, give him a good old rub.

He did look a bit weird at first with the stitching,

but I feel like he's even better now.

Go on, Jab!

You know, he's our Jabba, and he's still our Jabba.

Now he's all better.

And all this family playtime has helped this once-pudgy pug

lose over a kilo.

-Sit.

-But he's learned how to still get his carroty treat.

-Leave it.

-Leave it.

Good boy.

THEY LAUGH

And with his new face, the world's his oyster.

-JABBA BARKS

-I think he's more handsome now.

I definitely want to take him modelling.

Aww, isn't he adorable?

And it's so good to hear that

all of those nasty skin problems have gone away.

-Thank you!

-Thank you.

There's also great news for Lolly the guinea pig, too.

The lab results came back fine,

and the sores on her mouth have stayed away.

Mmm, nice seeds.

So, Tom and his brother Louie can feed her all that veg she's

been dreaming of.

Look what I just got.

This is from Tom.

It says, "Dear Rory, thank you for making Lolly better,

"and thank you for the medicine for Lolly.

"It's working really well."

Love getting thank you cards. Makes my week.

DOG BARKS Next time on The Pets Factor...

CAT MEOWS ..vet Cat gets an earful...

DOG GROANS ..from a very ticklish Cavapoo.

Oh, they're so itchy, aren't they?

And James discovers something nasty...

-Hmm.

-..lurking inside this poorly python.

-We are concerned now. Yeah.