Kacie, Blade and Coco The Pets Factor

I'm Stacey Dooley.

I love pets and hate seeing them ill or injured,

but when they are, help is at hand at places like this,

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

Meet rookie vet Rory...

Oh, I do love a friendly rabbit.

Smells like dog sick. Urgh!

..every pet's best friend, Cheryl...

Hello.

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.

You're gorgeous.

-HE LAUGHS

-Don't attack me!

They're the vets with The Pets Factor.

Coming up on today's show...

..there's a real emergency for James...

What's happened? Oh, gosh.

That's quite deep, isn't it?

..when his colleague's dog is hurt.

Cat gets to perform her favourite surgery...

We're just going to give it a little squeeze and see what's inside it.

..when a moggy has a gooey problem.

And Cheryl treats a tiny dog...

DOG SNORTS

..with a big attitude.

You're so feisty, aren't you?

Yes, you are!

First, let's join James in Bristol,

who's dealing with a familiar face at the practice.

All the staff here love their pets.

In fact, they are all part of the family.

How cool is it that we get to bring our pets to work?

And little Dot Cotton, Amy's puppy, she's always around for cuddles.

Hey!

Yeah!

Oh, life is so fun as a puppy, isn't it?

We've got Fran's dog, Lucy Little Legs,

who comes in for her teeth cleaned. Pffft!

Oh, dear. Are we a bit stinky?

But today, Cat the receptionist has brought in her own dog,

and it's a real emergency.

What's happened? Oh, gosh.

That is quite deep, isn't it?

I think she's gone... Both paws... I think it might be barbed wire.

Has it just happened now, has it?

-Yeah.

-Kacie is a lurcher, and she's faster than the wind.

But she's not so great at stopping.

And out walking today, she seems to have run

into some nasty barbed wire.

-RABBIT:

-Uh-oh!

DOG SOBS

So Trevor's raced her straight to James.

Is she on anything? Any medication at the moment?

-Nothing.

-She's otherwise really healthy and well?

-Yeah.

-Good.

-PARROT SQUAWKS

-If you're squeamish, look away now.

Oh, gosh. It's right under there as well, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-I can see your bone.

Poor Cat and Trevor are really in shock here.

I mean, it's awful when any animal get injured, but little Kacie,

you know, she's a friend to all of us here.

There we go.

Oh, look at that face, eh?

-She does a good sad face.

-Aww!

Unfortunately, this breed of dog has really thin skin,

and Kacie needs surgery to stitch this up.

It's OK. It's OK.

-Aw!

-All right. Oh, don't worry.

It's so horrible when it's your own, isn't it?

It's going to be OK. It'll be all right.

-She's like our little baby.

-I know.

All the team need to work quickly to get Kacie into surgery.

The longer she is untreated,

the more chance there is of an infection setting in.

It's a horrible wait for Cat.

It's hard.

It's always sad when you see other dogs and cats come in injured,

and then when it's your own, it's really sad.

Isn't it, sweetie?

CAT MEOWS

Let's go to Sheffield now to catch up with Cat the vet.

After school, this waiting room is often full of pet-loving kids

who have concerns about their little best friends.

High five.

I love seeing kids and their pets.

If someone brings their first-ever pet to me, it's a real honour,

and I have to deliver.

Four-year-old Ava has brought in her cat, Blade.

She can't remember him not being in her life, as he is twice her age.

We play and we cuddle each other.

I love him.

These guys have grown up together and are inseparable.

But Ava and her mum Rebecca

have noticed something strange on Blade's head

that they want to have checked out.

He's got a lump on his head that's been there for about

two or three months, and it's just been getting bigger and bigger.

Time for this pet cat to see vet Cat.

Hi, Blade.

Come on out, darling.

There he is.

What's he in here today for?

Because he's... Can you see that lump on his head?

Yeah. Is that's what's wrong with him, is it?

It's growing now.

Is it getting bigger and bigger?

As vets, we know the signs to look for,

and if a lump or a bump is growing, it usually needs to come off.

We'll get that surgery done for you today.

He'll come back to you with a little bald head.

We're going to take his hair off,

and we'll take the little lump off as well.

He'll be bald. He'll have to wear a hat to keep his head warm.

So it's off to surgery for Blade, something Ava knows all about.

You had to go to sleep, didn't you?

Like Blade's going to do today to have an operation,

and what did they get when you went to sleep?

What did they get out of your nose?

A peanut.

A peanut!

THEY LAUGH

How did that get there, I wonder?

Time to say goodbye, Ava.

Blade is in safe hands.

Back now to Bristol with James and Kacie the lurcher.

Kacie is being prepped for emergency surgery.

I think we are ready to go.

She's badly cut her leg after running into some barbed wire

in the woods.

She belongs to Cat the receptionist,

and today she is seeing first-hand just what other owners go through.

OK, we're going to get started, if that's OK.

-That's fine, go for it.

-Yeah? All right.

We'll give you a shout when she's all ready and woken up

-and looking a lot happier.

-Thank you. That would be nice.

Poor Cat, I know exactly what she's feeling.

When our dog, Oliver, got hit by a car, I just went to pieces,

but he pulled through, and I'm determined Kacie will as well.

Cat just can't stay away from her best friend.

I'll stay with her till she goes in.

Right, let's get you to sleep, then we'll have a good look.

-PARROT SQUAWKS

-If you're squeamish, look away now.

You can see in the wound now, just as we're starting to clean it up,

we've got some stringy, white tissue just underneath the surface,

which is actually a tendon of one of the toes.

And that's one of the things that we just need to get in there

and have a really good look at.

The tendon is the bit that actually helps Kacie's foot move,

so if it's torn, that could be really bad news.

Almost worse than breaking your leg.

It can take ages to heal, and she could end up with a limp.

James and his nurse assistant, Fran,

need to get Kacie into surgery fast before infection takes hold.

We have to already assume that this wound is infected,

so we now need to just do anything we can to prevent any more infection

creeping into the wound.

If you don't get in there and get them sorted out,

they could lose the leg. It can get really nasty,

so I really want priority to get her through to theatre,

get this sorted out ASAP.

So let's go.

Stay with us as James battles with the germs in Kacie's wound.

So what I'm doing is just literally

cleaning out the wound as best I can.

And Cat gets to grips with Blade's uber-gooey head.

Right, then. Are we ready?

Oh, are you ready? Everybody ready?

Look at it.

But next, let's head over to Essex to see vet Cheryl.

Hi. Caught you.

Being a vet, you have to do so many different things.

I'm a surgeon...

This should be quite simple to fix.

..a chemist...

So it's twice a day for a week.

..even a medical detective.

I mean, we're going to have to investigate.

And today, detective Cheryl is on a new case.

Coco the six-month-old Chihuahua is here with her owners,

Molly and Aaron.

Coco is the most stylish Chihuahua in town,

with an outfit for every occasion.

This girl has style and attitude to boot.

But lately, something has been messing with her street cred.

Little Coco has started making the strangest sounds.

COCO SNORTS

Better get to Cheryl to find out why.

Hello, sweetie. Her many times a day does she do it, do you think?

On a bad day, I'd say 10 or 15 times.

Really? That is quite excessive, isn't it?

She's still doing it quite often, yeah.

Like, do you know what it is she's actually doing when she does it?

So what she's doing is reverse sneezing.

Yeah.

-COCO SNORTS

-A normal dog or a cat,

they get a little bit of an irritation and they sneeze,

just like us. Ah-tchoo!

Coco makes a strange sound, which is called reverse sneezing,

which is where air gets stuck in her nostrils.

So she makes a noise constantly, like...

SHE SNORTS

A little bit like a pig snorting.

For some dogs, it's just one of those things they do,

but for others, it can be the symptom

of a much more serious problem.

You hear it and you don't know whether to panic

or just let her get on with it.

She seems to get over it and then she just acts like normal again.

Cheryl needs to get the bottom of what's causing this.

-Good girl.

-COCO SNORTS

But Coco doesn't seem too keen.

You're so feisty, aren't you?

Yes, you are!

Dogs don't normally snap at me.

Poor Coco is a little nervous,

so Cheryl sedates her so she can see properly inside her mouth.

Sorry, that's the mean bit done.

Brave Coco!

She starts by looking for any blades of grass or little sticks

that could be lodged in Coco's throat.

There's nothing stuck there.

With nothing to be found in her mouth,

the mystery continues,

and they move in for a deeper look.

X-rays.

This is her windpipe. This is what we're looking at,

and there's nothing obstructing it.

There's no bones that she's breathed in.

Her chest looks fine. She doesn't look like she's got asthma.

Cheryl has ruled out anything serious,

but she is determined to get to the bottom of this.

Nurse Sarah now takes a sample of Coco's blood,

which could have the answer.

We're going to send off an allergy test to make sure

that she hasn't got allergies to something,

like grass or house mites or dust mites,

like lots of dogs do,

because that obviously could get worse as she gets older.

But physically, she's perfect.

-You're going to be OK, Coco.

-COCO SNORTS

Aww!

Coco's owners will have to wait for her test results,

but, for now, it's home time.

I know how distressing it can be for an owner, but luckily,

it's not a life-threatening problem.

When it happens, don't panic.

What I do sometimes with one of my dogs is put your hand

or put your finger over the end of her nose when she's doing it,

so then she opens her mouth to breathe. Yeah?

-Yeah, that's fine.

-Thank you.

Lovely. Any worries, ring me.

Otherwise, yes...

Oh!

Oh, Coco. Oh, dear.

And to think, I had kisses.

Let's go back to Yorkshire now to see Cat the vet and Blade.

Ava's cat Blade is about to have an operation

to take off a lump that has mysteriously popped up on his head.

Things like this aren't particularly common in cats,

which is one of the reasons why we're taking it off,

because anything that's a bit unusual is always better removed

rather than leaving it in place - just in case it is something nasty.

Now Blade is safely under,

Cat can get ready for one of her favourite sorts of surgery.

I've got a bizarre obsession with popping scabs.

So has every veterinary professional.

It's a prerequisite for doing this job, that we have to enjoy

picking scabs, and squeezing spots, and emptying abscesses.

It's fabulous fun. It's the best part of my day.

We're just going to give it a little squeeze and see what's inside it.

The crowd has gathered for the goo-fest.

Everybody ready?

Oh, are you ready?

Is everybody ready? Look at it.

There we go. It's like a rabbit one.

-Out it comes.

-Look at that.

-Wowzers.

-Very satisfying watching it all just come out and go...

That was good. OK!

I love it.

I cannot resist a good squeeze, but actually,

this tells me that it's nothing to worry about,

and it's just a cyst rather than a growth,

which is just like a great big zit.

So now, it really is just like a big empty carrier bag

where all that goo used to be.

Blade now needs to go to the theatre to get that big hole cleaned up

and stitched up.

A little cut here.

Oh, look. It looks like a little rose, look.

By the time we're finished with Blade,

he's going to look like he's had brain surgery,

but actually, he's going to be completely fine.

All done. There we go.

With the skin removed, Cat can now stitch Blade's head back up.

I think we will send Blade home with a little cone on.

It is very tempting for cats to scratch things,

especially on their heads,

and we definitely don't want to have to see him again to fix the wound

or stitch it back up again if he opens it up.

Blade, you're all done.

It's like there was nothing ever there.

Time to reunite Blade with his bessie mate, Ava.

Here he is.

Look, he's got a little hat on.

I really like having patients like Blade,

because it is incredibly satisfying for me to be able to fix him.

Luckily, this is quite an easy thing to be able to do - to find a lump,

to remove it, and, in Blade's case,

that should be the end of the matter.

I see no reason why this would recur.

Once his fur grows back, it'll be like nothing was ever there.

There you go.

Back to Bristol with James and Kacie the lurcher.

He's scrubbing in for emergency surgery to fix Kacie's paw

after she cut it out playing in the woods.

It's a worrying time for her owner, Cat, the practice receptionist.

It's vital James is completely sterile for her operation.

Barbed wire, it's like having a dirty piece of wire

ripped through your skin.

It's kind of a bit of a recipe for disaster in terms of infection.

So what I'm doing is just literally cleaning out the wound

as best I can,

just to try and get all of the horrible bits of grit

and hair and anything that might have got trapped in there.

Have you got some more saline?

We'll just give that another flush.

PARROT SQUAWKS

The solution to pollution is dilution.

-Oh!

-Do you like that?

He's done it. The wound is clean.

Now James can check to see if Kacie's injury

has caused any lasting damage to her leg.

So these are her little white tendons here, running down,

that you can see they're all nicely intact,

which is exactly what we want to see.

It looks like Kacie's had a lucky escape this time.

If Cat's husband had not been quite so quick to bring her down,

we may have been in quite a different situation.

-A few rows of stitches...

-Last stitch, Fran.

..and then there's just one more important decision to make.

Which bandage will it be?

We have sheep, cows, or pigs.

-Oh! We're going to have to do pigs.

-Which, you know,

me and James would choose pigs.

I think, seeing as we've done the operation,

I think it can only be pigs, can't it?

Great work from all the team today.

After a few hours on the ward, it's time to go home.

It's home time. Hey?

I know, it's OK.

It's OK.

Hey!

She's my little sweetheart.

My little best friend.

That bond between owners and pets is amazing,

and when it's you that's actually helped them,

it's the best feeling in the world.

A few weeks later, just look at Kacie go.

She was a really good patient.

Considering she couldn't go for a walk for ten days,

she was actually fantastic.

And then when she could go for a walk, it was meant to be calm,

quiet walks, but trying to keep her from running

is quite hard when you bring her out here.

Cat and Trevor might have trouble keeping up with their speedy hound,

but they wouldn't have it any other way.

I wouldn't be without her at all.

She's everything to me.

-Unconditional love.

-Yeah.

She's amazing.

And I think you're amazing, too, Kacie.

Take it easy, girl.

Now, I wonder what happened to Coco, the sneezing Chihuahua.

Well, Cheryl solved the mystery.

Coco does have allergies, but with a few lifestyle changes,

her funny little sneezes will hopefully go away.

Next time on The Pets Factor,

Cheryl performs some serious surgery on a goldfish...

Fingers crossed.

And toes and gills.

Scout, come on in.

..Cat the vet needs to tread carefully around a greyhound

with a sore paw...

Such enthusiasm.

I know. Come on.

There we go, baby.

..and James meets a super pet fan who loves her animals

a little too much...

If he is carrying that much extra weight around on those back legs,

that's probably why he's starting to struggle a little bit.