Episode 1 More Creatures Great and Small

We Brits love our animals.

From livestock in the fields,

to pooches in the park.

It's the job of the nation's vets to keep them healthy.

Whether consulting in the countryside...

There is something very nice about being next to a nice cow.

..or horsing around in the stables...

I spend all my job outwitting animals.

Got him!

..they're passionate about their patients.

Hello, baby.

Why I stroke them a lot is to try and reassure them.

On call when the animals need them most.

If we leave it any longer,

he almost certainly is going to not make it.

They're the dedicated vets, patching up pets,

and caring every day for more creatures great and small.

Coming up: In Teesdale, farm vet Richard treats a tup

with worrying symptoms.

He's blind as a bat in that eye,

but when I do that in his right eye...

Vet Steve deals with a springy spaniel.

Charlie! Charlie!

-Charlie, please, boy!

-Er, Adrian!

And, in Dunfermline,

vet Adam tries to save a kitten who's been run over.

It's so tricky with a kitten. It's so small.

County Durham is home to rolling hills

with over 1,000 traditional sheep and cattle farms.

In the practice at Barnard Castle,

senior farm vet Richard is preparing for his rounds.

I have always loved animals and I still do.

I grew up on a farm so I had all sorts of weird and wonderful pets.

A pet weasel for a while,

which either escaped,

or I've got a sneaky suspicion my parents let it out.

But I'm never really sure which.

HE LAUGHS

Today, Richard's been called out to a farm in Westwick.

Out of 550 sheep,

farmer John has noticed one of his tups is unwell.

One of their tups was standing away from the others this morning -

he looks like he is blind.

A tup, or ram, is an uncastrated male sheep used for breeding,

and worth around £600.

Yeah, he certainly looks blind, doesn't he?

Can we just pop him out, if we can, outside?

He was just in the field next to the house.

He was stood at this end of the field and the rest of them

were at the far end of the field, which arose suspicions straightaway

because we knew that, you know, they always stick together, normally.

They are flock animals.

Richard gets down to some detective work.

There's no bangs on his head that are obvious.

Anything else unusual about him? Have they recently moved fields?

There are no drainage ditches being dug

or anything been tipped in there that he could have got hold of?

-Well, we did have a burst water pipe.

-Right. OK.

-I dug in and repaired it and filled it back in again.

-Uh-huh.

-So there is a bit of soil on the surface.

-Sure.

..but not here.

That's interesting.

You can see what we call the menace response, where you put your hand up

towards his eye to see whether he moves.

He's blind as a bat in that eye, but when I do that in his right eye...

So that narrows down the things that are likely to be wrong with him.

And one of the things is a disease called listeriosis.

Listeria is a bacteria often found in soil,

which the tup may have eaten while grazing.

We'll just do a few more little checks with him.

One of the symptoms of listeria is facial paralysis.

The eyelids on this side are drooping.

Commonly, it tracks up one of the nerves in the side of the face

and get into the brain and, in doing so, it causes these symptoms.

The normal progression is that they will go round and round in circles

and eventually go off their legs.

By the time they get to that sort of state,

the chances of them recovering are very slim.

If left untreated, the tup will most probably die.

If we just pop his bum in the corner again.

So Richard wastes no time injecting antibiotics and steroids.

Good. It's gone straight into his blood stream and, obviously,

it'll be carried to his brain where the problem is,

and I suspect he's got the mother and father of all headaches, poor lad.

But, hopefully, the steroids that we've given him

will counteract that to some degree and start to make him feel better.

Thanks.

I'm not sure whether he'll come round or not.

It's just some respond better to treatment than others.

It's a bit annoying because they're expensive to replace

and finding good tups is quite tricky.

The prognosis is what we'd call guarded.

So it's not great. The next 24-48 hours will tell us.

I would say his chances are about 50/50.

As always, when we're treating farm animals,

we're looking at groups of animals.

John is a very good stocksman.

I know he'll keep an eagle eye on the rest of those tups,

make sure none of them start developing the symptoms.

There is a risk the other tups could come down with the disease.

-We'll see what tomorrow brings.

-Yeah.

As a precaution, John will need to move them to another field.

Hopefully, that's the last we'll see of it this time.

You just don't know. Farming is just a gamble.

We're doing National Lottery every day!

120 miles north,

across the spectacular Firth of Forth,

lies Scotland's ancient capital, Dunfermline.

At Inglis Small Animal Hospital, the vets and nurses

can expect to treat over 100 patients a day.

What's this, sweetheart?

Num-nums.

That's that. One down.

Hello, nosy!

So handsome.

Senior Vet, Adam, and his team are always on hand

to patch up the local pets.

Really well. Really well.

Well done!

We're open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

So we see animals all hours of the day and often they can be animals

that don't have an owner.

They can be strays and they've been injured and our focus is always

to look after those animals and make them better

because that's what we're here for.

Today, a tiny, stray kitten has been brought in.

And he's in a bad way.

A little black kitten has been hit by a car

and the lady's rushed it into the surgery because she's really worried.

I know we seem really cruel doing all this to you.

We've taken some X-rays

and we can see that it's broken its back leg and also its diaphragm,

which is between the chest and abdomen.

It's ruptured and we can see some of the intestines feeding up

into the chest.

That's really bad news because it means it can't breathe properly.

MEOWS WEAKLY

I know. I know.

The kitten has no owner,

so Adam has no option but to go ahead with surgery

to try and save his life.

If we leave it any longer, he almost certainly is going to not make it.

But there is a huge risk in actually operating as well.

It's extremely difficult surgery

and we don't know how much lung tissue or diaphragm he's got left.

He's been christened Sky by the nurses.

Carole will have to pump oxygen into Sky's crushed lungs

to keep him alive.

Just get into a rhythm.

If your hands get tired, swap, but don't stop.

OK. Are you ready?

When an emergency comes in, everything has to focus on that

and getting that better.

What's really important is it's not panic stations.

It's everyone focusing their efforts to save that animal.

At the end of the day, that's the most important thing

and those first few minutes are vital.

I'll use my fingers because they're less abrasive on the actual tissues.

But it's so tricky with a kitten because they're so small

it's hard to grab hold of anything in there.

We just put bits of body in the right place

and let the body do the rest of the work.

This is the most stressful part.

This kitten Sky is giving us every opportunity to save him,

which is absolutely brilliant.

So we're just stitching up now.

Adam has repaired his diaphragm.

Carole briefly stops pumping oxygen

to find out if Sky can breathe for himself.

Is he moving the bag?

It's a tense moment.

30 heart-stopping seconds later...

A tiny bit.

..she feels Sky take his first breath.

Fantastic news, that's brilliant, it's been successful,

his chest is moving nicely.

And Adam can breathe a sigh of relief after almost

an hour at the operating table.

I can actually feel pools of sweat in the back of my shoes!

It's disgusting.

He is already starting to move about

and show that he's a bit cheeky,

so I think he's going to be a little character.

He's been one very lucky, unlucky, lucky kitten, I guess.

With Sky, he's got every chance now.

But Sky's ordeal is far from over.

With a nasty break and no sensation in his leg,

Adam will soon need to operate again.

And with still no owner coming forward, poor Sky is homeless.

Back in County Durham, it's been 24 hours

since farm vet Richard treated a tup with listeriosis...

He's blind as bat in that eye.

..a life-threatening infection that made the sheep blind in one eye.

The normal progression is they will go round in circles

and off their legs,

and by the time they get to that sort of state,

the chances of them recovering are very slim.

We're going back to visit John and Anne. I'm not at all sure

what we'll find when we go out today.

it is possible that some of those other tups in that group

could pick it up as well.

Hello, fella.

Good lad.

Have you seen him grazing?

Yes. He was nibbling. He was nibbling away.

Uh-huh.

He's still blind as a bat in that eye.

Good lad. All right.

I don't think he's any worse than he was, John.

He might even be just a tiny bit better.

He somehow just seems a little bit brighter.

So I think what we'll do with him today is give him

some intravenous treatment

and I'll leave you some antibiotics to carry on treating him with.

I don't think he's any worse, which is always a good sign.

Good lad. All right.

Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa!

That's not part of the deal.

Although it's awkward when your patients fight back,

it's always a good sign,

so he's definitely perkier than he was yesterday.

Yeah, good, righto, that's that bit.

The tup has perked up.

So far, so good, I think.

I'm happy that he's eating and drinking

and that he's got a bit more fight in him.

And moving the other sheep as a precaution

should keep them disease-free too.

Back in Dunfermline, at the small animal hospital,

Sky the stray kitten has had life-saving surgery

after being run over by a car.

Basically, all the intestines have burst through.

Adam repaired Sky's ruptured diaphragm.

Aw, sweet boy.

And Sky made a miraculous recovery.

Who is it? Who's that?

No owner has come forward, but he's making new friends.

Where are you going?

Two weeks since his accident, and now Sky needs another operation.

He has a badly broken leg, but more worrying,

he has no sensation in it either.

What we're doing now is putting Sky back together like a Meccano set.

Got one pin in now.

Probably going to get a second pin in and it'll be like a figure X.

If we can save this leg for Sky to use, I think we're onto a winner.

But 13 days after the op,

Sky's still not using his pinned leg.

The bones have tied together really well,

but there's still no sensation in the bottom part of his foot.

Adam's hoping, with time and physio,

Sky might get back on all four of his legs.

There, there, whoa!

Hello! You're coming back up, are you, Sky?

So this leg is supposed to support him so he can use his left leg

far better, because at the moment,

what happens is his right hind, the one which isn't working very well,

is sliding under his body and it's rolling him over.

Therefore, he's not using his left leg as well as he should do.

Want to play with me, hey?

We're coming up, coming up. It's OK.

If Sky's injured leg doesn't improve, it may have to come off.

But he's a little fighter.

The more time I've spent with Sky,

the more deeply in love I fell with him,

which sounds odd, but I... He's my pal.

Where are we going? Down there?

Every time you pick him up half an hour after an operation,

he's purring and meowing, cuddling into you.

Genuinely, I've never met any animal as brave as he is.

Adam has become smitten with his kitten,

and knows a family that would love him.

-Adam's kids Freddie and Thea come to visit.

-Come on, guys.

This is Sky, the one who had the operation, if you remember, I told you all about.

Can you believe that we can't find his owner?

-What do you think? Shall we take him home?

-Yeah!

But before the kids get too attached,

Adam may have to operate again on Sky's leg.

Back in Teesdale...

..the team at Castle Vets is facing a busy morning after the weekend.

Sometimes we are absolutely choc-a-block.

We've got the phones ringing,

we've got people coming in,

you're pulled about in different directions,

but you've just got to do your best.

Let's have you, monster. There we go. All right.

The pressure is on for vet Steve.

Mondays can be a bit of a challenge, particularly Monday mornings, yeah.

This sort of time of day's always fun.

Get to lunch time and we can breathe a sigh of relief and everything settles down, hopefully.

Steve's next patient is five-year-old spaniel Charlie,

brought in by Ursula.

I went for a walk this morning. He came rushing out of the bushes.

He was crying, so I don't know whether...I don't know,

something's bitten him?

Spaniels are normally a happy, bouncy breed,

but today Charlie's not himself.

One thing I noticed when he came in, he's not lifted his tail once.

-That's where I think it is.

-OK.

-Come on, sweetheart, don't worry.

It's all right.

It could well be that he's been zapped a few times by wasps.

Don't worry. I wonder if it was an adder or a snake.

It's possible. We've had a couple of adder bites.

I just don't know. It happened so suddenly.

Adder bites can be fatal to small dogs, so Steve needs to investigate.

-Charlie.

-Good boy, come on.

Put your arms round Mummy's neck. That's it.

-That's it.

-Yeah, it is. It's something to do with his tail.

Ooh, it's the tip of your tail, is it?

Oh, his little heart is going nine to the dozen here.

Spotting an escape route, Charlie makes a bid for freedom.

-Charlie, Charlie!

-Charlie, please, boy.

-Adrian.

-Luckily, nursing assistant Adrian is on hand.

Charlie, wait, wait, that's better.

It is - it's that tip.

He clearly doesn't like this at all, so we'll give him a sedative,

have a good look at it,

probably going to end up shaving that fur off there,

cos I can't see anything - there's a big knot of hair in the way.

sorry, big lad - you're going to have to stay.

Don't worry.

Thank you.

Talk to you later.

This one's a wriggler.

All right, boy, pop him down.

Good boy. Come on, then.

DOG BARKS

There's no escaping the vet, Charlie!

In Dunfermline, it's eight weeks

since Sky, the homeless kitten, was hit by a car.

Here, Sky.

Vet Adam has been trying to save his badly damaged leg.

From the knee down,

there is no sensation there at all,

and it's becoming more of a hindrance

than anything else, isn't it?

And it's almost there,

but just not quite getting there, are you, Sky?

Adam has fallen for this little chap.

That's right.

I think you are going to have to join the family, aren't you?

Hey, hey, hey, hey!

You're dying to get out, aren't you?

But he can't go home yet.

Poor Sky is going to have to lose his leg.

We've given it every chance for that leg to heal,

but unfortunately, as the sensation's not coming back,

I think the best thing to do is to remove his leg.

So he can have fun and be a kitten.

-He's still quite lovely.

-Yeah.

Come on!

He's a little fighter.

Ready to take on the world, aren't you?

To be honest with you, it's a really rotten operation.

It's not without its risks, as well.

Removing, amputating a leg, you feel like you've failed,

you just feel miserable from the start to the end.

How are we getting on?

Good, we're ready to go.

Sky's doing OK, is he?

Yes.

Sky has definitely fallen into our family fold now.

And when they're your own pet, you've got that extra level of

tension which you try to put to the back of your mind,

and then we have a wee look at him, go, "Oh, that is Sky!"

And I know he's such a brave soul,

but it is quite a tough thing for him to go through.

It's a major operation, but cats can adapt quickly to life on three legs.

So I'm just going to cut the skin now...

Start cutting through this muscle here.

He can't feel anything in that leg.

So when we cut it off,

hopefully he'll not feel any real great pain afterwards.

OK.

That's the leg away.

40 minutes later, the surgery is over.

I am quite pleased with the way it's gone.

The most important thing is he comes out of this

happier, long-term,

and just able to run around and be a proper kitten.

Hello. There he goes, he's starting to wake up.

Hello, wakey-wakey. Hello, sweetheart, well done.

Very good.

Oh, don't bite that. Don't bite that.

OK, just waking up now.

He's been so brave.

Hope this is his last operation for a long time.

Sky's been through so much already,

but he still has a long recovery ahead.

In County Durham at the rural practice,

Steve has been treating Charlie and his painful tail.

Wonder if it was an adder or a snake.

It could well be that he's been zapped by wasps.

Charlie, Charlie.

I know, I know.

Sting or snakebite, it's time to find out.

First Steve and nurse Emma

give Charlie a sedative.

He is quite good at bailing off the table.

You liked that, didn't you?

You thought you'd seen the gap and you were going to have it.

It's working already.

Look at... Oh, sleepy boy!

They always look a bit like our nurses after a night out.

Going to just give him as tidy a hairdo as I can.

Hmm. What do we have here?

There we go. It looks like a bee sting,

and there's the sting itself,

actually embedded.

And he is obviously moving, despite sedation.

Steve scrapes the sting out

to avoid squeezing any more venom into Charlie's tail.

There it is.

Really sore.

No wonder he was reacting like he was.

He'll live to tell the tale.

Excuse the pun.

Terrible.

It's awful. They don't get any better, I'm afraid.

Come on, sleepy boy.

An hour's rest and Charlie's ready to go home.

Come on, boy. Charlie.

Come on, son.

Hello, Charlie.

Got a wagging tail.

You will be all right now. Mummy will take you home.

-He's a little bit sleepy.

-You'll be all right.

He'll sleep all afternoon on the settee, won't you?

Don't look so sad, my dog, it's over.

But not quick enough for Charlie.

Can we go home now? Thank you very much.

You're welcome. Bye.

He's still a bit sleepy, so he'll go home and have a snooze.

He won't have any repercussions from that,

just hopefully a healthy respect for anything that buzzes.

In Dunfermline,

Adam is taking someone home too -

his newly adopted kitten, Sky.

Hello, sweetheart, hello.

Brave little Sky has endured life- saving surgery and a leg amputation.

How are we doing?

You want to go home?

Gosh, can you see already he's putting his leg midline,

it's fantastic. It's absolutely fantastic,

you're such a clever wee beastie, aren't you? I know.

Sky is about to start a new life with Adam and his family.

Sorry, Sky.

Really, really excited about taking Sky home.

Because the kids are going to be so excited to see him.

Hi, Daddy!

Hello, Sky!

Shall we pop him out? Yes.

Why does he have that collar around him?

The collar is to stop him chewing his stitches.

You see, that's where his leg was, just there.

Yeah. It looks really sore.

You hold on to him like that. I'll see if I can...

Sky, Sky, Sky.

He's just a wee bit sore, OK?

I'm really happy to have Sky home.

He's looking fab,

and in a couple of days' time he should be walking much better,

and almost flying around the house again.

It's going to take a bit more hard work

and recuperation to really get him going.

But he's such a lovely chap that it's worth every minute, you know.