Episode 13 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, babby! I stroke them a lot to try to reassure them.

On call when the animals need them most.

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

They're the dedicated vets, patching up pets

and caring every day for More Creatures, Great And Small.

Coming up. In County Durham, farm vet Richard battles to save a calf.

If we leave her she'll develop pneumonia, and that could kill her.

Steve plays tit for tat with more than one cat.

No need for that nonsense.

And in Fife, Megan wrestles with a guinea pig.

It's probably a two-man job, until he realises what we're up to.

Stunning County Durham is home

to over a thousand sheep and cattle farms,

keeping farm vet Richard busy for the last 20 years.

As the local vet I'm part of the community.

Everyone knows who you are.

And as you can see it's a beautiful area.

The people of Teesdale are great to work with

and it's been a great place to live and bring up the family as well.

Today Richard's on his way to one of the 27 dairy farms on his books.

Milking dairy cows is a very hard job.

The people that are still left are those who are very committed to it.

These cows can produce up to 65 litres of milk a day.

The amount of energy a dairy cow is using every day at peak lactation

is the equivalent to doing the Tour de France every day.

So it's important to keep them in peak condition.

Part of the reason for coming so frequently,

if there are any problems we can address them early on and get them sorted out.

With nearly 500 cattle over 180 acres,

Richard's visiting one of the largest dairy farms in the area.

We've been farming on this original farm here since the '40s.

I think we're the third, fourth generation.

It's calving season for farmer Steve and his family,

and one new mum is causing concern.

MOOING

Good girl. All right, all right.

This girl... Rob's saying she's a bit slow.

she's maybe not milking as well as she should be.

She went off her legs for a little bit after she calved.

Slightly raised temperature, it's 102.5,

so something's going on.

Which is one degree higher than it should be.

There are two more quick tests Richard can do

to figure out what's wrong.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

OK, lass, all right.

So I'm smelling her breath there,

which tells me about her energy balance.

If she's breaking down her body fat, ie, she's not eating enough,

then she gets a chemical in her blood called ketones

which you can smell on her breath.

And she smells normal, so that's a good sign.

And when I'm flicking her ribs there I'm listening for a ping,

which is the gas that's sitting in her stomach.

And, sure enough, she's got it.

Cows have got four stomachs

and her abomasum in the fourth one can occasionally fill up with gas

and become displaced.

This can happen if the cow doesn't eat enough after calving.

Left untreated, this cow would have serious digestive problems.

Going to give her some intravenous treatment.

The anti-inflammatory injection should stimulate her appetite,

help the stomach to work again and let the gas release naturally.

I'll come back and see her again tomorrow,

if it's still displaced we'll operate on her.

If there's no improvement by the morning,

this poor cow will face surgery.

Also on his rounds is small animal vet Steve,

whose love of all things furry is in his blood.

My parents are bonkers about their dogs and cats

so I guess that's where the natural tendency

came to relate to animals.

I suppose some would say I had only one direction

I was going to go in terms of what I did as a career.

Today Steve's visiting someone

who loves animals even more than he does.

He's on his way to animal sanctuary Arc on the Edge.

Set up by a lady called Pat Kingsnorth,

who is the most dedicated person I've ever come across.

We take in anything in that we have room for.

We've had badgers, deer, foxes, cats, dogs, rabbits, degus,

birds of prey, canaries...

..sheep, donkeys, horses, goats...

And so on!

We home as much as we can.

On the wildlife side, we release as much as we can.

Having said that, if it's not fit for release,

then it has a home here with us for life.

Some new arrivals mean Pat has now over 40 cats looking for new homes.

Tough financial times have led to over 100 pets

being abandoned in Britain every day.

Cats have been the worst hit

with the way things are. People can't afford them.

Last year animal charities took in over 10,000 cats across the UK.

Steve and trainee nurse Becky will make sure

the new arrivals are fit for re-homing.

And Danielle is here to help too.

Steve, just watch your foot.

Steve is checking for signs of ill health.

First the kittens.

Just give them a good check over, make sure everything is where

it should be and that their body condition is all right

considering that they're so young.

Aren't I?

Hello!

Next, the cats.

CAT YOWLS

Ah-ah! No need for that nonsense.

Which can be a thankless task.

-He's scratched me.

-Now we're all bleeding.

They're all going off me today.

Lastly a lady who, as of yet, hasn't given away her age.

She belonged to an old lady.

The old lady had to go into a retirement home.

She is approximately five.

-They don't actually know her age.

-What's her name?

-Suki.

Are you having a little snooze?

She's got very obvious cataracts.

I reckon she's probably at least ten.

Ten-year-old, ten-year-old.

Suki's age makes re-homing her extremely difficult.

And her terrible teeth won't help.

All her teeth down this side are horrendous, so she's going to

lose all those molars down that side.

The canines don't look too bad, but they are dirty.

-She's in pain with them.

-They'll be uncomfortable, certainly, yeah.

They are probably loose, actually. The gums are well rotted up there.

But Suki can't find any flaws in Steve!

Oh, sorry, do you want another cuddle?

Actually, she doesn't normally act like that.

She normally runs away from you.

-You're lovely!

-I think she's took a shine to you.

You've made a friend.

No, I can't, before you ask.

Steve's not biting. But he books Suki in for a dental.

With her teeth fixed, there's a chance she might find a new home.

Back at base, Richard's preparing for his rounds.

Being a farm vet has certain sides to it

that other sides of veterinary practice don't have.

The big one is that you're helping people run a business,

rather than look after their pets.

And some of the decisions you make

can have a big influence on how someone's business is run.

It's quite different from looking after the companion animals

like horses and dogs and cats.

It's 24 hours since he treated the cow with a displaced stomach.

When I'm flicking her ribs there, I'm listening for a ping

which is the gas that's sitting in the stomach there

and sure enough, she's got it.

If this new mum's stomach is still filled with gas,

Richard will have to operate.

First, the temperature test.

Yesterday it was one degree higher than normal.

Yesterday she had a temperature of 102.5.

And today, bang on normal.

So that's good news.

Our anti-inflammatories have done the trick.

So the 6 million question is,

is it still displaced? We'll soon find out.

The ping that tells me...

..if her abomasum's still displaced. And at the moment...

No, I think it's gone.

You can hear the gas in a displaced stomach.

It's a high-pitched ping.

And I could hear it yesterday and today it's gone.

-It's good news, basically.

-I'm not going to operate on her.

It's a huge relief for farmer Steve.

It's a better sign when we don't have to operate on her.

-Definitely.

-And cheaper!

But Richard's visit is far from over.

Next door, Steve has a calf who's struggling to breathe.

Just two months old, she's failed to respond to antibiotics.

Now she's in a critical condition.

How old is she?

She's got a bacterial infection in her larynx

which is constricting her airway,

so her airway is narrowed as she's breathing... HE BREATHES HARSHLY

..she's making this noise.

Now, if we leave her she's likely to develop pneumonia next.

And if she does that, that could kill her.

So we are going to do this operation

where we bypass her larynx for a period of time.

The reason for that is that because the larynx is inflamed,

as she's breathing, she's exacerbating the condition,

she's making it worse.

For Richard it's a break from routine.

As a farm vet, we don't really do that much surgery.

Certainly not compared with small animal or even equine vets.

There aren't many conditions on farms that we end up doing surgery on.

And this is one of them. So we quite enjoy it when we get the chance.

Though operating in a cow shed requires a bit of improvisation.

We could do with something to put the gear on, Steve, a small bale.

Richard anesthetises the calf to fit a breathing tube,

but the anaesthetic makes it even more difficult to breathe.

He works quickly, making an incision into the windpipe.

Just wide enough to fit the plastic breathing tube.

There's a slight panic until you get the airway in,

but once the airway's in, it's fine.

So operating in a cow shed needn't be a problem.

Unless, of course, the next-door calf is peckish.

Don't eat that.

A few stitches to hold the tube in place...

..some antibiotic spray, and Richard's work here is almost done.

I can feel her, she's breathing through there nicely.

You can see as she's breathing, a bit of hair is getting blown up,

but there's really nothing coming through her upper airways now

which is all to the good,

because we want that larynx to settle down completely.

In two or three weeks' time we'll take it out

and she'll have a hole there which will close up very quickly indeed,

and hopefully by then her larynx will have healed

and she can breathe normally.

Tracheotomies might date back to the ancient Egyptians,

but they don't happen often on farms.

That's the first time in 30 years I've ever seen it done.

Probably in the past we maybe would have lost that calf.

If the calves weren't maybe as valuable as they are at the minute,

maybe it wouldn't have been worth actually doing that operation on it.

With the anaesthetic worn off, the calf is back on her feet.

She's having a wee cough,

because, obviously, there's a bit of discharge tickling her trachea.

That will settle down quite soon. Good.

How are you feeling, sweetheart?

As you can see, she's quite happy, she's come out of her anaesthetic

and she's breathing a lot easier now.

Good. I think that's a result!

The tracheotomy has saved her life.

Now only time will tell if the infection will clear.

Up north, beyond the Firth of Forth, is Inglis Veterinary Hospital.

Across Britain, we own over eight million dogs.

With around 50 puppies a week at the small animal hospital,

vet Megan always gets her fix of cute and cuddly...

Handsome.

I like the darker ones. I like them all, obviously.

..which can be an occupational hazard.

If you're a vet and you've got a space and something comes along,

then you do, you end up taking one of them home

until you get to the point where you have no more room or get told

your husband will file for divorce if you take any more animals home.

While this lot are a handful, Megan's next case

has bitten off more than he can chew.

Kayla and Karli have brought in one-year-old Harley

with mum Lindsay.

This is Harley. It appears he's ate a stick and it's stuck.

The problem is where the stick is stuck.

Obviously, if they chew them up and swallow them,

they're a bit spiky when they come out the back end.

We think most of the time the dogs will tend to just

poo them out themselves.

Every year, over £1 million is claimed in pet insurance

to remove foreign objects from dogs.

Obviously ate something and it's stuck in his bottom.

If it's something that is going to be easily resolvable, we'll do that.

Obviously, if it's a little bit more in depth,

we'll have to give him a sedation to see what's happening.

Better have a little look then.

I was going to give you a hand. This is Emma.

Emma is on hand to help with some lubrication.

Just got it out yourself.

It's just been wedged like that with a sharp end.

-It looks like a cane or something.

-My stretcher for my washing line.

I think that is what he's been chewing.

I certainly don't feel anything else as far up there as I can feel, so...

They were coming out.

There's always the possibility of some other bits in there.

-Keep an eye out.

-There you go. You can lie comfy now.

Hopefully Harley will stick to dog food from now on!

Back in Barnard Castle, vet Rosie is on operations duty.

-Is he settling OK, Becky?

-Yep.

Three years qualified, Rosie loves being hands-on.

When vets qualify, we know all the theory

and some of the practical.

We get told all the facts, all the science, the ways of working out

the problems and that is the sort of important part.

But a lot does come with experience.

Every day's a learning day.

And Rosie's next patient is Suki,

brought in by Pat from the nearby animal sanctuary.

Steve discovered Suki was a lot older than anyone thought.

-I reckon she's probably at least ten.

-Ten-year-old?

-Ten-year-old?

-And badly in need of dental work.

I mean, all her teeth down this side are horrendous.

With older cats being difficult to re-home,

finding a new owner won't be easy.

But today, Rosie will do all she can to improve Suki's chances.

At this stage, I'm just trying to crack off some of the tartar

that's built up there.

A metal mouth gag keeps Suki's mouth wide open.

That one has just come away.

I've just removed the upper right pre-molar.

The rest of the teeth look OK. We're just going to clean them up now.

Rosie finishes off with a polish,

leaving Suki's teeth with a bit of sparkle.

That's us done - finished.

Suki's going to make a lovely pet, she's a lovely little cat.

Hopefully she gets a home soon.

Teeth done, but what Suki really needs now is a new owner.

Out in the country, Richard's on another visit.

He's off to check up on a young patient.

Three weeks ago, he performed a life-saving tracheotomy on a calf

with an infected larynx.

If we leave her, the likely thing is she'll develop pneumonia

and if she does that, that could kill her.

Today, Richard is planning to remove the plastic tube.

Now, I don't know if you can see, where we put the tube in...

It's actually come out, which is not a total surprise

because they're quite easy to catch.

Now we've got hold of her, she started to make a funny noise.

The hole was in there where we actually put the tube in

and it's come out and it's closed up, which they tend to do.

Once the tube comes out, they'll close up within a couple of days.

That's fine, because it's done its job.

We've bypassed the problem long enough for it to settle down

and, you know, her breathing speaks for itself now.

She's breathing normally.

We've turned what was probably a calf that was going to die

into a saleable animal.

It's a happy ending. Successful end.

And for Richard, another case closed.

In Dunfermline, Megan has been busy with all the usual suspects, but

sometimes it's the smaller animals that are the most challenging.

So, a big cat or a dog or something, they're fine,

and the smaller they get, the longer it takes to actually

get through your consult and get on with it.

I suppose they're the frustrating ones at times.

Often the little animals get frustrated too.

I suppose I've been bitten by most species now.

Hamsters, gerbils, that type of thing.

Their teeth just go straight down to your bone.

Then your finger throbs for the rest of the day.

Being bitten hasn't made Megan shy.

One of her regulars has just come in.

Sharlee and Katie's guinea pig Thunder

is feeling under the weather.

I know that he's poorly because he's usually running away

up here and he's just lying like that.

Guinea pigs are very sociable animals and regularly on the move,

so the girls are right to get him checked out quickly.

Thunder Ferguson? Come on through.

What can we do for Thunder today?

He's been coughing quite a bit lately.

His underside is blocked, his breathing is really heavy.

-This morning he was like...

-When did this cough start?

-About three days now.

-OK. Has he eaten OK, as far as you're aware?

-He's not had any greens today.

-OK.

He should be grazing on fruit and veg, hay and guinea pig pellets,

so something's not right.

Little bit of a runny nose, not hugely.

Just hear a bit of a wheeze.

Which could suggest Thunder has respiratory problems,

quite common among guinea pigs.

Come on then, you, let's get you weighed.

He's 1.2 kilos. Last time he was in, he was 1.07.

I'm happy that his weight has gone up rather than down from the last time.

If he's quiet at home, there will be something going on.

He's got this cough, he's got a little bit of discharge

from his nose. Nothing too severe.

His weight is OK, so it would seem sensible to treat this really

as a respiratory tract infection.

Pop him on some antibiotics, probably give him

an anti-inflammatory as well and take it from there.

So, we'll get his first dose into him tonight, then it's done

and you'll know how to do it.

Although Thunder is off his food,

Megan has some medicine he should like.

This is where the fun starts.

It tastes of bananas, so we don't usually have much of a bother

getting it down them.

It's probably a two-man job until he realises what you're up to.

Yum, yum.

He says, yeah, that wasn't too bad. I quite like that.

This tastes of honey.

Hopefully he'll not mind that either.

Hey, Mr, not too bad, is it?

He's not wasted a drop. Well done. Think you'll manage that? Yes.

If he's not responding as well, pop him back

and we'll take it from there, really.

-That's fine.

-Good.

Hopefully, Thunder's tasty medicine

will soon have him feeling right as rain.

Back at the animal sanctuary in County Durham, Suki the cat

is still waiting for a new owner.

When vet Steve discovered her age...

I reckon she's probably at last ten.

Ten-year-old? Ten-year-old?

..and that she needed serious dental work,

the chances of finding Suki a home looked slim.

But with Suki's teeth all cleaned up...

..Pat has found Carol and George.

They've taken a shine to Suki and are giving her a new home.

Here she comes.

I was told that it would be hard to find Suki a home

because of her age.

She just seemed a very sweet, affectionate little cat.

Hello. Oh, my darling.

It is quite sad when they go because they come in, like she did,

she's come in, in a bad state like the others and it's just lovely

when they've got somewhere to go to.

She wouldn't be going if I didn't know she had a nice place to go to.

I'm sure Carol will look after her.

Otherwise she'll have me to answer to, won't she?

The day I stop getting attached to them is the day I'll stop.

I'll give you a ring a bit later. Look after her, won't you?

-She'll have a good home, darling.

-I know.

I wouldn't let her go otherwise.

You know there'll be another one in that cage in a few hours' time

that you can get upset about.

-If I have any problems, I'll give you a ring.

-Please do.

Nothing's empty for very long.

There's just too much on the waiting list to come in,

so it'll be filled back up again and we'll start all over again.

For here, there is never a shortage of More Creatures Great and Small.