Episode 5 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.

I am now known as the Mad Chicken Lady.

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 County Durham, farm vet Richard

has an emergency on his hands.

There's no way that's going to come out of there, is there?

In Fife, Megan discovers worrying symptoms in a pudgy patient.

You wouldn't expect to see whatever that is in that position.

And Adam finds that new mum Lilly has a surprise in store.

Definitely something nodular in there.

It's a beautiful autumnal morning in the countryside of Teesdale

and another busy day for the farm team at Castle Vets.

-Hello, how are you doing?

-All right, thanks.

Senior farm vet Richard is heading out on his daily rounds.

His morning is fully booked with general checkups.

At this time of year, people think about bringing cattle inside

and so they want to get the routine jobs out of the way

before they come in.

I mean, there's always that slight thought in the back of your mind,

the phone might ring and you get pulled off to an emergency.

This morning, we're going to go and visit Don.

I've known Don ever since I've come here.

So for 20 years, I've been coming to his farm

and it's a privileged position to be in.

You see a lot of a few clients and you get to know them very well.

Over that time, they become friends.

Don values his friendship with Richard, too.

If you're dealing with one vet like Richard, you get trust in him.

Yeah, he's OK. He's a good man.

And he likes my wife's scones, as well.

Don has a small herd of 21 beef cows.

His family have farmed the same 21 hectares for generations.

I've lived here all my life.

My father farmed, you know, with the old horses and the cart

and my grandfather before him.

You know, it's just a way of life, sort of thing.

It's the best place on the Earth as far as I'm concerned!

-Good morning, Richard.

-Good morning, Don. How are you?

Good morning. Nice to see you.

Today, Richard is pregnancy-checking an old friend.

-This is the one that had its hip broken.

-Oh, yes!

That you saved its life.

Well, she broke her leg as a calf

-and we thought we were going to lose her, didn't we?

-Yeah.

And anyway, it mended, as you can see, and she's gone on...

How many calves has she had?

-Its had three or four calves.

-Yeah.

And her luck is in again.

That there is a bit of calf. You have to take my word for it.

That is actually its foot.

She's going to be due in about three months' time.

So we're now mid-October, so that makes it mid-Jan.

What I want to know is what time of the day it's going to come.

2:00, 3:00, or 4:00?

If I come back in another life as a cow,

I want to come back on this farm.

Because you can see how well he looks after them.

People say at my age, I should get rid of them,

but I enjoy it, simple as that.

When you're born into it, it never leaves you, sort of thing.

At least I don't think so.

Richard's next patient needs her hoof trimmed.

She's got what we call a Turkish slipper.

So while she's in the crush, we'll trim her foot.

A cow's hoof is formed with two toes known as claws,

made of keratin, the same as our fingernails.

This cow has one that is overgrown.

-She's tied up, but Richard needs to stay on his toes.

-And again.

You do sometimes get kicked doing this.

Obviously, you're standing behind a cow, you are potentially at risk,

but you know where to stand and also, you pick your cows a bit.

You can see how overgrown her claw is there. Good girl. Ooo!

This claw here is pretty enormous, a little bit long.

We're going to trim this other one back until it looks like that.

So let's get rid of this bit first.

So it's just like trimming your toenails.

This is all, obviously, dead horn. She can't feel it.

Sometimes they've had a little infection that's damaged the tendons

in the back of the foot and they've got a knocked-up toe.

I wonder whether that's the case with her.

If the toe tips up, it doesn't get worn away

and will keep on growing.

Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa!

Whoa!

Ideally, I want her feet to be flat all the way across.

At the moment, this one's standing a lot prouder.

I'm just going to take a bit more off.

Good. I think she's been up long enough.

We'll let her...we'll let her down.

That's two down, but there's plenty more in the waiting room.

It's busy, too, at the small animal hospital in Dunfermline.

The staff of Inglis Vets are in the middle of morning consults.

What's this, sweetheart?

Oh! Nom-noms!

They'll have over 100 patients through the door today.

Just taking their points off them.

Around 40 of whom will be seen by vet Megan.

-Is this is Thunder Ferguson?

-Yes.

-Come on through.

And after 16 years in the job,

she knows the owners need as much attention as their pets.

Nowadays, pets really are part of the family.

There's lots of people whose animals are the be all and end all.

20% of your clients take up 80% of your time.

The same people come in over and over and over again,

but that's good, as well. It's good continuity.

It's good for the clients to come back and have their vet.

Some patients have arrived from a branch surgery.

At nine kilos, Basil is double the weight he should be

and is one of Megan's regulars.

He generally comes to see me at least once a month,

sometimes once a day for a week.

Just like in humans, Basil's extra pounds are causing health problems.

Initially, Basil presented with a cough.

Then he had some hair loss along his back,

then he had some bother with his anal gland. His list is endless.

None of them will be helped by the excess weight he's carrying.

Basil's owners have been struggling to get the weight off Basil.

Basil's not alone. A third of all dogs in the UK are obese.

Today, Basil has been brought in

with worrying new symptoms of vomiting and collapsing.

Vet Megan investigates Basil's symptoms with blood tests

and an ultrasound scan of his stomach.

As Basil's overweight, the majority of the stuff

we're seeing here is this little fat pouch.

But the area around Basil's pancreas is immediately worrying.

This area here is pretty irregular-looking,

but you wouldn't expect to see whatever that is in that position.

So that's certainly an abnormality there.

That could be an inflamed area, it could be a tumour.

An inflamed area could signal painful, but treatable, pancreatitis

caused by Basil's fatty diet and excess weight.

A pancreatic tumour, however, would be fatal.

That's the most important thing that we need to work on first.

The scan today, rather than giving us the answers

has given us some more questions that we need to ask.

Right, Basil.

At home in nearby Cowdenbeath,

it's worrying news for owners Agnes and Alistair.

My house is empty. I just want him back hame.

Even the bed's empty without him because I'm not getting cosy.

Well, he starts off lying on my slippers,

and then through the night, he'll get up and come up beside me

and he lies at the back. And that's him for the night.

Agnes and Alistair have long-term health problems themselves.

When I'm not feeling well, he comes up beside me and cuddles me.

And he seems to sense it. He even smiles.

He's got that wee...wee grin there.

Until we know what's going on exactly,

they're just going to carry on worrying. And this is their baby.

I don't want to rush in and open him up if it's the wrong thing to do.

And he's doing OK how he is at the moment.

Hopefully, he's got a pancreatitis.

If he has a growth in the pancreas,

then generally, by the time they present,

they go downhill pretty rapidly.

Hopefully that's not going to be the case.

Basil is admitted onto the ward.

Megan will monitor his pancreas over the next few days

and hope for improvement.

In Teesdale, it's late morning

and vet Richard is still working his way through

farmer Don's list of jobs.

So the next job is a heifer that's broken a horn.

Um... And if we don't take it away, it's going to cause her a problem.

So some local anaesthetic first so she can't feel it

and then I'm going to saw it off.

So she's got one nice, normal horn and one horn where she's bashed it

and the horn's growing at right angles to where it should be.

You know, it's all sore and scabby.

She's just going to catch it again.

And next time, she might actually knock it right off.

So we'll take it off flush with her head

so that it's not a problem any more.

We'll just give her a little haircut.

Just like hooves, horns are made of keratin

and can be removed with a tool vets have used for generations.

A bit like cheese wire.

If you don't make sure the ends of the wire

are nice and tight in the handles,

when you're holding on it, you end up falling on your bottom.

Which I've done frequently,

much to the amusement of anyone that's about.

Good. Righto.

I'm going to cut it off right at the base there, next to the skull.

It sounds gruesome, but it will heal up...

-Pretty quickly.

-Pretty quickly.

Good girl. All right, sweetheart. Sorry about this.

All right?

I won't need to go to the gym tonight, guys.

LAUGHTER

It's a good job you're doing there.

Good. Well done.

It needed doing. We have anaesthetised her head.

And, you know, fairly quickly, it'll all heal up and so on,

but it's not something we do unnecessarily.

But you can see in this case, her horn's all cracked.

You can see it's actually a bit infected there.

So it's definitely the right thing to have done for her.

And after all that hard work...

First rule of veterinary medicine, you never say no to a cup of tea.

It's a pleasure coming here.

It's like being around seeing old friends.

Oh, how lovely. Thank you.

It's lovely when you get a sense of history

of a family having been on a farm for that sort of length of time -

it's pretty amazing, really, isn't it,

when you think of all the generations that have gone before

and worked the same land

and done largely pretty much what people are doing nowadays.

Some things have changed, but not that much.

Less than you might think.

But just as he's about to head back out, an urgent call comes in.

Righto, Richard, I'll pop up. I won't be too long.

A farmer not actually very far away from where we are now,

he's got a dairy heifer

and she's starting to calf and she's struggling.

We need to get there and see if we can sort things out.

In Dunfermline, Basil is about to have his second ultrasound scan.

He collapsed three days ago.

After his first scan, Megan found an abnormality around his pancreas.

You wouldn't expect to see whatever that is in that position.

It could be a tumour - devastating news for his owners.

My house is empty. I just want him back hame.

Today, Megan is hoping this second scan will indicate it's just

pancreatitis, aggravated by his extra pounds.

This is the same area that we saw the abnormality the other day.

It looks a little bit different... today,

there are some changes in the lesions so

hopefully that means it's getting a little bit better rather than worse.

Changes in the pancreas mean a tumour is less likely,

news that peps everyone up.

I think he looks a bit better this afternoon.

-Seems a bit happier.

-He managed to walk to the door.

-Yeah.

-Nice to see.

Excellent, you can speak to your mummy.

I've just scanned him again there just now,

and the abnormal area on the right side of his abdomen,

it looks a little bit different today, so...

it's still, obviously, abnormal and there

when it shouldn't really be there

and that obvious, but it does look a little bit different so

if this is more like an oedema of his pancreas, a form of pancreatitis

then hopefully that means it's starting to settle down a little bit.

All right... You're welcome, I'll speak to you soon, bye.

The second scan is hopeful.

But until there's clear improvement, Basil will have to stay on the ward.

For the rest of the practice it's a full day of consults

and senior vet Adam is on duty.

Felix Muller...

On her way to see him is Lisa, with cat Lily, who's become poorly

since giving birth.

She's had one litter ten weeks ago. She's been sick this week

in the mornings, eating grass and then being sick.

Lisa has just found homes for Lily's five kittens

and is looking forward to some peace and quiet.

Lily's recent sickness could be an infection,

or something more alarming.

I'm just going to have a wee feel there...

Definitely something nodular in there, OK.

Now...

there's two things we've got to be careful with in cats.

-And that is - she could be pregnant again.

-Mm-hm.

Or it could be an infection in there.

This is the bit. Let's take her temperature.

Yeah, her temperature's actually fine.

Right, I think we should ultrasound her.

And I can have a look just kind of in that part of her body,

just round where the uterus is and see if I can see any fluid.

She's not got a temperature, she's eating well so I'm not as

-worried about an infection.

-An infection.

But let's just double, triple check that as well.

Adam prepares Lily for the scan and she's most obliging.

You're being a great patient, Lily, well done.

What's going on?

Just a wee bit of spirit on there. Just a bit cold.

It's a bit cold.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

Perfect. Now, I think if we can get her to lie down

where she's comfy, like that.

So, the bladder's there. That's a big black area there. At the top.

I think we can see a heartbeat.

-In there, a little heart pounding away.

-Oh!

You've got more babies!

I don't know if your mum's going to be happy!

CHUCKLING

You're a mum again!

LAUGHTER

So, no rest for Lily, or her owner.

A cat's gestation period is around 60 days,

so the patter of tiny paws is heading its way again soon.

I think you probably knew already, didn't you...?

-OK.

-She's pregnant.

-Right.

-I can see a heartbeat of

one of the foetuses in there. Um, I didn't count them.

-But don't anticipate having kittens in the next two weeks.

-No, no, no.

But if you want a range it's probably about a month's time,

something like that, I think.

Start ringing up the people you couldn't give kittens to the last time...

LAUGHTER ..cos they might have some kittens coming their way.

-Two weeks' time, please.

-OK. I'll come back in two weeks.

I really thought I had a little window of time

to get her to the vets and get her spayed before

the next lot came along, but...

it seems not!

When it comes to cats and kittens, you can't pussyfoot around.

It's really easy for female cats to get pregnant.

Because they are actually called spontaneous ovulators, so

nearly every time they go out and have a meeting, if you like,

down the cat nightclub, they ovulate at that point so they get pregnant,

and, in fact, they can do that two or three times in the same night

with two or three different dads. That isn't a disaster, but

sometimes you get all kinds of Dolly Mixtures, if you like,

coming out the same cat.

So, owners have to be really careful of letting out their female queen

and she's in season - usually her tail's sticking up and she looks

like she wants to desperately get out the door -

don't let her out cos the chances are she will come home pregnant.

CAT MEOWS

Next morning in Dunfermline, and vet Megan has a surprise in store too.

Just four days ago it looked like Basil could have

a pancreatic tumour.

That could be an inflamed area, it could be a tumour.

Basil's second scan showed it might just be inflammation,

a condition called pancreatitis.

Hopefully that means it's starting to settle down a little bit.

To keep a close eye on him,

Basil was admitted onto the ward for a few days.

This morning Megan has noticed a big difference.

When I came in this morning - Basil had turned into his

normal self...eating and wagging his tail and just 100% better

than yesterday... He can go home.

He'll be back next week, but...!

SHE CHUCKLES

It's a huge relief for Agnes and granddaughter Abbey.

I'm really excited.

It's been too long...

SHE CHUCKLES

He seems a lot, lot brighter, so I'm hoping that it's just been

a real bad pancreatitis

and that he's starting to get over that and respond to that.

Fatty food aggravates his pancreas,

so Basil's going home with a strict new diet.

Food-wise he's just been getting bland food while he's been in...

-so chicken and rice, that type of thing.

-Chicken and rice...

-So, low fats...

-Just the white rice?

Yeah, or pasta. I'm just going to go through and get him!

-All right.

-Hold on two ticks.

LAUGHTER

Come on, Basil.

-Come on...

-Basil, who's that?

Where's Mummy's babies? Where's my... I've no' had a cuddle.

LAUGHTER

There's Mummy's boy.

So, you'll notice quite a change in him, anyway.

Oh, it's good to see his wee tail wagging again.

-Thanks very much, Megan.

-You're welcome. Right, Basil...

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-OK, so just rest and...

-Nae bother.

-Don't break him now I've fixed him!

LAUGHTER

-Thank you.

-Right then, bye.

Each time you just think, "Is this going to be it?

"Is this going to be the last time?"

And then he always gets better again, so, that's good.

Now, all Basil needs is to lose a few of those extra pounds.

Back in County Durham, farm vet Richard is on an emergency call.

He's dashing to a cow in trouble giving birth.

When you're going to calve a cow you don't know what's in store

until you get there.

The farmer we're going to see now - he's said this calf's got big feet

hence he's probably got big body as well

and...I suspect that it'll end up being a Caesarean.

Very big calves are a rarity and sadly don't often survive.

They create complicated births that put the mother's life at risk too.

The farmer's son, Jamie,

called Richard as soon as he realised how big the calf was.

-I can't even get the feet out at the minute...

-I'll just have a quick feel in...

-Right.

..and just see what we've got but it sounds like it's going to be a Caesarean.

-He does feel like a big calf.

-He certainly does.

Yeah, there's no way that's going to come out of there, is there?

He's got great big feet, and even without his head being

in the pelvis it's very tight in here, so he's not going to come.

So, yep, side-door job.

She's down at the moment, as you can see.

We can do a Caesarean on her with her

laid down, but she's much better stood up if she will.

Standing makes it easier for Richard to remove the calf through

an incision in the cow's side.

It's also safer for the mum.

I tend to keep this tool box, particularly, with everything

I need for a Caesarean, so I just grab it

and I know I've got everything I need.

Jamie's brother Jonathon will help too.

We want our surgical site as clean as we can make it...

and hair is a great thing for bugs to live amongst.

This is just local anaesthetic, so I'm freezing...

her side where I'm going to do my incision.

Good girl, all right.

Sadly not every Caesarean or calving ends in a live calf.

It's unlikely the calf will survive, but Richard talks through

the Caesarean to make sure they save the mum.

So cut in, get hold of the womb, pull it up, cut into it.

If I can pass you the back legs? You pull the calf out.

I'll hang onto the womb, you get the calf going.

And then, as soon as you can, I'm going to put some clamps on the womb

and if you could hold them

and I'll stitch her up. Erm...

that's the theory, we'll see what happens.

OK, ready to roll?

OK, good girl...

Jamie stands by the cow's head to calm her.

We're into her abdomen now.

And I'm gently feeling into her womb

to find the back legs of the calf.

So, I can pull it up... to the incision.

OK, if you could grab those...

Put some tension on it. I'm going to have to make the hole a bit bigger.

Come on.

-HE STRAINS

-OK, steady, steady.

Pull him right out of the way, if you can.

Jonathon, you work with him,

Jamie, we need to stitch her up.

Jonathon, sadly, cannot revive the calf.

I don't think he's a goer, I'm afraid.

Richard's priority now is to save the mother.

It's easy to focus a bit too much on the calf

and forget you've got a cow with a big hole in its side.

He concentrates on piecing all the layers of womb

and muscle back together.

I'm stitching up her womb,

and we've had to make a fairly big incision

just because it was such a huge calf.

So, it's a matter of sewing it all back together again now.

These great big calves we sometimes end up doing Caesareans on

do seem to struggle, it's almost as if

they are too big for their own good.

Good girl, that's one more in there.

Safely sown up, this cow will be back on her feet in just

a few hours, and fit to try for another calf

in two months' time.

Too big, just too big, there's nothing you could have done.

Even if the calf had been alive when it came out,

when they are as big as that they very often don't get going.

It wasn't a very straightforward one and it's,

it's obviously a great shame the calf's not made it.

It's very disappointing,

but, we couldn't have done anything else...

we did as... The best job we could.

Life and death is part of our job, without a doubt.

We're going out cos an animal is ill or sick,

and sometimes that's something we can sort out and sometimes it isn't.

It's the same for vets the world over.

The amount of tears shed every day is a huge amount...

enough to fill, probably, a bath every day, you know.

And then, of course, half an hour later someone comes in with a puppy

and the world's rosy, the future's ahead of us!

And...it's not very long we're gloomy for.

For the end of every life there's the start of a new one.

Two months ago in Dunfermline, vet Adam

confirmed Lily was expecting again,

just four months after having her first litter of kittens.

You're a mum again!

Now, just as Adam predicted, there's a new surprise

hidden in the wardrobe for Lisa's children Freya and Lewis to enjoy.

So cute!

KITTENS SQUEAK

One, two, three, four...

Freya was really excited,

she was right in there, weren't you? She was climbing inside the wardrobe.

Lisa captured the birth on video camera.

Lewis was just here, just watching what was going on.

We just stayed here the whole time, didn't we?

-Yeah.

-We quickly managed to get a little bit of tea in between.

They'll stay with Lily here until they're eight weeks old

and then we'll find homes for them, won't we?

Can't wait till they're older, till they're running around the house...

mad!

LAUGHTER

All you tend to hear is drum-drum-drum-drum!

-LAUGHTER

-And meee, meee!

-Meee, meee!

They'll have their hands full again soon,

but for now, Lily needs to catch up on some rest.

Bye-bye.

KITTENS SQUEAK