Episode 1 Vets 24/7


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This time on Vets 24/7...

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Will a stray cat recover from his road traffic accident?

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I'm worried he's got something nasty going on with his back legs.

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There's a good boy.

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Vet Alex deals with a nagging dental problem.

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Teeth rasping can be quite a physical job.

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And old dog Lizzie needs a life-saving operation.

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It could be game over for her, unfortunately.

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From Swansea to Neath, and the pets that they treat.

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This is a week in the life

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of one of the largest veterinary practices in South Wales.

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This is Vets 24/7.

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For over 120 years,

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St James Veterinary Group in Swansea has been responding 24/7

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to animal emergencies.

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Right, you. Come on then.

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A stray cat has been involved in road traffic accident.

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He can't move his back legs and may have spinal damage.

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You do his back legs. Nice and straight as well.

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Vet Becky Bradshaw is on duty to perform the X-ray.

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We're looking for reasons why he's not using his back legs.

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We'll take an X-ray now and we'll have a better idea.

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I'm just going to X-ray the front part of his spine first,

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and then we'll concentrate on his lower spine.

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The area we're concerned about is the sort of middle part of his spine.

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When your spine is affected from here

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downwards, it affects your back legs.

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There isn't an obvious fracture,

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or an obvious displacement of the bony part of the spine.

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If his nerves don't regain function,

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then he's not viable as being a cat you know, that can carry on.

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Sometimes we have to put cats to sleep that have that sort of injury.

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We're going to give him another 24 hours.

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It also gives him a bit more time for some owners to come forward,

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which they may or may not do.

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You can't feel that?

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You can feel that one, can't you?

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Good boy.

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There are 17 vets at the practice

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caring for all creatures, great and small.

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Today, much-loved family dog Lizzie

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and her worried owners, Lisa and Steve,

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have come to visit partner Gareth Field.

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I was reading the notes, and she's basically passing blood in her urine.

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-Yes.

-We're worried about...

-We think there might be stones.

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OK, no problem.

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-She had stones before.

-OK.

-They flushed her out.

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Brilliant. She's quite an elderly girl, isn't she?

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-She is, she's 17.

-17?

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Wow. Looking good for 17, isn't she?

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She is.

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You can feel in the area of her bladder like a bag of stones,

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or a bag of marbles, really.

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I'm pretty sure she has definitely got stones in the bladder.

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The operation won't be a problem -

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it'll be more her age and the anaesthetic and the risks.

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If you didn't want to do that, the other option is putting her to sleep,

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which seems a shame just because she's... She seems...

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It's the last thing we want to do.

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Yes, exactly. I mean...

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Vets hate giving you their own opinion of what to do.

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If she was my dog, I would probably be inclined to do the operation.

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Just go with it.

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It's a shame to put an otherwise healthy dog to sleep

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for something we can fix.

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-Yes.

-Yes.

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I've just found he's got an ID tag.

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Ah, brilliant.

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Next door, the nursing team have discovered a collar on the stray cat,

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with a phone number and a name.

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Benny. Hello, Benny.

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Vet Alex Franklin hopes she's found an owner.

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Hi there, my name's Alex.

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We've had your cat brought into us, Benny?

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He was brought into us on Friday.

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He had unfortunately been involved in a road traffic accident.

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He's been missing a whole year?

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Oh, blimey!

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He's obviously got injuries at the moment from the accident,

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and we're not sure at the moment whether he's going to fully recover

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from them or not.

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OK? Bye-bye.

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Well, that was a very interesting phone call.

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Her first response was,

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"No, you haven't, I've got Benny here, he's sat with me."

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As I described the cat, she said, "Oh, my goodness!

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"It's my other cat - he's been missing for a year."

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I think this is going to be a rather emotional morning for her.

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We'll see her when she gets here.

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So, the stray cat had been wearing his brother Benny's collar.

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Now the vets know his real name is Sasha.

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The vets have clients all over South Wales.

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At the Neath branch,

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some very unusual pets have arrived for morning consultation.

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Say hello, Thomas.

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Say hello.

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BIRD SQUAWKS

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Becky and Jonathan have brought in Thomas the macaw to have his wings clipped.

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Thomas! Thomas!

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-Hello.

-Hello.

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We've got this towel here. All right...

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Performing this procedure is vet Lance Jepson,

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one of Wales's leading specialists in exotic pets.

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-Yes. Let go?

-Yes.

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OK.

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I've seen this done a few times now,

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and I know it's just all noise.

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He doesn't like being held, and he doesn't like the towel.

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He'd shout at me like that if I wrapped him in a towel.

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He's fine.

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Lance is cutting the feathers to prevent Thomas flying away

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when out of his cage.

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He's really unhappy about this.

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It's not hurting him.

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Right.

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OK. Just let him come to you now, OK?

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Come on. All right, come on.

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All right.

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That's it.

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Hello. Hello. Come on then.

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Good boy.

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Good boy! Have a shake.

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Have a shake.

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Wing clipping in parrots can be controversial.

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Ideally, the bird should be fully flighted.

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It's something we don't recommend except in certain circumstances.

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The bird's social needs are paramount.

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If, by wing clipping the bird,

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if that allows the owner to be happy to bring the bird out of its cage,

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and have the bird interacting with the family,

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that's the most important thing in my books.

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Come on through.

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Sasha's owners Pauline and Gerald

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spent 14 months thinking their cat was lost forever.

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Now they're in for a surprise.

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Oh, my God, Sasha!

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Oh, Sasha!

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I knew you'd come back!

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Oh, my baby!

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Where have you been?

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Oh, I know.

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-Definitely your boy then?

-Oh, he's my boy.

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I'm afraid we don't know exactly where he was found

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because it was one of the RSPCA inspectors that picked him up

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and brought him into us.

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He was in a very bad way.

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You know, he's improved dramatically,

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but unfortunately, it's still not there yet. OK?

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-We've really got to see if he gets his bladder function back.

-OK.

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He's your cat. Further treatment and everything will be down to you.

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-We stopped his insurance.

-Because he went missing?

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After a year, yeah, we did.

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As I said, the main thing is the next 24 hours -

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do we have bladder function or not? OK?

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You can spend as much time as you like with him now

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because it's been a while.

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-It must have been a shock for me to ring you.

-It's been awful.

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It doesn't matter where we go,

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we're forever up and down, constantly looking for him.

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We've found him.

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What we want now is for you to get better and come home now, isn't it?

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We'll be back tomorrow.

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I am just so glad that I know where he is now,

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even if the outcome is not very good.

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At least I know where he is and I can say,

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"All right, OK, now I can take him home."

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I just hope to God that he does get better.

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In the preparation room, vet Gareth is giving Lizzie an anaesthetic

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for her bladder stone operation.

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There we go. So, this is the drug to induce her.

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We give that slowly and she'll gradually fall asleep.

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Good girl, Liz.

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Lizzie is an old dog

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and a scan has revealed her stones are rather large.

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On the X-ray, it was impossible to tell how many there were.

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All we can do is open the bladder and take out what we can find.

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There's always a risk of leaving a small one behind,

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which isn't solving the problem. The owners want everything sorted.

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They've plucked up the courage to have it done,

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which was a big decision for them.

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If we said in two or three months, we need to do it all again,

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they might think twice and it could be game over for her, unfortunately.

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For the first part of the surgery, Gareth has to make an incision

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to gain access to Lizzie's bladder.

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This is the bladder.

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You can see the stones inside.

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They should not be there.

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Now I need to try and just gently manipulate those out of the bladder.

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That's the one we could see - the big triangular one.

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Nobody knows why one dog gets them and another dog doesn't.

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It's all to do with genetics

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and how the dog metabolises and uses the salts in the diet.

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This is the other big one.

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That is quite big.

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Yes, it's pretty big.

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It is amazing how symmetrical and almost pretty they are.

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This is an expensive pretty bladder stone as well.

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A few more smaller ones - quite a few in there.

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All those ones there.

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These are more impressive than your average ones.

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As the night staff come on duty at the practice,

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Lizzie will to be monitored as she recovers from her operation.

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It's not just fluffy cats and dogs that the vets look after.

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Being so close to Gower,

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farm animals and horses are a large part of the practice workload.

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Vet Alex Franklin is on her rounds.

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An important saying on the Gower is "Beware the black cow".

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Obviously, horses, sheep, cattle are all free to roam the commons.

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In the dark, you don't see that black cow

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that's in the middle of the road, so you always have to be careful.

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There's one crossing now.

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Or, in this case, beware of the yellow cow.

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Morning!

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Good morning!

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Today's visit is to Merlyn,

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a Welsh mountain pony who has a dental problem.

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Here we go then. Poor Jeff's got the hard work.

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OK there, Jeff?

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-Yes, fine.

-Excellent.

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There's a good boy.

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This technique is know as rasping

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filing down the sharp edges of the teeth.

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It may look brutal, but it's necessary.

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I want to make sure we're not injuring the tongue there.

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Normally the teeth would lie flat against each other.

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Horses grind their food, so the teeth constantly grow,

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and the grinding from eating wears them down as they grow.

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Rather than having flat surfaces, this horse's mouth and teeth

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have actually got a wave in them, so that means he's restricted

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in how much he can grind because they don't flow over each other.

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Brilliant, Jeff. You're doing a great job there.

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So, you can see the tooth edges are coming off onto my rasp.

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So, that's the sharp edges I'm taking off.

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Although we've got to do some work on the wave mouth,

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you never rasp the top surfaces

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because you can then open up the sensitive cavities inside.

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Lovely. Right.

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These teeth back here are much happier.

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There was a really nasty sharp point here,

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so he'll be much more comfortable.

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It's been four days since Sasha's road traffic accident.

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Good boy.

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Vet Gareth is looking for signs of progress with the cat's back legs.

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His back end - you can place his paws where they should be,

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but he's not really doing very much for himself at the moment.

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When you turn his toes over,

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he should put them back to how they are normally.

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The nerves to the back end aren't quite aware of where his paws are.

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It's still touch and go with him, really.

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There's a worry that if he doesn't improve

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and get back to a functional state

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where he can walk and toilet on his own,

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he might still get put to sleep, which is sad.

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With Sasha's recovery still uncertain,

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Gareth has to break the bad news to Pauline and Gerald, the owners.

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So, he's obviously got some nerve damage coming down the back end.

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Like in people, it's impossible to know how bad that is

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without doing things like an MRI or CT scan, but they are very expensive.

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-Yes.

-Really, we wanted to make sure that you understand how bad he is.

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He's certainly not out of the woods at all.

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-Yes.

-If we think that he's not getting better,

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or he's starting to suffer and he's in a lot of pain,

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we might have to make a difficult decision and put him to sleep.

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I understand.

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There's hope, but it's just that it could be a slow process,

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and we're looking for gradual improvements every day

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or every other day,

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just to keep on giving us a reason to persevere with him, really.

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Yes.

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It's a delicate task to spell out the options,

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and Pauline must decide whether to keep Sasha's treatment going.

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You know, all that time when he was missing,

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just to find him and then lose him again,

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is not...

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It's not very nice, is it?

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We don't give up on somebody like you.

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When Partner Gareth is not looking after other people's animals,

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he has his own dog Scrumpy to care for.

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Come on then. Good boy.

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I've had Scrumpy since he was a pup.

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I got him when I was still at college.

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I had visions of leaving college, leaving my friends,

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and being a vet in the middle of nowhere with no social life,

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so, I thought I'd get a dog as a bit of company.

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It hasn't turned out like that, but I wouldn't be without him. Yes...

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He's a good companion.

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Go on, then! Go on then.

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Good boy.

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Gareth got his dog, then a vet's job,

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and now he's worked his way to partner at the practice.

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It's definitely a vocation, a way of life.

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Sometimes you're in at 7am and you don't get home until 11, 12 at night.

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You have to be really quite dedicated. But it pays off.

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It's well worth it.

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No, I do enjoy it. It's good.

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A vet for ever, and no plans to change.

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Go on! Go on!

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Over in Neath, exotics vet Lance Jepson

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is about to operate on a prize-winning show fish.

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I'm going to add the anaesthetic powder directly into the water.

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He should, in fact, just nod off.

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You can see he's partly on his side because he's in such shallow water.

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But if you look at the eye, the eye is trying to be horizontal.

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Actually, fish keeping is my hobby.

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That's what I've done since I was 12. It's my dad's fault.

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He bought me two goldfish.

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-Let's just risk it, shall we?

-Yes.

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OK. So, this is the bit we're going to remove.

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This Discus fish has excess tissue around its gills

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which needs to be removed to help it breathe properly.

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The fish needs regular injections of water to keep it alive.

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Actually, we're going to swap ends, OK?

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It'll make it easier for me to get to that.

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Lance must be speedy with his surgical scissors

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as the fish can't survive for more than a few minutes out of water.

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Right then, let's get him...

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Let's get him back into here.

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OK.

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The main thing now is to get him back into his own tank

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where the water quality is good.

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The whole exotics thing is what gets me out of bed in a morning.

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That's why I became a vet - not to work with dogs and cats,

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um...but to work with... these species.

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It's three days since Lizzie's bladder stone operation,

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and she's ready for home.

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And her owner Lisa is in for a surprise

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when she comes to collect her.

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So, these are...

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Oh, my goodness me. That came out of her?

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Yes, all of them.

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How on earth..?!

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Oh, my goodness me.

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It's amazing, isn't it?

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That's... I'm totally shocked.

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I've seen gall stones, but nothing like that.

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The sheer size of them - there was no room in her bladder.

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You wouldn't think animal could tolerate something like that.

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I know. She's pretty special, isn't she?

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Yes. We wouldn't even know she's had anything wrong with her,

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this is the problem.

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Oooh.

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That's great, thank you.

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Lovely. Thanks ever so much, guys, thank you.

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Can I take those stones as well, do you mind?

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-Yes, I'll put them in a bag for you.

-Thanks, take care.

-Bye bye.

0:19:480:19:52

I think that's the real high of the job -

0:19:520:19:56

you've done something right and made a difference to that owner,

0:19:560:19:59

and given her hopefully a few more months, or...

0:19:590:20:02

She's a strong dog - she could go on till she's 20.

0:20:020:20:04

She's not your average 17-year-old, is she?

0:20:040:20:07

Not every animal is fortunate enough to be a pet with a caring owner.

0:20:120:20:16

Each year in Wales thousands of cats and dogs are abandoned or abused.

0:20:170:20:22

Here at Llys Nini Animal Centre they try to re-home them.

0:20:240:20:28

The practice provides the veterinary care for the charity

0:20:300:20:34

and this week, Alex is on duty.

0:20:340:20:37

-Morning!

-Morning.

0:20:370:20:39

-It's OK.

-We just want to check up on this one. She was down with you

0:20:420:20:46

a few days ago and had a back leg amputated.

0:20:460:20:50

-So it's just to check up.

-How is she getting on?

-She's doing all right. It does seem a bit sore.

0:20:500:20:56

Come on, then. You come out. If you could hold her for me?

0:20:560:20:59

She's having a bit of a wriggle and doesn't want me to look at her staples.

0:20:590:21:03

-That's perfect. There we are.

-Good girl.

-That's good, isn't it?

0:21:030:21:06

The wound itself is healing really nicely. She had nerve damage,

0:21:080:21:13

so amputation was the only option for her.

0:21:130:21:15

There's not actually much pain or discomfort around that at all.

0:21:160:21:20

-There we are. Lovely.

-Well done. Is she going outside and using her outdoor run?

0:21:200:21:24

-She's not. She's just staying inside at the moment.

-At the moment, that's all she should do.

0:21:240:21:28

We'll reassess then when we take those staples out.

0:21:280:21:31

And hopefully, she'll be back to normal cat mode, even on three legs!

0:21:310:21:35

Ye-a-ah!

0:21:350:21:36

This puppy was in with us at St James's

0:21:390:21:42

and unfortunately had a really nasty case of Demodex.

0:21:420:21:47

Demodex is a normal mite that's on the skin, but in some cases,

0:21:470:21:52

if for any reason the animal's under the weather or their immune system's compromised,

0:21:520:21:58

they can actually be infected by it.

0:21:580:22:00

The head is probably still the worst place at the moment,

0:22:000:22:03

but there's no current infection in the skin, so I'm happy that we stop the antibiotics, Laura.

0:22:030:22:09

-OK, thank you very much.

-OK? Well done, you!

0:22:090:22:13

Hello! Look at that tail going! Oh, you're a cutie!

0:22:130:22:17

Once she's better, there's going to be no problem re-homing this one. Hey!

0:22:170:22:21

Exotic pet owners travel from far and wide for Lance Jepson's expert advice.

0:22:260:22:32

Right, OK.

0:22:330:22:35

Today, Neil has come from Llanelli with his marmoset monkey, Gizmo.

0:22:350:22:40

-Put him there?

-How are we doing? Yeah.

-Come on, Giz. Don't bite me now. Come on, boy.

0:22:410:22:47

The monkey recently suffered a leg fracture and Lance wants to see if it's healing.

0:22:470:22:52

-Good boy.

-You know you said wash it with the salt water?

0:22:540:22:58

-Yeah.

-He wouldn't allow me anywhere near it.

-Fair enough.

0:22:580:23:02

That's healing really well. I'm really pleased with that.

0:23:020:23:05

You've done a good job, to be fair.

0:23:050:23:09

-But he wouldn't stay in that small cage. He had to go in this big cage.

-Fair enough.

0:23:090:23:14

-Up in the furry bits of the thing. He wasn't bouncing about that much.

-Yeah.

0:23:140:23:18

But he won't eat the food I've been buying off Mazuri.

0:23:180:23:21

-Off the Mazuri? Yeah.

-He won't eat the gum, he won't eat the tamarin cake.

-Right, OK.

0:23:210:23:26

He's eating fruit and vegetables and things,

0:23:260:23:28

but I want to get him on the proper foods he should be on.

0:23:280:23:33

But because Gizmo's been hand-reared,

0:23:330:23:35

he maybe doesn't quite know what a normal marmoset should be eating.

0:23:350:23:39

Because he will be... His experience of food is based on what he's given.

0:23:390:23:44

-And what he sees the parent group eat.

-He's been learning from me, yeah.

0:23:440:23:50

Yeah. And at the moment, this gentleman is the parent group.

0:23:500:23:53

When I sort of let go...

0:24:000:24:01

It's been six days since Sasha's road traffic accident,

0:24:010:24:04

and Gareth is hoping for some signs of recovery.

0:24:040:24:07

Hey, boy. Good lad.

0:24:070:24:10

As we bring him towards the table, he should reach out for it,

0:24:100:24:14

which isn't... So his front legs are doing what they should do.

0:24:140:24:19

His back legs...

0:24:190:24:21

ah, see, that was good!

0:24:210:24:24

Wow! That was... That's better. I wasn't expecting him to do that.

0:24:240:24:28

-Aaah!

-Good boy!

-See that, Shelley?

-Yes.

-That was good.

0:24:310:24:35

-Can you do it with the other leg?

-Well done!

0:24:350:24:38

-Oh, he's trying.

-Aw!

-See him try to bring it under himself properly?

0:24:390:24:44

I think that's an improvement. Ah, gone a bit emotional, yeah!

0:24:440:24:50

Good boy. See once more.

0:24:520:24:55

-Good.

-He's probably like, "All right, all right, don't milk it!"

0:24:580:25:01

That's a definite improvement. That's really good.

0:25:010:25:04

-Aw!

-Good lad.

-Well done, Sasha.

0:25:040:25:07

That's going to be good news for his owner there. Oh, wow.

0:25:070:25:10

Sometimes it's the advice that the vets give to owners

0:25:160:25:18

which can make the difference in an animal's care.

0:25:180:25:21

Are you showing off, babes?

0:25:220:25:24

In Llanelli, Neil is trying to wean Gizmo, the marmoset monkey, off his favourite food.

0:25:240:25:31

See that now, we've got this custard slice.

0:25:310:25:34

He doesn't eat the icing, it's just the custard bit he eats.

0:25:340:25:39

See he's going for a bit of water and Coke mix there now.

0:25:390:25:43

He's got one of Coke and one of water, so he's got a choice what he wants to drink, basically.

0:25:430:25:49

Come on.

0:25:490:25:50

Are you going to eat some of this?

0:25:510:25:53

Giz!

0:25:530:25:55

With Gizmo's sweet tooth for custard slice and Coke,

0:25:550:25:58

Neil is now trying to encourage the monkey to eat Tamarind paste,

0:25:580:26:02

which has all the essential nutrients he needs.

0:26:020:26:05

He'll just play games all day with it! He knows what it is.

0:26:060:26:11

Come here, baby. Giz!

0:26:110:26:13

Is it quite difficult to get him to eat the sort of things that Lance is recommending that you have?

0:26:130:26:19

Yeah, that's why I'm hoping the next one I get will be an adult,

0:26:190:26:23

so it can teach it then how to be a marmoset

0:26:230:26:25

rather than, you know, a human, which he thinks he is at the moment.

0:26:250:26:30

Gizmo! Come on, babes.

0:26:320:26:34

-After a week of care at the vets...

-Here he is.

0:26:360:26:40

..Sasha is being allowed the chance to go on a home visit.

0:26:400:26:44

-There's a good boy.

-ANGRY MEOW

0:26:440:26:46

Oh, that's more like it. You have a grump if you want to.

0:26:460:26:50

You grump if you want to. And we're going home for a while!

0:26:500:26:55

You're not going to like going home in the car, but it'll be worth it.

0:26:550:26:58

So, if you can, we're talking about every between two and four hours,

0:26:580:27:03

-Yes.

-As you've seen, just massaging his legs gently.

0:27:030:27:06

Just getting the muscles warmed up. You can do the same with his back.

0:27:060:27:11

And then it's just gently flexing and extending his leg, really.

0:27:110:27:14

Mm-hm.

0:27:140:27:15

-It's all very basic, but it all really helps.

-Oh, yes.

0:27:150:27:20

Sasha was missing for over 14 months.

0:27:230:27:26

Now he has the chance of some home comforts

0:27:270:27:30

and to be reunited with brother Benny.

0:27:300:27:33

Chicken! Come on, boys. Come on.

0:27:350:27:38

Look what I've got for you. There.

0:27:380:27:41

It's amazing what people will do for their pets.

0:27:410:27:43

Some people will go without themselves just to give the pet the treatment that they need.

0:27:430:27:50

I think it's not until you've got an animal of your own and you've got that bond,

0:27:500:27:53

that you can appreciate why some people do what they do.

0:27:530:27:56

And it's lovely to see, it's really nice.

0:27:560:27:59

He is certainly worth it.

0:27:590:28:01

Certainly worth it.

0:28:010:28:03

Three months after his accident, Sasha started to walk again.

0:28:050:28:10

Next time on Vets 24/7...

0:28:130:28:16

It's touch and go for Bruce, the Cocker Spaniel with a mystery illness.

0:28:160:28:21

He doesn't know where he is, we're going to have to work hard and fast on him.

0:28:210:28:26

..Vet Andy investigates Georgina's "horse" cough...

0:28:260:28:31

And Harriet the dog has to change her ways.

0:28:310:28:34

Well, she's permanently high!

0:28:340:28:36

If she's eating the obesity biscuit, just feed her that.

0:28:360:28:40

Because she's very overweight.

0:28:400:28:42

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0:28:440:28:45

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