CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: Across Yorkshire's moors and dales,
the world's most famous vet set the benchmark for animal care,
and James Herriot's legacy lives on.
His former trainee, Peter Wright...
All my life, I've enjoyed doing this.
...has been a Yorkshire vet for over 40 years.
I'm getting the impression you wouldn't take me on
as an assistant, is that right? Probably.
Peter's old partner, Julian Norton...
With a gloved hand and a lubricated finger, I'm well-equipped.
...now runs two practices... Come on, young man.
...one of them in the town where Herriot worked,
surrounded by the North Yorkshire landscape he loved.
Look at that - what a sheep.
And in the foothills of the Pennines...
I'm armed and ready.
...a new generation of town and country vets...
This is the closest tojames Bond I think I'm ever getting.
...also uphold the Herriot ethos.
Another day in paradise. The teams are united...
We can probably knock this off ourselves, do you think? Pfft!
...never taking their eyes off the ball...
CHEERING Howzat!
...as they help animals of all shapes...
I didn't think I'd be hugging a turkey.
MAN EXCLAIMS ..s izes...
More like pulling a calf out.
...types... Nearly done.
Nearly done, Bertie. ..and temperaments.
VET GRUNTS He bit me.
It's definitely not glamourous...
Penile amputations still make me squirm a little bit.
...but it's varied. WOMAN MIMICS BRAYING
LAUGHTER You ought to know better.
It's rarely easy. MAN STRAINS
But they continue the Herriot tradition...
Ooh. ..treating all creatures...
That's it. There we go. There we go.
. .great. . . Aww, Merlin .
MAN: Come on! ..and small.
HE CHUCKLES
The Yorkshire countryside provides the groundwork
for a complete school education.
An inspiration for poets and novelists.
It's a work of art... rich in history...
...with some simple maths covered in the sheer variety of shapes.
But when night falls,
it isn't always home time for a Yorkshire vet.
And in H uddersfield,
after another long day at the animal hospital,
Matt's had to hit the road on a freezing cold night.
It's minus two out there tonight,
and I've had a call to a calving cow at Andrew's farm.
He's just said something's not right,
and he's really quite worried.
When he sounds concerned, then it makes me think that
things could be a bit of disaster that needs sorting.
So, as with any calving,
we always want to get there as quick as we can
because time is of the essence.
For Andrew, it's a been a worrying day,
keeping a watchful eye on the expectant mum.
I noticed she were a bit distressed
at twelve o'clock-ish.
Fetched her into here at quarter to four,
had a quick feel and couldn't feel anything.
I decided I better cut my losses and make a decision quickly.
All right, Andrew, how are you getting on?
Thank you. Thank you for coming so quick.
No worries. Right, this the lady?
Yeah. Shall we get her haltered up, have a feel, see what's going on?
She's just not happy with herself, is she? Oh, she's not.
She's bloody not happy with herself. No way.
The first challenge is to restrain the stressed cow.
Come on, babes. COW MOOS
Keep her in there. Come on, baby.
MATT STRAINS Come on. Ah! Don't even...
Don't even think about it. Hey, hey, hey.
There, there. Perfect. Stop being a muppet.
We're helping you.
Don't even think of kicking. Relax. Relax.
Stop winding yoursen up, baby.
Relax, relax. COW MOOS
Right, we're on. We're on. Good girl. Come on.
You're doing very well. Good lass.
ANDREW CH UCKLES Is she?
He says. Let's have you in here.
I'll just pull that tight. Right, three, two, one, pull.
BREATHLESSLY: There we go. Lovely. Right...
Right, let's have a feel. Relax, lass.
It's tight in there - I know it is.
You know, she's opening up. I can get my arm in now.
I think we might be coming out the back end there, which is good.
I mean, compare it to what you felt, like, a couple of hours...
Right, then, let's get this calf out.
So, last couple of hours, her cervix, which needs to open up,
has massively dilated, and hopefully, it's open enough
that we can get that calf out the regular way and alive.
STRAINING: I'm just getting... the ropes.
Just getting through all these bags
and fluids just so I can get properly to the calf here.
Good lass, good lass, good lass.
Everything's feeling OK. Everything's in the right position.
But not gonna speak too soon because at the end of the clay,
something's not just quite right for me to be here to start with.
Just get these feet engaged,
and let's just put a bit of pressure on.
A little bit of pressure.
Right, let's just wrap it round here
cos we can give a bit more pull, can't we? With this.
Right, let's give it some pull.
At the moment, everything's engaged fine.
Just get a little bit of tension on
and hopefully, we'll have a live calf.
Let's just see.
MATT GRUNTS
COW MOOS
Working as a Yorkshire vet for over 40 years
means that many of Peter's regular clients...
...have become good friends.
Morning, Mr Bird. All right, Peter?
...like Graham Bird, near Thirsk...
Must be used to bigger bottoms, are you?
Much bigger bottoms that I can get my arms into.
GRAHAM EXHALES
...with whom laughter has always been guaranteed.
PETER: Come on, nurse. I feel like Florence Nightingale.
LAUGHTER
But today, Peter's come to see 12-year-old pony Betsy,
and Graham and his family are in a much more sombre mood.
I've had a call from Mrs Bird
to say that there's something was protruding and bleeding.
So, I'm not certain what's going on,
so I'm gonna have to have a look and see.
Hello, Graham. How are you, Peter?
I'm very well, thanks. Are you? I'm very good.
There's a pony that's the problem. It is.
What's it called? Betsy. Betsy.
Whoa! Crikey. That's horrible, in't it? Mm.
Absolutely horrible.
Has that grown quite quickly? Yeah.
Three clays.
It's a sarcoid, and there's actually another one behind it underneath.
You can feel it there.
If you put your hand... No, I don't want to touch it.
PETER SIGHS
It's much worse than I expected. Oh, clear me.
Right. It is quite a nasty skin tumour, that.
A thing called a sarcoid.
It's an ulcerated sarcoid.
They do grow quickly, that type, and they burst out,
and they never go away.
But you can't just cut these off
because if you cut them off, they come back again.
So we have to deprive that of its blood supply with elastic bands,
so that's what we'll do.
Need some of them and them.
This is quite nasty. It's grown very quickly.
I can see it's quite an aggressive one,
so it's not going to be easy.
Ancl it's complicated by the fact that there's another one
that's growing almost behind it.
It's a bit of a mess, really, so it's a bit of a challenge, this one.
Right, Betsy. just going to give her a sedative now.
I think what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna put her to sleep to do it.
I'll be able to get at them better. GRAHAM: Right.
'When I come to the Birds', it's always very light-hearted.'
I've known the family for some time,
and it's fair to say I do take a bit of stick off Graham,
but when an animal's ill, it's a different kettle of fish altogether.
Nice and gentle. Take the water.
Come on. GRAHAM CLICKS TEETH
Graham looks after his animals very, very well.
They mean the world to him,
and I'm gonna do my best to try and get this pony sorted out
for him and the family.
So, there's a lot at stake here.
Coming up... COW MOOS
MATT: Keep going.
...Matt's on the ropes, trying to deliver the calf.
So, I'm just easing... the head out through the canal.
An abandoned kitten...
Hey, little cat. ..shocks Rohin.
They are honestly one of the most bizarre X-rays I've seen.
And Julian gets back to work...
Already, I can bend it to that much.
...but gets little sympathy. WOMAN: Oh, wow (!)
Don't be sarcastic, India. LAUGHTER
CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: On a freezing cold night
near Huddersfield, Matt's trying to save a calf.
MATT: just keep going. Keep going.
But even with farmers Andrew andjamie lending a hand,
it's a real struggle.
So, I'm just easing... the head out...
...through the canal.
We've got some good tension on these legs.
Right, what I'm gonna do is... just pause there a minute.
I'm gonna get some thicker ropes
to spread that weight across those legs a bit more.
ANDREW: Yeah, if it spreads the load a bit more.
Right, just drop me a little bit of slack off on these now. Yeah.
So, what we're gonna do is...
...gonna attach these on.
Always tricky to just get that head rope on.
We need it behind the ears...
...and in the right position to pull. Right, OK. Let's go.
COW MOOS, GRUNTING
MATT GRUNTS
That's it. She's coming. She's coming.
We've got that head there.
Come on, lass, give us a push. Help us out here, love.
Yes!
ANDREW: It's alive!
Pull, pull, pull, pull, pull. Pull, pull, pull.
Good girl!
Well clone. Right, let's get the things off.
Let's give it a check.
That's it. Make sure all its things are clear.
Right, I'll lift it up, Andrew.
You give its chest a rub and get any crap out of it.
All right, here you go - give its chest a rub.
That's it. That's it. Well clone.
That's a bloody big calf. She's clone well there, hasn't she?
Let's sit it up. That's it. That's it, that's it.
Give its chest a rub. There we go.
Good girl.
I don't feel like it's minus two any more, do you?
LAUGHTER
Oh, I'm pleased. Not as pleased as I am.
Oh, man, well clone.
That's a right calf, in't it, that?
Mum seems all right at this minute in time.
I'm gonna put my hand inside mum, make sure everything feels OK.
I've got an antibiotic tablet I'm gonna put in
to stop any infection getting in, some anti-inflammatories,
and then we'll leave these two to it.
That feels fine in there.
Come on, lass. Well clone. She has clone very, very well.
Come on, you. Three, two, one. Oh.
There we go. Well clone. Good lass.
Right, go on, lass. You get licking your baby.
One thing any vet or any farmer'll tell you,
that as uncomfortable as it is getting out and about
in the minus temperatures, snow, rain, sleet, hail,
when you have an outcome with a live mum, a live calf
and a mum that starts licking its calf straight away,
it makes it all worth it.
There's no better sight than that.
As a Yorkshire vet,
Julian's seen plenty of newborns trying to take their first steps.
I always like to try and get my operation bit clone
before the calf's stood up.
While sometimes, an unfortunate injury...
She does look a bit sad, doesn't she? She does.
Whoops. Come on, this way.
...means he has to perform complex surgery...
What I'm gonna do next is cut into the joint,
and this is not very easy.
...to get a pet back on all fours.
Aria! How are you doing? WOMAN: Come on, Aria.
Are you all right? Are you a happy dog?
Yeah. Much happier now, yeah? Yeah.
She's using that leg remarkably well.
But a recent mountain bike accident
meantjulian needed an operation on his own serious knee injury...
Whoops.
...and after a couple of weeks of being the patient,
he's decided to see if he can be of any use back at the Thirsk practice.
Here he comes, Speedy Gonzales (!)
Oh, hello. You all right?
How are you? Erm, slow.
But getting there, yeah.
Like all good things, I get there eventually.
Did you need to get out the house? Is that why you're here?
Well, I've come to help.
Anne says it's been desperately busy without me,
so I feel really bad that I've kind of messed it up for everybody.
I'm all right.
Already, I can bend it to that much, and I can also go like this.
Oh, WOW U)
Don't be sarcastic, India. LAUGHTER
Don't keep bending it!
Well, no, it... Don't bend it.
It's mobilisation.
Keen to make up for his absence,
Julian's mobilising his skills in the kitchen.
So, this is an important job of making drinks.
I'm finding the pace of life for me...
at the moment, it feels a little bit like semi-retirement
cos everything is very slow.
Erm... I can't do anything in a hurry or at pace, so...
...making two cups of tea and a cup of coffee is...
...quite a busy morning for me.
After making the drinks... Coffee?
...julian's next helpful job will be a spot of cleaning.
I've spilt on the floor.
It's gonna be a challenge to get down and clean it up.
Oh, it's all right. if I go down on this good leg like that...
Yep, that's easier than I expected!
With renewed confidence, he's just about ready for his first patients.
Go, get down. There's a good girl.
Pam has brought in her two toy terriers for a nail trim.
Hi, Pam. You all right? Here he is. Hello.
The walking injured. Injured solider. I know.
PAM CH UCKLES It's been a bit of a disaster.
So, are you all right just to steady her there? Yeah.
It's relatively simple. I can manage it with my incapacity.
Erm... Are you sure?
Yeah, no, it's good, yeah. I'm perched quite nicely.
You don't want a cushion there or anything in case you rock off?
No. THEY CHUCKLE
Little clogs aren't always easy to do their nails, are they?
With little clogs like this, it can pull them and avulse them.
DOG YELPS Oi. Oopsie daisy.
Oi! Are you all right?
The other challenge is when they're black... Yeah.
...you can't see where their... You can't see the quick.
...the blood vessels are, so that makes it more of a challenge.
You've just got to exercise a bit more caution. Yeah.
But this is probably... For a first-day-back job,
it's probably about as good as it gets. Yeah.
I think I've just about coped all right.
Good. Oh! DOG YELPS
There we are, clone! That's it, clone!
They were very well behaved.
I know some little clogs don't like their nails being clipped,
but they were model patients today,
which was probably just as well for a recuperating vet.
Not far from Thirsk,
Peter's facing a much bigger challenge with Graham's pony.
That's it.
As the whole family watches on,
he needs to remove two nasty skin tumours.
Sometimes they can be just left alone,
but this has become much more malignant and aggressive.
It will never heal again, so it's going to be an ongoing problem
unless we do something with it.
She'll go in a minute. That's it, she's going.
It's all right, don't worry.
That's it, that's lovely. Oh, that was nice. Yeah.
Oh, God. I'm gonna have to band them separately.
This is probably worse than I thought
because we've got several other nodular ones here.
Looks raw, doesn't it, Peter? Mm.
Oh, it looks really painful, that, doesn't it?
It's horrible. Horrible.
Right, let's get on.
What I'm gonna do now is just grab hold of that...
...so I can try and then get that as low possible. Right at the base.
These are elastic bands
that will deprive this mass of its blood supply.
Because if you just try and cut these off, they grow back again.
Big, isn't it? It is big, yeah.
I'm gonna get another one round there, if I can, Graham. Yep.
Just not happy-
How come they're round the, like, er, udder?
Just common place, inside the thigh. Is it? Yeah.
Always this sort of area.
That's it. That's better.
I need more banding on here, though.
The more bands I get on, the more we strangulate the blood supply.
Pretty good, that. Mm.
Are you impressed, Mr Bird? Well...
THEY CHUCKLE
Put you off broccoli!
THEY LAUGH
That's it.
Now, we won't have long before she starts to come round.
OK, you check her eyes, Dolly, see if she opens up.
Keep checking, cos she'll stand on Peter.
She won't be long.
That's... Now, then. Oh, there's another one behind.
That one won't be long before it ulcerates either.
Well, it might not now, might it? No, no. If this does its job.
He's got another littl'un what we didn't know it had at the front
before it develops big.
She's wagging her tail now. Right.
She might start to feel stuff soon, mightn't she? Yeah.
CHUCKLING: So we'd better hurry up! I know.
It's like Mission Impossible, isn't it?
You're not clone out of time, the clock's ticking.
Her eyes are open!
HORSE PUFFS Oh, nope. She's had enough of this.
Oh, there she goes! There she goes. Oh!
Whoa, just in time! Yeah!
Just like Tom Cruise!
Whoa. She's stepping. just step careful.
Lovely. That worked quite nicely, didn't it?
Yeah, just in time, Peter. That's it, he's clone!
That's fantastic, although I say it myself.
LAUGHTER
Well, I'm very happy with how that's gone,
and I'm fairly confident now for that to heal very nicely.
They're gonna take some time to drop off.
You can give any written guarantees, you've just got to do your best,
but I'm hopeful that these will behave themselves.
Come on.
Oh, she's eating.
Doesn't look any worse for it, does she?
Must feel a lot more comfortable with them gone, wouldn't ya?
Keep me informed as to how these are.
But just keep up the good work, and we'll see you soon.
Thank you very much, Peter. Looking forward to your letter.
Bye! It'll be in the post.
Akeady? PETER LAUGHS
Right, in the shade with her, eh? On you get. Come on, lass.
At one of the Huddersfield practice's smaller surgeries,
the majority of patients, like at most practices,
come from loving homes.
But some aren't so fortunate.
Hey, little cat. You're very friendly, aren't you?
Do you wanna come out?
Rohin is hoping he can help a kitten who's had to face the world alone.
Just knowing what she's been through.
Had an awful start in life,
been found on the street, virtually collapsed.
For her to be this friendly and this affectionate towards people,
it's a real testament to her temperament, isn't it?
The little stray has already won the hearts of the team.
Oh, she's cute. Right, you go in here and have a little snooze.
But there's a big problem for the young patient.
There's a really firm area in her tummy.
We don't know what it is, but it definitely shouldn't be there.
We've taken some x-rays to try and get an idea what we're dealing with.
They are honestly one of the most bizarre x-rays I've seen.
There just seems to be a huge structure,
some kind of foreign body,
taking up almost the entire space within the abdomen.
And unfortunately, that does make it life-threatening
from the sheer size of what we're dealing with.
The only way we're gonna be able to help this little cat now
is if we do an operation. There's no other option.
Nurses Beth and jade have been caring for the kitten
since she was brought in.
She got found a couple of days ago.
She's a lovely cat, very, very affectionate.
So, hopefully, we can make her better today.
I do quite like her, I'm not gonna lie. I'm quite attached to her now.
I'll give her this now, then. It's...
She's not got much muscle mass to inject to, she's so skinny.
So, from there to there in her abdomen, that's all just a mass.
So the vast majority of the space in her tummy
is taken up by this object, whatever it is, we still don't know.
But it's literally huge.
It could be something like a dead mouse that she's ingested.
This feels like a tight balloon that's, like, ready to pop.
If we waited another few clays,
it would've been disaster, wouldn't it? Yeah.
It breaks your heart, doesn't it?
To know that she's such a nice cat, she's such a lovely temperament.
If we get this sorted, she'll have a great life.
How's it going, jade? All right.
You ready? Ready. OK.
It's gotta be clone. Let's begin.
This little kitten's stomach is absolutely enormous.
It's should never be this distended.
You know, you very rarely see anything like this.
It's absolutely full of material. Ohh...
Ancl I'm trying to be really gentle howl handle it,
because it's so full,
you would worry this could be at risk of rupturing, even.
The stakes are kind of high with this one, aren't they, really? Yeah.
Coming up...
How are you getting on? How did she take to her?
A mum hasn't been grateful to Matt for saving her calf.
She was, like, shoving it out of t'way,
so I played safe and put it behind a gate.
Butjulian is grateful...
There was a big team that came to rescue me.
...to his saviours.
Loads of people. I brought a cake,
but I don't think it's gonna be big enough for everybody!
LAUGHTER
CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: Near Huddersfield, it's been two weeks
since Matt helped to deliver a huge calf on Andrew's farm.
That'll keep you going for a bit now, girls.
It was quite hairy to start with,
but a bit of a persistence and a few ropes in the right direction,
and we calved her, and everything went really, really well,
and I was so, so pleased.
But it's always a concern
when you've had to intervene with a cow calving, because sometimes,
the cow doesn't bond as well with the calf as you'd like.
So, I've come back today so see how they're getting on,
make sure they've bonded well and that they've recovered nicely.
Morning, Andrew. You all right? I'm fine, thank you.
Good stuff. How are you getting on? Yeah. Brilliant.
Well, how are we doing? Cow and calf's doing well. Yeah.
Ah, brilliant. How did she take to her?
I left it with it all night,
she were licking it, this, that and t'other. Yeah.
Morning after, I come up,
she were, like, shoving it out of t'way when it were trying to drink,
so I played safe and put it behind a gate.
After about four clays, she bonded with it. Yeah.
Ancl same as she's doing now. She's fantastic.
Ancl the calf's looking really good, too. So bright. Yeah, yeah.
You know, bit of a shock entry to the world, but...
ANDREW LAUGHS
...she's looking well, isn't she? Yeah.
She's got plenty of milk, then, at least, has she? Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Here, she's a good cow, isn't she? She's a big lass.
I was thinking, Andy, you know,
it's a good job she was as wide as she was. She opened really well.
Yeah. Going from hardly anything
to the width that she was to get that calf out,
she did bloody well. Yeah.
Ancl she's not looked back since? She doesn't look any worse for wear.
Yeah? No, what about it, she's good.
Grand calf. Good legs on it, hasn't it? Yeah.
You know, it's gonna be a good... Yeah. You're gonna be a good size.
HE CHUCKLES It's not hanging around.
The calf is looking fantastic, she's really strong, she's growing nicely.
Mum's clone really well with her.
Andrew's put a lot of effort into making sure they've got a good bond,
and, well, they're both gonna be here for life now,
which is great news.
It's so nice to see the fruits of your lab our.
One of what is, I think, the most rewarding visits in veterinary
is a successful calving.
So to see them both doing so well makes my clay.
While a Yorkshire vet travels around the countryside
caring for creatures great and small,
recently, it was one of the vets who needed help.
Viking Ken, Viking Ken from Viking Control.
Do you read me? Over.
And it was the local mountain rescue team who rushed to Julian's aid.
There's one party setting off now.
They're going to the other side of Roseberry,
where we think the casualty is.
SIREN WAILS
In the shadow of the iconic hill Roseberry Topping,
this army of volunteers
keep an eye out for people who find themselves in trouble.
And a month after they rushed to the scene
of his serious mountain bike accident,
Julian's come to say thanks to the team.
Hi, Tim. You all right? Hi, Julian.
You all right? How you doing?
Nice to see you. Hey. Yeah.
I brought you a cake as a thank you in here. Oh.
But yeah, I'm a lot better than the first time I met you and your guys.
A lot better than the last time you met us, yeah! Yeah, yeah.
So, what do you remember of the clay?
I mean, you're out mountain biking, and then what?
What do you remember of it?
Well, it's a good question.
I remember going over a bit of a lump and crashing.
And I remember a lot of pain. And then I couldn't stand up.
And then it became pretty evident
I wasn't gonna get off unless somebody came to carry me.
So, there was a big team that came to rescue me.
Yeah, yeah, in order to be able to carry you out.
We knew we were gonna need to carry you out.
Ancl some of the people who were on your rescue are here,
so do you wanna come and meet them? Actually, I'd love to meet them
and give them my thanks and gratitude, yeah. Let's do that.
I'm just still going quite slowly, I'm afraid.
Hello. Crikey, a big team. LAUGHTER
Loads of people. I brought a cake,
but I don't think it's gonna be big enough for everybody!
LAUGHTER
That's very kind of you. Thank you.
Well, thank you. No, thank you for rescuing me.
One of the things that was amazing was you all had come to get me,
and then in the middle of the woods,
I'm getting a proper doctor's assessment
and a medical examination. As it started snowing,
and as it's starting to go dark, but yeah.
Yeah, well it was snowing, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah.
Some big snowflakes were coming down.
I'd done a good job of snapping it, hadn't I?
LAUGHTER
I was just really annoyed that I'd fallen off.
And I felt... What I remember thinking was,
"What a palaver! All these people's afternoon's that have been messed up
"just cos of a simple, silly mistake."
Casualties, when we find them, are often really apologetic for that,
but most of us are really delighted to be called away from work
or mowing the lawn or whatever else it is that we're doing.
It was really nice. There was absolutely no judgement
as to, you know, what an idiot this person is.
LAUGHTER
Julian, is there any parallels
between your injury and your recovery
and how you treat your own animals?
Do you know what, I've had about five or six "get well" cards,
and they all say, "At least you don't have to wear a plastic cone!"
Yeah. LAUGHTER
So, that would be bad, yeah.
It's a lemon drizzle cake. It's a "thank you", really.
I've felt so grateful of everything that you all did.
So, yeah, thank you for saving my life. Thank you.
Well, thanks for coming along and showing your interest.
Ancl supporting mountain rescue. Not at all, yeah, and thank you.
Nice to see everybody out of the danger zone kind of thing.
Cheerio! Thank you, everybody! Bye, all the best. Cheers. Bye!
I don't know what I would have done without the mountain rescue team.
I really don't what I would have done.
I can't say anything more than how amazing they are.
At the surgery near Huddersfield...
Oh. Oh, my...
...Rohin and Nurse jade are trying to save a homeless kitten
with a large lump in her stomach.
It's rock hard. The stomach is really, really distended.
A lot more full than it should be.
We need to get that material out of there.
Ancl the only way is gonna be to cut inside
and remove all the material bit by bit, whatever it is.
After growing fond of the little stray,
the team are feeling the pressure.
So, I've just got some warm fluids now, just to moisten the swabs.
I'll go for it. You ready?
We'll try and keep the hole as small as we can.
It looks like it's gonna smell. I think it's gotta be bigger.
I'm wary of creating a big wound,
but it is gonna have to be a big... big incision to get this out.
Oh, what's that? Oh, poor cat!
It's got to go even bigger, this, it's still not coming out.
Oh, it's literally putrid.
I have never seen anything like that.
It's actually, erm... Oh, my God, it's just fur!
It's actually adhered to the stomach wall,
so I'm gonna be really careful pulling that out.
Ohh!
Oh! Here, put it on there. Put it in there.
We've gotta be super careful now
not to let this go back in the abdomen.
Eurgh! Oh, I've just smelt it. Oh, God.
I've never seen anything like that before. It stinks as well.
It is the most putrid thing I've ever smelt. Erm...
It could be a dead animal that's been rotting.
I'm suspicious those could actually be fly eggs that are attached to it.
I want to be quite rapid at stitching this up
before any infected material has a chance of getting in the abdomen.
There's a real risk of infection if we're not careful here.
If this slips back in, it's a disaster, really, isn't it?
I can't emphasise enough how much I'm sweating under this gown.
I think it's a combination of high-stakes surgery
and very warm room.
Would you like me to mop your brow? Erm, if you don't mind.
I think. Is that the whole...? Thank you.
So, we're just carefully checking the rest of the abdomen as well,
make sure there's no other hidden surprises that could cause an issue.
But it feels OK. There's a little bit of stuff there,
but I think that should pass through.
That's fine. Thank you. Let's close this up.
Right, final stitch there in the skin.
All right. We'll get her woken up,
and it's all down to her then, isn't it, to recover.
Mm-hm. There we go. All clone.
It's gotta be up there with the most bizarre surgery I've ever clone.
To see that size of horrible, foreign material
come out of such a small cat, it's really quite remarkable.
You couldn't write it. All that nasty material has come out.
I've sweated buckets, but I'm just pleased it's gone.
We're gonna give her round-the-clock attention
to see how she recovers from this, give her plenty of pain relief,
plenty of antibiotics as well.
Ancl if she gets through the next two clays OK,
without any complication,
hopefully, we can get her rehomed and have a nice life.
Still to come...
Hello. Hello, stranger.
You all right? How are you?
...an unfortunate reminder of his knee trouble from Julian's patient.
His left knee cap's slipping in and out a bit.
I've become quite sensitive about all things patella.
And things aren't comfy for Peter's client.
You're looking very summery today. Thong's a little uncomfortable!
But is Betsy better?
It's push me, pull me, isn't it? Yeah! To me, to you.
CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: At the clinic near Huddersfield,
it's been two weeks since Rohin was shocked
during surgery on a stray kitten.
It's literally putrid.
I have never seen anything like that.
It was a very dramatic operation
with the biggest foreign body I've ever seen -
it was absolutely enormous.
Today, we're gonna take the stitches out,
and we'll see how she's healing.
There she is. You've got a chunky little fat face now.
CHUCKLING
Shall we have a look at you, then?
So... I'd be really interested to see, Beth, how much she weighs,
cos it's been two weeks,
and I honestly can't believe how much bigger she looks,
she's absolutely... Yeah.
There we go. So, she's gained about half a kilo in two weeks.
She's just gone from strength to strength. Really pleased with that.
With the homeless kitten winning the hearts of the team,
veterinary care has turned to foster care.
She's been staying with me. I...
Originally, the plan was to take her home for the weekend.
But then she sort of attached herself to me.
So, have you got a name,
seeing as though you've had her for a couple of weeks?
Yeah, I was trying not to name her
because I didn't want to get too attached. But she does have a name.
Her name is Minnie Singh. Oh, love that!
Singh means lion or warrior,
cos she is a bit of a warrior, I think. Absolutely.
All being well, we can take all those stitches out.
Good girl, Minnie. Good girl. Ready?
Oh, that looks brilliant. Looks good, doesn't it?
Not to compliment my own work. No, it's really good.
It's quite an extensive wound, you know,
across the length of her abdomen.
It had to be, but it's held together perfectly.
I just can't believe how good she is.
I think I've got them all. Let me just check.
So, that looks... great.
She looks as good as she possibly can do,
to be honest with you, at this point.
It's really, really good to see. I'm really happy with that.
So, seeing as though you've had her, and she's all recovered now,
are you gonna keep her?
Honestly, I'm struggling a bit with that. I'm busy enough as it is.
But she is one special cat. She really is.
But a few weeks later, back home with Rohin, his dad and sister...
She likes that. She likes this.
...Minnie Singh doesn't seem to be going anywhere.
That's her favourite spot.
Everyone's got quite attached to her, and next thing you know,
you've bought a velvet collar and a cactus-shaped scratching post,
and then it's hard to say no after that.
I've always been a dog person,
so I just never saw myself wanting to have a cat,
but she's just... She's not like your typical cat.
She so affectionate. She's so playful.
She always wants to be next to you, doesn't she?
So I think that's how she's won us over.
Yeah, I think if the cat leaves now, there will be a vacuum,
and everybody would actually miss her a lot.
I must say, I would as well, actually. Yeah.
So, this is Minnie's special, custom-made velvet collar.
CHUCKLING
There you go. What do you think of that?
I think that is very, very stylish.
She's in paradise now. She's living the good life.
This was never the plan, but...
I think she's definitely part of the family now.
TOY SQUEAKS
Across Yorkshire, Julian's been like a lost soul recently.
But five weeks after surgery on his ruptured patella ligament,
he's hoping to feel back home at the Wetherby practice.
Here I am. Aw, nice to have you back.
Back in the fray. GIGGLING
Yeah, I feel like I've been out of action for quite a long time.
Aw, bless you, we've missed you,
and the clients have all missed you as well.
And he might even get some sympathy
from his regular sparring partner, Nurse Lucy.
Hello. Hello, stranger.
You all right? How are you?
Good, yeah. How's your leg?
All right, yeah. Have you missed me? I have missed you.
Really? What you been doing?
I've mainly been pottering around and sitting on the sofa. Hoovering?
That's a right device, that. Yeah.
The surgeon said I should be at 90 degrees now.
So I don't like to go more than...
Anything that hurts, I don't like to do.
Have you seen pictures of it? No. Here we are, this is the rescue.
That's, this is me having fallen off the snow.
Is it snowing? Snowing, yeah.
Look, that's my knee. Urgh. Ooh!
So it's quite a big old wound.
Right, now you're back, let's get some work clone.
Get some work clone. Consulting, please.
I don't really know what's in store for me today.
I'm hoping for a nice gentle morning of consults,
one or two cute puppies, and maybe some kittens.
I don't really want anything too challenging,
and I don't want any big, heavy clogs
that need to be either lifted up or examined on the floor,
cos I think, if I get down on the floor,
I'll probably not be able to get up again.
Where's she gone? There she is!
And just as the vet ordered,
his first patients are three Pomeranian puppies.
They are gorgeous, aren't they? They are lovely.
Hello! Have we got some puppies?
Some cute puppies, by the looks of it. Like cotton wool balls.
There we go. Come through.
So, how are these, then? They're doing really well.
Just checking over at this point, yep? just a check over, yeah.
So, how old are they? They're eight weeks.
This is Frankie. CHUCKLING: Hi, Frankie.
Can you tell them apart? Yeah, yeah.
Hello! Are you all right, little one?
WHISPERING: Aw, cute, aren't they?
Quite a few things to check for -
testicles is the important in young male puppies.
They're both there. Yeah.
I'm just feeling his kneecap.
His left kneecap's slipping in and out a bit.
But not that that's any great a concern,
it might very well tighten up.
I've become quite sensitive about all things patella,
since that's what happened to me...
which is why I'm hobbling around so much.
I don't think yours is as big a problem as mine was.
SHE CHUCKLES That's for sure.
Good, so he passes the test.
Pretty much the first patient back,
and lo and behold, it's got a patella issue.
It seems that patella is a word I can't get out of my mind.
Good! Benny, you pass the test as well.
He looks nice, doesn't he? SHE CH UCKLES
SHE COOS AFFECTIONATELY
But three very cute, fluffy puppies to check over
is pretty much the perfect way back to work.
Too little to jump up, eh? Too little to jump up, eh?
Everybody was well behaved,
and three pretty much clean bills of health,
so nice first clay back.
Near Thirsk,
Peter's just arrived back at his old friend Graham's.
Here's Peter.
It's like a welcoming party!
If you don't mind me saying so, you're looking very summery today.
Well, you're not the first one to say that.
Thong's a little bit uncomfortable! PETER LAUGHS
But you know...
I wondered why you were walking like that.
THEY LAUGH
I might not be able to find it tonight!
Recently, Graham's pony was feeling uncomfortable,
and Peter treated some skin tumours on her groin.
Horrible, those sarcoids. They are horrible things.
But by doing what we've clone,
it gives us a really good chance at sorting Betsy's problems out.
It's push me, pull me, isn't it? Yeah. To me, to you.
Come on.
Right, Betsy. Good lass.
She's a good patient, isn't she?
Yep. Very happy with that. Very happy.
There we are, Betsy. Got rid of that nasty thing for you.
Good. Well, that's the job clone.
I'm pleased with that. Brand new now!
THEY LAUGH
Her recovery was very good. I'm quite happy.
Graham and his family really do care about their animals.
Ancl we have lots of banter,
and Graham always gets the upper hand on that.
I'll have a word with Christine, see if there's anything else
that she'd like me to put a rubber band on while I'm here.
My wallet? THEY LAUGH
But underneath it all, he's a big softie,
especially where his family and his animals are concerned.
Well, er, everything's working. Everything's fine.
THEY CHUCKLE
At least she's got up for one.
THEY LAUGH