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 partnerjulian 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 these off ourselves do you think? Pfft!
...Never taking their eyes off the ball...
Oh! How's that?! Oo-ah!
...as they help animals of all shapes...
I didn't think I'd be hugging a turkey today.
GRUNTS ..sizes...
That's more like pulling a calf out!
...types... Nearly clone.
Nearly clone, Bertie.
...and temperaments.
Ow! He's bit me.
It's definitely not glamourous...
Penile amputations still make me squirm a little bit.
...but it's varied.
Eee-aw!
You ought to know better.
It's rarely easy... GRUNTS
...but they continue the Herriot tradition...
Whoa. ..treating all creatures.
That's it there we go, there we go.
...great... Aw, Merlin.
Come on! ..and small.
Hello! CH UCKLES
Like the ancient moors
and cathedrals of rock carved by time...
...in Yorkshire, there are those who've seen it all before.
By contrast, greenness doesn't just apply to the lush pastures...
...as youngsters are shown the ways of this world by their elders.
James Herriot once guided his own enthusiastic apprentice.
PHONE RINGS
Good afternoon, Grace Lane Vets.
Ancl what's the problem?
We'll send someone out as soon as we can.
But these days,
Peter's learnt that clocking-off time is never set in stone.
PETER: It's the end of the clay now, and I was just about to go home,
and a call came in to a farmer
who's got a ewe that he's very concerned about.
She's had one lamb already.
She's been scanned for more than one,
and she hasn't produced any,
and that was over two hours ago.
Ancl it's just long enough, really.
It's a sign that there's something wrong.
He's asked me if I go out straight away and have a look.
Just my luck, really,
because it's roast beef and Yorkshire pudding night tonight,
but never mind.
It won't be the first time they've been kept warm for me.
The call for the seasoned vet
came from a relatively inexperienced farmer.
Ian retired from lecturing to pursue his passion for sheep.
And he's learning all the time.
One's come out, but the other one's stuck inside.
It's really deep down,
so I'm struggling to get it out
or to get any sort of purchase on it.
Hopefully, the lamb will still be alive
cos that's also a concern
after this length of time from the first one being born.
So, let's just hope everything's OK.
Hiya, Peter. Hello. I'm Ian.
Pleased to meet you. Ancl you too, yeah.
So, we've got a ewe that... she's been scanned for triplets.
Yes. She'd been labouring for a while.
Ancl I don't know if there's a third. I can't get any further in.
Right, OK, let's have a look. But she's an older mum,
so she should be, you know, popping them out fairly quick.
Yes. Certainly not hours apart.
You'd have thought minutes. Well... Yes.
When you think you've gone a couple of hours,
it's time something was happening.
How many do you have to lamb? Er, not that many.
There's about 25. Yeah.
So it's not a big operation.
So, it's just this one here. Do you want her just holding there?
Yeah, well, I'm normally left-handed for this job,
so if I put her head towards the bucket there...
That's perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Do you feel it?
Yeah, I can.
It's deep down, though, isn't it? It is deep.
Yes, it is.
Ancl I don't suppose you feel a third, do you?
I'm gonna take it one at a time.
Now, this interesting thing about this one
is it's coming backwards. Ah, right.
So, she's maybe struggled a bit, do you think? I think so.
It is a worry.
Once we get this... start of this lamb
through the birth canal,
then it's important we move pretty quickly.
At the practice in Wetherby,
Julian and nurse Lucy are having a pig of a day...
Could you turn that brightness down just a notch?
It's just... Yeah, I bobbed it on half.
It's still quite bright, isn't it? It's too bright, isn't it?
And even Lucy's weekends can be a bit of a swine.
So, have you been to the pub this weekend?
Did you go and see that pig? Yeah.
Were there lots of animals then? Yeah.
The horse goes to the pub, there's a ferret that goes to the pub.
Ancl then when I saw a pig on a lead,
I thought it can't get any worse than this, really.
I literally couldn't believe it.
I had to, like, shut my eyes and rub them,
and I was thinking, "Am I seeing that?"
Ancl then it walked past me, and I was like,
"Oh, it actually is a pig on a lead." It's a pig on a lead.
Would you say you live in quite a normal village?
Well, it's normal to me, but then when I talk to everyone else,
it's probably not that normal.
But I wouldn't have it any other way.
While there are plenty of unusual animals at Lucy's pub,
today, the practice is like the Dog and Duck.
Because Jody has just arrived with an unusual patient...
You all right? What are you doing?
...desperate forjulian's help.
Brought Ada, she's a Mandarin duck.
She's broke her leg in two places.
She's a lovely little duck. She lives in my garden.
She's got a little hutch she goes in at night, and, er...
and she comes into her pond as well through t'day.
Mum's with me today for the support.
She's as worried as I am.
Hello.
What have you been doing?
Oh, accident with a mountain bike.
Oh! I'm getting better.
Ancl you've had a problem with your leg or your cluck's leg,
is that right? Yeah, yeah, she's broke her leg in two places, yeah.
Ah.
Can you bring her in? Yeah, yeah, fine, yeah.
So, what happened? What was the cause of the accident?
I don't know, she was just laid in her bed,
and then I went back in,
and she had it up like that.
So, I don't know.
I think it could have been spooked by a cat, but I'm not sure.
Right, that's it.
So, when did it have the splint put on?
I think it was Thursday last week.
I'm just worried cos it's starting to blister up the foot,
and it feels cold.
That is quite cold, isn't it, there?
So, when it goes cold like that,
it's often because the blood supply is starting to disappear...
Right.
...which is usually not a great sign.
Obviously, if you've got,
firstly, an injury that's big enough to break the bones...
Yeah. ..It can sever the blood vessels,
but also the pointed ends of the bone
can damage the blood supply as well.
Sometimes, the bandage or the splint can squash the blood supply.
It's quite tight, it's difficult.
You've got to make it quite tight, so it stays on. Yeah.
That doesn't look so clever, does it? No.
I mean, our options, I suppose,
are try and support it, but in a more gentle way...
Yeah. ..and hope the blood supply comes back,
and I think that's probably the thing to do. Right.
The other option would be to say,
"Well, this isn't gonna come right, let's amputate the leg." Yeah.
Ancl then the third option would be to put her down. Yeah, yeah.
I think it's cos she's happy in herself, really.
I'd like to give her a chance.
What I think I might try and do, you know,
rather than putting the splint on the leg
is try and put a...
you know like when we break our collar bone?
Ancl strap it up against her body. Yeah.
I think if we can keep it up...
Yeah. "like that, it might have a better chance of healing.
Ancl then at least if nothing else, it's up against her body...
To keep it warm. ..so, it'll keep it warm,
and it'll help the bloody supply. Yeah.
I mean, I could try and wrap her wing in the bandage.
She'll try and fly away.
I tell you what we can do.
Why don't we give her some an aesthetic? Yeah.
We can anaesthetise her, then she'd be still,
and then we could get it properly on it,
and it will save us struggling, and it'll save her flapping,
and we'll be able to get it clone no problem.
That will be the best thing to do. Right.
Quite happy with what he said so far.
At least we're going to give her a fighting chance.
Ada's owner seems happy to give it a go,
doesn't want to put her down, so we'll try this.
I'm not sure what the chances are.
The fracture's obviously quite nasty.
I think 50/50, really.
The legs aren't presented properly.
Peter knows the former lecturer's lambing isn't textbook.
It would be a massive job turning her around,
so we need to get this out. Right, here we go.
And a tiny patient with a big name.
Luna, hello. For Martin and the team...
You are tiny, aren't you?
...it's surgery of "lunar" proportions.
This is not a surgery that I've ever clone before.
Very stressful.
In Kirkbymoorside...
The legs aren't presented properly.
...with one lamb born already,
Peter's trying to save a ewe's second baby.
EWE BLEATS I've straightened those up now.
And lecturer-turned-farmer Ian is expecting triplets.
I'm just bringing the legs around into a presentation,
where they're coming out behind now. Yeah, yeah.
So, she'll come out backwards all right.
She'll come out backwards. Well, it's too...
It'd be a massive job, turning her around.
So, once I get into position,
it's important that things run pretty smoothly then,
so we need to get this out. Is she contracting?
Not much.
The important thing, I don't think the umbilical cord
that gives the lamb nourishment and oxygen,
I don't think that's been broken yet.
I'm just bringing these legs up now.
Because the cord quite often gets wrapped round them.
It can do. Right, here we go. Lovely. Well clone.
That's it. That's it. Is she alive?
Yeah. Yeah. Good. Let's give her a swing. Nice lamb.
Yeah, it's a good size, is that, for a triplet.
Go on, Mum. Do your bit.
Come on. Shape yourself, woman.
You shape yourself. Come on. Never mind that.
That's your lamb there. Come on. Yeah.
Look, I'll give you a hand.
It is moving. Oh, yes.
Yeah. Ancl I like to see them shaking their head.
Yeah. I'm happy then.
Yeah. Go forward a bit, missus. That's it.
I think it's a bit tired, that lamb.
A little bit longer,
and I think we'd have had probably too long. Right.
But we're going to be fine with that one. OK.
Despite Ian's talk of triplets, Peter has some news.
We haven't got another one, though. There isn't? So...
...scanning man's at fault. We haven't got a third.
We've just got the two. Yeah. Oh, well, I'm glad at that.
I'd prefer two than three.
LAMB BLEATS
Well, as one farmer said to me, "I don't want three!"
They've only got two paps.
There's a logic to that. Does she want a jab of antibiotics?
It wouldn't do any harm. That's it.
Lovely. Brilliant. Job clone.
I couldn't have got that out myself. It was a bit of a funny one.
Well, I'm still learning. That's why we get called.
Well, I'm still learning a lot. Are you?
Yeah. It's only my fourth or fifth year at it, really.
You learn something every year, don't you?
Well, it's really very therapeutic, isn't it, don't you think?
Yeah, oh, yeah, definitely.
I think they're such gentle creatures.
Yeah. They don't kick, they don't bite.
Ancl it's just, what amazes me is
the instinct of the lamb to go straight to the teat. Yes.
Within minutes.
They don't have any textbooks, have they? No.
I think nature is a wonderful thing. Yeah.
Sometimes, it just needs a bit of help.
It's a wonderful sight, you know, as a vet,
if you leave a ewe that's happy with two live lambs,
then you consider it a job well clone.
Really pleased with the result. It had me really, really worried.
So, I think Peter's clone an amazing job.
As you can imagine, it's a very steep learning curve.
Ancl each lambing season,
you kind of learn more and more, as it were.
Ancl that includes knowing when to call the vet.
So, thanks ever so much, Peter, I really appreciate it.
With a bit of luck, we should be OK. Aye, you've clone well.
You've clone brilliantly. Thank you. Thank you, Ian. All the best.
I'm pleased to say this lambing has gone very well.
I'm very happy with the outcome,
but I do feel if she'd been left a little bit longer,
we would've lost the lamb.
But we had a bit of luck, really.
The mother's well, and the lamb's doing very nicely as well.
So, as usual in this situation, I'm going home very happy.
Over in Wetherby...
Anaesthetise it just like any bird, really.
Yeah. It's easier to do with gas than with anything else.
"Julian and Kaitlyn are trying to fix
Mandarin duck Ada's broken leg.
So, if I tape that round, can you lift the other wing?
I can't actually remember having ever having body bandaged a bird,
certainly not for a broken leg, but yeah, hopefully, it'll help.
She's trussed up like a chicken, but she's a duck.
Right, the wings are out, the leg's in, cloaca's out,
so she can go to the toilet.
I think you're ready to go back, Ada. Come on, Ada.
Ada's owner Jody, and his mum, have been waiting anxiously.
Right, so, this has been more successful. Good.
Errn, the an aesthetic was smooth,
and I've taken it round the front. Yeah.
I thought the bandage was nice.
I've called it "duck a I'orange". Oh, right, yeah, yeah, I like it.
It is quite a bad situation to be in
because if the foot starts to die, you can get toxins into the system,
which can be quite serious.
She's got a chance at least anyway. Yeah, yeah.
OK. Right, thank you.
The future for Ada is a little bit in the balance.
All right. Cheerio. Thanks a lot. Bye. Bye-bye.
'There's quite a few problems that she's up against.'
So, fingers crossed this will provide support
but allow the vascularity to return to the lower limb.
There's a chance we might need to take it off,
or Ada's owner might need to take it off at home
if the breathing becomes restricted.
Glad I've seen Julian.
Ancl he's gonna have another look at it and see how it's healing.
Hopefully, it'll be a good outcome.
'Hopefully, things will be going to plan.'
If not, then we'll have to think again.
SHEEP BLEATS
At the animal hospital in Huddersfield...
Catherine's really good at picking out
cute little outfits for her. Yeah.
...proud dad Matt is updating nurses Becca andjess
about his baby, Anastasia.
How old is she now, Matt?
Seven months now. She's less potato-like now.
She's properly got some proper character,
but we've now started the weaning process.
To be honest, I can't believe that
Matt is in charge of keeping a little human alive.
Another few years down the line,
Anastasia's probably going to be looking after Matt.
LAUGHTER
This, I believe, she gets from me, her love of cake.
Oh, wow, that's just you.
Ancl she's got the same table manners as you as well, hasn't she?
What she does do, which I don't do, is while she is eating dinner,
she has the biggest poo ever.
So, if you start going red at lunchtime...
We know, we know what's gonna happen!
LAUGHTER
While Matt's got his hands full with Anastasia,
it's a four-legged baby occupying the mind of senior surgeon Martin.
He's preparing for one of his biggest ever operations
on a little puppy who's seriously ill.
Today, we've got a really challenging case.
We've got a little dog - Luna.
She's a tiny little three-month-old Chihuahua,
and she's been having some issues with her breathing.
WOMAN MAKES KISSING SOUNDS Luna, hello!
Hi. You little monkey. Aren't you?
Luna's problem is that she's leaking a fluid called chyle into her chest,
squashing her lungs and affecting her breathing
so her heart can't expand and contract like it should do.
So, we need to repair the leak
so the heart can work properly today.
Hello, beautiful. You are tiny, aren't you?
This is not the kind of surgery that we do every clay.
It's an unusual condition, and she's an unusual dog to have it in,
so we're a bit apprehensive about how things are going to go today.
She's only three months old, so she only weighs 1.8kg,
round about the same as a bag of sugar.
So, it really is microsurgery.
In those three short months,
little Luna has become a huge part of the family
for young Libby and her mum, Claire.
This has just hit us like a ton of bricks, hasn't it?
Cos she were just so normal, wasn't she?
She were enjoying walks, and everybody loves her.
I noticed that she were breathing and it was quite difficult for her,
and it just got faster and faster. So, we just rushed her straight in.
She's your little dog, isn't she? You just want her home, don't you?
Yeah, just really want her.
She's your baby, isn't she? Yeah.
There's a lot of different things to think about with this little dog.
So, we've got lots of monitors on her -
blood pressure monitor, breathing monitors...
All the team, including nurse Bernie,
are feeling the pressure.
Very stressful.
BERNIE CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY
Very stressful.
And being an NHS nurse,
Claire appreciates the seriousness of the situation.
I've worked on intensive care now for 23 years,
so I did have an understanding of that.
I've been honest with you, haven't I? I've tried to. Yeah.
She knows that she's an extremely poorly puppy, don't you?
Ancl you know that the surgery might not work
cos there's not many puppies, is there, really,
that, you know, that this has happened to? So...
You've-you've... She's cried. You were a mess over the weekend.
Even Martin is in unchartered waters.
This is not a surgery that I've ever clone before.
Right. Let's see what we can do.
We're just praying that... something can be clone, aren't you?
OK, so, really long incision here.
David's told me that
he could have gone and watched the football tonight,
so that is dedication.
A late shift to deliver a lambing lesson.
It sounds like Rice Krispies kind of crackling and gurgling.
While there's not much snap or crackle, but plenty of poop...
I'm gonna go and inspect them. WOMAN: You go and have a look!
...from Peter's poorly patient.
Yeah, they are a little bit dry, those.
SECOND WOMAN: Yeah, they're dry, aren't they? They are dry, yeah.
CHRISTOPHER: In Huddersfield, Martin, Charlotte and Bernie
are performing critical surgery on three-month-old Chihuahua Luna...
What we want to do now is to enter into the abdomen.
...who has a life-threatening build-up
of fluid called chyle in her chest.
Right, then.
So, we're going to see if we can cut through the sternum here.
OK, that's us into the chest now.
So, that is the fluid that's been accumulating in Luna's chest.
That's really abnormal, that shouldn't be there at all.
So that's what we need to deal with.
So, we want to try to suction this material out now.
It's a bit strange,
I can feel her heart beating against my finger there,
which is not a sensation you have every clay.
There's still quite a lot of...
chyle fluid accumulating in here as we go.
There's a lot sitting in the floor of the abdomen.
It's not easy, this.
It's been a bit difficult because Luna is so small,
but I'm happy with how things are going.
For a little dog...
she's got some stamina.
The CO2's gone up, so that shows that there's no leaks.
We're just putting the last couple of stitches in.
She's certainly not out the woods yet.
The chest drain we'll keep in for a clay or so,
and what I'm hoping is that we're not gonna have
any more chyle coming out through that chest drain.
If that dries up, hopefully, she should go on and do well.
There we go. We're clone.
Yep. There we go. Yay. Yay.
Fantastic. Oh, can breathe now!
Thank you. Thank you, guys.
Today's been quite a tough clay, I'm feeling pretty tired after that.
It's kind of challenging surgery.
In fact, it's probably
one of the most challenging surgeries that I've clone.
But in the end, I'm really, really pleased with how things have gone.
Although a Yorkshire Vet is only ever a phone call away
during lambing season...
...Shona and the Huddersfield team
want to help farmers help themselves at their busiest time of year.
'We've invited all our sheep clients up for an evening on lambing.'
Some of them are experienced at lambing,
some of them are just starting out with sheep.
So, we've got a few different practical stations
set up with the vets.
Our clients are also our friends,
and we always like to share the knowledge that we have,
to give them the skills to look after the animals
in the absolute best way that they can.
Even if they just take away one thing from this evening
that will positively affect their animals at home,
that's all they want.
Thanks for coming, everyone. Hope you enjoy the evening.
So, David, you're here.
Doing abnormal presentations, so mix-ups and various things.
And then Rohin is on here.
I'm doing orphan lambs, artificial rearing.
And then I'll be over there.
So, we'll do, like, questions about caring for ewes.
Push the backside forward.
Number one thing that vets do that farmers don't
is what we call retro pulsion.
Just pushing it back in again.
Everyone thinks, "Got a bit, get it out."
Disengage from the pelvis and just get into the abdomen a little bit,
and you've suddenly got
all this space to manipulate and work out what's going on.
The first 24 hours when a lamb is born is absolutely critical
to get the first milk from the mother into the system.
That's where all the antibodies come from.
It's really good.
I think everyone's getting quite involved.
David and Rohin are getting very stuck in.
David's told me he could've watched the football,
so that is dedication. SHE LAUGHS
The main thing is,
the practical thing is to show you tubing technique.
If it's in the right spot, you'll hear gurgling.
It sounds like Rice Krispies crackling and gurgling.
Then you can relax and you can give them milk
and everything will be fine.
It's really nice to pass on some of this knowledge.
This was knowledge that I was taught by really experienced farmers
when I was a vet student.
Ancl to be able to give it back to other people
who are in the same position I was when I was trying to learn,
it's quite a nice feeling to be able to do that.
This is also for the sick ewe.
So, it's a drench.
It's amazing how much fluids can help make something better.
It's the first time for me, and it's been really, really useful.
So, I feel more confident now that if any issues arise
with my two ladies, I'll be all right.
There's been some new stuff that I didn't know last year,
so fingers crossed we won't have to use it all,
but it's always good to know.
Even tonight's host,
experienced farmer Dan, has benefited.
But maybe not as much as he'd hoped.
There's a lot of experience the vets have,
and it's good to learn new things.
I wish we could have a caesarean tonight.
They might not charge me, it might be a good do.
DAN LAUGHS
Right, thanks very much, everyone, for coming.
I hope everyone's enjoyed it.
Just like to say a really big thank you
to all of the vets who...
they've all come out in their free time this evening
to help us out and so thanks, guys.
APPLAUSE
So, that's been really good.
I enjoy getting everyone together, keeping up the community spirit.
There's something about keeping animals that, you know,
it gives you something to your soul.
Ancl you can see the enjoyment when they're talking about the sheep.
They're excited about lambing happening.
It's a fun journey to go on, and we're there to help them.
Over in Kirkbymoorside, lecturer-turned-sheep farmer Ian...
That's it.
...recently learnt from Peter's vast lambing experience.
IAN: Is she alive?
SHEEP BLEATS
PETER: Yeah. Yeah. Good.
Let's give her a swing.
Nice lamb Yeah.
Now, Ian's lambing season is nearly over.
There we go.
I think lambing is really, really exciting.
I think sometimes there's always a bit of nerves beforehand,
and because I'm fairly new to it,
there's always some learning to be clone as well.
I think it's like a lot of jobs, providing you are prepared,
then the rest isn't too bad.
The kind of emotional side of it is, it's fantastic, it's enjoyable.
Particularly this time of clay as well,
because this is when the lambs really start playing,
and one of the best parts is seeing the lambs in a field.
This is where they're happiest.
It's really just lovely to see them grow.
But the problems don't stop once all the lambs are safely delivered.
Is she pooing? She's pooing on me.
Back at the practice, Peter's next patient...
Morning. Morning.
...is a new arrival who's proving a challenge
for Annie and her mum, Donna.
DONNA: This is Stripe, our pet lamb.
She took a bottle fine this morning... Yeah.
...and then about an hour ago, she was laid and wouldn't get up.
Mm-hm. And she was rolling as though she was in pain.
Right. We thought we'd better get her checked out.
Since being here, she's done quite a lot of poos
on the floor. Are the poos still there?
They are. I'm gonna go and inspect them.
You go and have a look! THEY LAUGH
Yeah, they are a little bit dry. Yeah, they're dry, aren't they?
Yeah, they are dry, yeah. Right.
Is she drinking water at all? They have water, yeah.
Ancl has it gone down at all, the water?
The water does disappear, yes. It does? Good.
But I'm not sure if that's because it gets knocked over...
Right, 0|<. ..or, yeah.
Looking at her face,
she doesn't look particularly happy with life. No.
Can we pop her on the table now? Yeah.
Right, I'm just going to have a feel up her bum now.
Not too bad there.
Just these small dry poos.
That tells me that she's not been drinking enough, really.
Right.
Ancl she's quite gassy in there as well. Mm.
Now, when you said about her lying, rolling,
that's typical colic, stomach pain.
Yeah. So, she's got stomach pain.
Have to say, for a pet lamb,
you're doing remarkably well with her.
Oh, thank you.
She's in really good condition. They're spoilt.
What do they go to bed with on a night?
Hot water bottle.
Hot water bottle? Yeah.
How lovely, how lovely.
Right, this little lamb for some reason is, er,
I suppose the best way is constipated.
So, I'm going to attack this in two ways.
I'm going to give her some fluids and lubricant by mouth.
I'm going to give her an injection for tummy pain as well.
Right, are you hanging on tight? Yeah.
Cos she won't like this bit.
Good girl.
Would you hold her mouth shut for me now?
Gonna give her some of...
That's fine.
OK. Good girl.
Right. Lovely. Thank you very much. Ah. Clever girl.
Good girl. Well done!
She was very well-behaved. She was good, wasn't she?
Really good. Now this will just sting a bit.
I'm sorry. Good girl.
That's what we call a spasmolytic.
When you've got this type of problem
and you've got gut pain, that'll alleviate it.
So, hopefully, that should do the trick.
Thank you. That's lovely.
Oh, talk of the devi... 'Ey!
'Ey up, it's working instantly!
DONNA LAUGHS
That was quick!
I'd like to say the medication worked very quickly
but I can't claim that!
THEY LAUGH
Oh, dear! We'll leave you a mess.
Jolly good. Right. Thank you.
If I don't hear from you, I'll assume you're all right.
Thank you. Nice to see you.
Thank you. Be good, Stripe.
Thank you, bye-bye. Bye-Bye.
Back in Huddersfield,
it's two days since Martin's life-saving surgery
to remove fluid from Luna the Chihuahua puppy's chest.
But there's been a setback.
We've just clone a little review with Luna, and unfortunately,
we still have some chyle appearing in her chest.
So, unless we're able to resolve this problem,
Luna just won't make it.
So, Martin, Nicole and Kersha
are prepping the poor puppy for surgery once more.
I'm sorry, sweetheart.
We've got 54 mils there.
This is your type of dog, Nicole, isn't it?
How many Chihuahuas have you got? just two. just two?
Nicole is our resident Chihuahua expert.
There is definitely something about her, though.
So sweet.
I can't believe, we haven't had a dog in for a long time
that everybody has fallen in love with,
in the way they have with Luna.
She's made a lot of friends while she's been in here.
They always say clogs look like their owners
and you're probably not the largest veterinary nurse
as part of the team,
so maybe there's a connection there. I do get that a lot.
THEY ALL LAUGH
I must be like a Labrador, then.
See, I don't think you look like a Labrador.
Do you not think so? What does he look like?
Like a Shih Tzu maybe. ALL LAUGH
I'm joking.
You asked. I'm not quite sure how to take that!
More terrier-like in his quest to help Luna,
Martin has a new plan to tackle the chyle fluid in her chest.
This is our drainage device.
So, we've got the tube,
which is going to pass through Luna's chest wall
and into her chest.
It's then going to connect onto this little device here,
which will sit underneath her skin.
So, her skin will be over the top there,
but we'll be able to put a needle through her skin,
through the little silicon diaphragm, on the top here
and be able to drain the chyle from her chest.
A little incision here.
OK, that's good.
Gosh, everything's just so fiddly with her, isn't it?
She's just so very small.
So that's just all nicely in position.
There we go.
Ancl that's her drain in.
Luna's doing really well.
She's back in the intensive care ward.
Kersha's clone a fantastic job with her an aesthetic today,
and she's a tough little cookie,
so we've just got to keep a really close watch on her
over the next few hours.
Still to come...
Oh, my word, Ada.
...it's duck and cover forjulian and Lucy.
She's gonna look like the coolest duck in the neighbourhood.
And will Luna's owners...
I can't even put into words what this week's been like.
...be over the moon?
My teacher says,
"Get them negative knickers off and put them positive pants on."
SHE CHUCKLES
At the practice in Wetherby,
the team are trying to help an orphaned baby owl.
So, do you think the mum might be injured or dead?
I think Mum is not there any more,
but hopefully, they can be hand-reared back to good health...
Yeah, they should be good.
...and released in the wild. Yeah.
They're amazing.
Thing is they can turn their heads right round,
so they don't need to be facing... Ooh, Christ!
What have you done, Franc?
It's fine, it's just having a wander around.
It's hopping into theatre. The baby owl has escaped.
It's a little baby. It could still fly away, though.
No, it cannot fly away... It was running away, Lucy.
It's like me running to t'dinner room...
when someone brings some chocolates in.
We're hoping that he can be re-introduced back in the wild.
C0oL
Don't let go of it again, Franc!
Julian's next patient is another bird,
who's currently a little less mobile.
You all right?
Jody's back with his pet Mandarin duck Ada,
who had a badly broken leg.
Do you want to come through? Yeah, yeah.
And he's hoping Julian will give him positive news.
My bandage that you took off,
and then there's nothing supporting it, then, now.
No, no, it's come off through the night.
I just want to feel what the foot looks like first. Yeah.
Ada, are you feeling a bit better?
She's a little feisty. Oops. Come here, Ada.
Ah, that's great, isn't it? Yeah, it is, yeah.
So, two days ago, this foot was cold like ice,
and we were worried the blood supply had gone,
and therefore the leg might need to be removed.
But this has totally come back to...
well, it feels like... it's healthy.
Yeah. And it looks like it's healthy.
The problem we haven't managed to address is...
the fact that it's still unsupported.
It's easier said than done! I know.
Oi! Ow, Ada!
I'm trying to help.
Keeping a bandage on a duck is... Not easy.
...is not easy, as we're discovering. Yeah.
So... I just wonder if I can somehow just put it like that.
Well, I'm trying to...
strap the...
strap the leg up...
so that it stays off the ground.
I don't know whether that's... Do you see what I mean?
It just means it won't be dragging.
But nurse Lucy's had an idea.
Duck a I'orange is out. Leopard skin is in.
My word, Ada, just when you thought that my orange bandage was...
That's her style as well. They're designed for cats.
Keep your head down Ada, just duck.
THEY ALL CH UCKLE
She's going to look like the coolest duck in the neighbourhood.
Yeah, I know.
It's just like the birthday present I wrapped up for my wife yesterday.
I didn't buy her a duck.
I'd like a duck, if someone bought me one.
Would you? Yeah.
Right.
Should be all right, I think, yeah.
It'll keep it stable, it will keep it up,
and keep it out of the way. Thanks, Lucy.
And it stays relatively stable.
I think she's got a good chance. Oh, good.
Poor Ada does look a bit silly in the leopard print leotard...
...but I think, in terms of function,
it's a good way of keeping things together,
and I'm fairly positive now that she'll do OK.
And a couple of months later... Hello!
Ada! Hello.
...even though she's happy to take shelter back in the recovery area
on a rainy day, Ada is no longer a lame duck.
I thought she'd be hobbling, but, yeah, she's fully recovered.
The leg looks really well.
You can't see where it's been broken or anything.
She's got Minnie. Minnie is her friend.
I like to see them happy,
having a swim in the little pond they've got.
And, yeah, just seeing them happy together.
The outcome didn't look good at first,
but it seems back to normal and looking really well.
In Huddersfield, Martin's performed two operations
on Chihuahua puppy Luna
and fitted a drain so the fluid can be removed from her chest.
Luna! Aw, bless her.
Number one fan. Let's have a look.
That's all looking really good.
And after a week without her,
owners Claire and Libby are back at the hospital.
It's been an absolute roller-coaster.
I can't even put into words what this week's been like.
It's been horrible.
You've been telling me to stop crying, haven't you? Yeah.
You're not going to cry. I'm not going to cry this time.
You need to stay positive. I know.
My teacher says, "Get them negative knickers off
"and put them positive pants on."
Where are we going?
You know where you're going, don't you? You know.
Come on, then. Do you want to come in?
Come on through. Oh, she's desperate to get to you.
I know, bubba.
Do you know, that just makes everything worthwhile.
Makes everything worthwhile.
She's such a happy little soul, isn't she?
She really, she's... This is why I couldn't give up.
I know. I couldn't. Yeah, absolutely.
LAUGHTER
So, I know you weren't absolutely expecting it,
but how do you think you would manage
if we were to let her go home with you today?
What do you think?
Yeah?
HE LAUGHS
How does this rank as an exciting clay?
Infinity and beyond.
It's just so rewarding when we get an outcome like this.
27 years in practice, and this feeling never dulls at all.
This is good a feeling as it was when I had my first clay in practice.
Five weeks later,
Luna has settled back into a happy and healthy life at home.
Cuddle, cuddle, cuddle. Where you off?
Where you off to?
With intensive care nurse Claire putting her expertise to good use.
So, we need to build her back up, and then keep draining this chest,
and fingers crossed it'll get less and less,
and then we won't have to do it any more.
This is the substance that comes out.
It's a different colour every day. I think it depends what she eats.
She's just so accepting. She's so laid back.
She's brilliant. She's getting to the stage where now
she knows that it's going to feel better once it's been done.
Good girl!
If I have to do this for the rest of her life, then so be it,
that's what we'll do, and obviously to keep my daughter happy.
TOY SQUEAKS
SCREAMS What was that?
What's this?
She loves my daughter,
and how can you give up on an animal that loves your child so much?
BARKING