Incredible Northern Vets S01 E03
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00:00Let's do this.
00:02I think it's so important to have a vet that you trust.
00:05We have Mushu the cat coming in for some ongoing skin issues.
00:09Oh, yeah.
00:11I really hope we can figure out Mushu's skin problems today.
00:15This is Danny Lion, our family milk cow.
00:17You're pretty cute.
00:18But she's more of a pet than anything.
00:20It's been a long time since I've ultrasounded a cow.
00:25We might have to go into his abdomen to look.
00:31Across the country.
00:32Be nice.
00:33Indigenous vets are using their knowledge and skills.
00:36Good little baby.
00:37To help the animals we love stay happy and healthy.
00:41I have two surgeries, an urgent care laceration repair, two equine dental appointments this
01:05afternoon and a pregnancy ultrasound on a Jersey cow.
01:12Good boy.
01:14And the other one now, bud.
01:18I am a member of the Métis Nation of British Columbia.
01:21We're part of the Red River Settlement.
01:24I'm very much loyal to nature and I very much honour what the earth provides for us.
01:32So when it comes to animals, I guess I am just sensitive to the fact that they're a
01:37gift to us and it's my job to advocate for them.
01:41I would put reverse shoes on this horse is what I would do.
01:44But I don't commonly do cow work.
01:59This is Danny Lion, our family milk cow.
02:02She's half Jersey and half Dexter.
02:04But she's more of a pet than anything at the house.
02:07She feeds her calf and then she gives us about six litres of milk a day.
02:12My wife makes butter and yoghurt and yeah, it's good.
02:15And we're here to have her preg tested for next year's calf.
02:21I think she's getting ready.
02:24Buttercup.
02:25Dandelion.
02:26Dandelion.
02:27You're pretty cute.
02:31I'm not the regular cow vet at this practice, but my associate is currently on maternity
02:36leave.
02:37We had taken her out to the bull and got her bred.
02:39So now we're just checking.
02:41She should be about a month and a half, two months.
02:43Ready?
02:44Can you bring the...
02:45Yeah, it's in there.
02:46I don't have the wand.
02:47Do you want the wand?
02:49I mean, the wand keeps me clean.
02:51Do you want me to grab it?
02:53Yeah, sure.
02:54The cow will come through the door there.
02:56Come on, you.
03:00Come on, then.
03:03Do you need a bucket of grain?
03:12See how food motivated you are, dandelion.
03:16Oh, I don't know.
03:19Cows are not my thing.
03:24There you go.
03:25Hi, there.
03:26Hi, I'm Dr. Alson.
03:27I know we met a couple months ago.
03:43So we have Mooshu the cat coming in this morning.
03:46We've actually seen Mooshu a couple times in the last couple months for some ongoing
03:50skin issues.
03:51And so he's back again today.
03:54I think it's with more skin issues.
03:56Is he Mooshu?
03:57I don't know.
03:58I brought Mooshu in today because he's had some consistent sores on his armpit area.
04:04Mooshu is my first cat.
04:05He's very confident.
04:06He likes everyone he meets.
04:07He comes right up to you and nuzzles himself and gets all of his orange fur on your pants.
04:12Can you tell me how Mooshu's been doing recently?
04:15He's been good.
04:16He was on the last medication and the sore was gone completely.
04:19And then I noticed the sore came back.
04:22Okay.
04:23We'll take a peek at it for sure.
04:25I think about it all the time of why he has the sore and why it's not getting better.
04:29Yeah, it makes you sad because you're like, what's wrong?
04:32And they can't talk.
04:33So you can't get them to just tell you what's wrong.
04:36Okay.
04:37Oh, yeah, that guy there.
04:41It is pretty raw, hey?
04:43Right away I can see there's this crusty kind of ring-like area on the skin that clearly
04:48he has either pulled out or has licked to a point where it is no longer much hair there.
04:54I can imagine that being pretty painful.
04:56Oh, God.
04:58I really hope we can figure out what Mooshu's skin problems are today.
05:04It's not normal for kitties to get crusty, weird patches on their skin.
05:10I'm mostly worried about what is the root cause of this.
05:13I'd love to sample it and see if it's actually infected or not.
05:17I know it feels weird, but you're doing great.
05:19Good job.
05:21This one's real easy.
05:22We're just going to smear it on your skin.
05:26Skin issues are so challenging because it takes a lot of trial and error to find out
05:30what's going on.
05:31But there is a method to our madness.
05:34It can be underlying more serious things, like if there is a parasite there, if there
05:40is a skin infection, that can make that cat really uncomfortable.
05:45For Mooshu, I'm looking to see if there is any signs of infection, any bacteria or yeast
05:54or signs of inflammation like white blood cells.
05:57Good news is I'm not seeing too much.
06:01Hello.
06:03On the one slide, I did see a little bit of bacteria, not like a raging skin infection
06:09or anything.
06:10I'm so happy.
06:11If there is not a bacterial infection of some sort, it makes me so happy that we don't have
06:16to deal with that.
06:18We've ruled out that it's not parasites, but there's some other things that we could rule
06:21out.
06:22And so my next step here would be to try him on a special food that is specifically for
06:28allergic kitties.
06:30The plan for Mooshu is we're going to try him on a special diet and see if maybe he's
06:34allergic to the food that he's been eating.
06:36And this is what's causing his skin issues.
06:38Now, in theory, they say anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks it can take to have its full effect.
06:43So don't lose hope if he has a bit of a flare up.
06:46We might just have to wait it out and then we move on to our next run of the ladder of
06:53what we do.
06:54Not everything is an easy answer, but hopefully this is what's causing his skin problems because
06:59it's fairly straightforward to fix.
07:02I ordered his food and hopefully that can help.
07:09We're 40 days post-breeding on Dandelion, and I'm looking to detect a fetus in utero
07:27to confirm she's pregnant.
07:29Slides in there somehow.
07:31Okay, perfect.
07:32I barely ever use it.
07:39Clearly.
07:40It's been a long time since I've ultrasounded a cow.
07:44Oh, there.
07:46That's her bladder.
07:47There.
07:48This is her pelvis down here.
07:51Easy, darling.
07:53It's very full of fluid.
08:00I'm not really getting the answers that I want right now.
08:03I'm just going to rectal her because...
08:06Okay.
08:07Oh, sorry, sweetheart.
08:09Oh, man.
08:11This is the gross part of this job.
08:14I tried not to feed her this morning, too.
08:19Preg testing cows for me is zero fun.
08:25You are literally covered in s*** by the end of your day.
08:31Right now, like, I've got her whole, like, her cervix, and I'm trying to pull her uterine
08:36horns, like, up over the pelvic brim so I can feel what's going on in each of them.
08:45Yeah, I know.
08:46I know.
08:47It feels yucky, doesn't it?
08:49Cows do pose some challenges when palpating their uterus because they tend to coil around
08:58the pelvic bone and are often out of reach, so they require some dexterity.
09:04And you would actually feel something in there, or is it...
09:06Yeah, you try to feel, like, a membrane slip.
09:09Like, if there's fetal membranes at 40 days, it'll just kind of, like, dig, dig, dig through your fingers.
09:14If a milk cow is not pregnant every year, then that family will have to dry that cow off,
09:22meaning stop milking her and be without milk for a whole nother year until she gets pregnant
09:31and has a new calf.
09:34And I should be able to feel, like, a fluid-filled vesicle, and I don't.
09:39You don't?
09:40Not on the right horn, I don't.
09:42I'm the lion.
09:45Moo.
09:50All right, we'll try this one more time.
09:53I'm sorry, baby girl.
09:56So we have a homesteader family that wants to raise their own milk for their family.
10:01They brought their cow in to have a preg test done on her.
10:06He isn't there.
10:08I know. You're tired of having an arm up your butt.
10:11Moo.
10:12I'm a little frustrated that I'm not getting the answer as quickly as I expect,
10:17because with a horse, I would be done by now.
10:21What's that there?
10:23It's a little black.
10:24Yeah, those are black dots.
10:26Just a fluid-filled vesicle, right?
10:28Mm-hmm.
10:29Like, this is bladder here.
10:32It's full of urine.
10:34I haven't seen anything fetus-like.
10:36There's fluid everywhere.
10:38I was still, at that point, a little unsure about what I was seeing on the ultrasound.
10:46Oh.
10:47There, that might help.
10:52I might be better now that she had a big pee.
10:55And actually, now that I'm in here with the transducer,
10:57like, her bladder will be a smooth lining, and she just emptied her bladder,
11:00so now, all of a sudden, life is great.
11:03That's got to be her uterus.
11:05Yeah, right there's the baby.
11:07I can see it.
11:09Yep.
11:10It has a heartbeat, yep.
11:11There it is, right there.
11:12You said heartbeat? Where can you see that?
11:14You won't be able to count it. It's just a flutter.
11:16Right there.
11:17You can see it right there.
11:19Right there.
11:20Yep.
11:21It's tiny, teeny. It's 40 days. It's not very big.
11:24Cool.
11:25I was able to identify there was a fetus present,
11:28and was able to confirm that there was a heartbeat as well.
11:32Right on, guys.
11:34All right.
11:35And now we can just take her home and let her be a cow.
11:38The good news is that there's a heartbeat and a calf in there that's 40 days old.
11:43So, it's good. It's all ready to go now for next year.
11:46We're going home. Let's go.
12:05Let's do this.
12:10Hi, we're here to see Allison.
12:13Perfect. Can you put him on the scale for me?
12:15Sure.
12:16Awesome.
12:17So, on the schedule today, we have Finn coming in.
12:20He's a golden retriever.
12:23And Finn is coming in to get neutered.
12:27Here we go.
12:28We got Finn two years ago, and he's wonderful.
12:33He likes to stay busy. He likes to play with my younger kids,
12:36and he likes to go with me wherever I want to go.
12:39Can you sit? Can you sit? Can you sit?
12:42Good boy.
12:43You're doing good.
12:45Finn may or may not have both of his testicles dropped.
12:49The fancy word for it would be crypt orchid,
12:52basically saying that one of the testicles is not in the scrotum.
12:56It's somewhere in the body, and we can't see it.
12:58So we always recommend that we remove that testicle,
13:01both testicles, as soon as we can.
13:05Hi.
13:06Hi.
13:07There's no blanket or anything in here for you.
13:10We knew that Finn only had one testicle that had descended
13:15from when he was a puppy.
13:18Yeah, still just one.
13:20It's super important to remove testicles that are stuck in the body
13:24for a couple of reasons.
13:26One, that testicle is still capable of making sperm,
13:29and so potentially that dog can still get other dogs pregnant.
13:33But I would say almost more importantly, too,
13:35is that when the testicle is kept at body temperature,
13:39not nice and cool like it normally is in the scrotum,
13:42that testicle is much more likely to develop cancer.
13:45It's just like a cancer time bomb ticking,
13:48so we always recommend removing them.
13:51Finn, this is not the time.
13:54All of our patients come in with a little bit of medication
13:58that they take beforehand to help calm and relax them
14:01before coming in.
14:03Finn got his, but clearly it wasn't quite enough.
14:07Finn was pretty excited to be here.
14:10You want some music?
14:12There you go, buddy.
14:15We commonly use the classical music in clinic if pets are nervous.
14:23Putting on some calming music is sometimes all they need
14:25to feel like they're not alone in that little kennel.
14:34So right now I am getting ready for Finn's operation.
14:39There are so many benefits to having a calm animal before surgery.
14:43If an animal is really fearful and stressed,
14:46they are going to experience pain more
14:49than an animal who is calm and relaxed.
14:52For all the other pets in the hospital as well,
14:56having one animal that's crying and not having a good time
14:59can kind of stress them out as well.
15:03Come on.
15:05I feel nervous.
15:07There's obviously risk of complications,
15:10but I know Finn is a pretty strong pup,
15:13and he's in really good hands.
15:16How are you feeling, bud?
15:19So now we're just going to flip him over
15:25so that we can access his belly.
15:28How's it going?
15:30Good. He's just very floppy.
15:33You're just hooking him up to all the things?
15:35Yes.
15:36I don't know where the testicle is going to be.
15:39We might have to go into his abdomen to look for it,
15:43and that's going to be a lot more involved.
15:45It's going to take a lot more time
15:47and potentially have a couple more cuts that we make on poor Finn
15:51to try and make him feel more comfortable.
15:54We might potentially have a couple more cuts that we make on poor Finn
15:58to try and find the testicle.
16:00I'm just going to get in here.
16:02I right away am just having a feel of his scrotum,
16:05making sure that there's still one testicle present.
16:13It dropped.
16:14Oh, wow.
16:15He's got two.
16:17I've never had the experience of an animal coming in,
16:21we cannot feel the testicle at all,
16:23and then we get to the table, and suddenly,
16:25not only can we feel the testicle, but it's just in the scrotum.
16:29Just...
16:31Yay, testicles.
16:32Yay, testicles.
16:34I love it.
16:35The surgery is back to being super straightforward.
16:38I only have to make one incision,
16:40versus if one is somewhere else,
16:42then we're making multiple cuts to get those.
16:44I'm happy because it means that they're both in the spot they should be.
16:47I checked him this morning, and it was still not there,
16:50and checked him now, and it's here, yep.
16:55He listened to some classic calming music he's under,
16:59and it just...
17:00Classical is his thing.
17:02That's crazy.
17:03All the stars aligned,
17:04and it just happened like magic when it needed to happen.
17:08I don't know if it was him being nicely relaxed,
17:10or some calming music, or what it was,
17:12but I was elated that that had happened.
17:16It's like a storybook.
17:17It's like a fairy tale.
17:21And now we'll start.
17:23Oh, Finn, your mom's going to be so happy.
17:27All right.
17:30I like to take off the testicle first,
17:33and then I tie my knot down to close off the blood supply after.
17:38And then I usually put two sutures,
17:41one testicle down,
17:45onto the second.
17:47Potentially, if you're cutting into the abdomen to find that testicle,
17:51that's a bigger incision,
17:53and more layers to close.
17:56This operation is much, much quicker.
17:59It's looking good.
18:01So I'll start to close it up.
18:06All right. All done.
18:09I love doing surgery, but there's so many best parts of my job.
18:14I like to help people navigate through all aspects of pet ownership.
18:18Honestly, really, from as soon as they enter the door until the very end,
18:22we're there to help.
18:25I know, you just want to run away.
18:28Okay. You're good to go.
18:33You did so good!
18:35Well, I'm really relieved that Finn didn't have to go through more than he needed to.
18:40Good job. Good job. You did so good.
18:43I think it's so important to have a vet that you trust.
18:47Sometimes there's things that are going to happen,
18:49and to have someone that you can book an appointment and feel completely at ease
18:54has been so great, especially with this neutering surgery.
18:58What's next is a couple days rest,
19:01and continue on with the rest of his life.
19:13Come on.
19:19Come on, dandelion.
19:24Come on.
19:27I think the owner was very excited that she was pregnant.
19:31And it is important that a milk cow gets pregnant every year
19:36so that the family or the dairy has a consistent milk supply.
19:40So this here is just like a dip, like an iodine dip.
19:44Just makes that nice and clean.
19:48There we go.
19:50So she's ready.
19:53And then I just get going.
19:57So we don't melt too much on this side,
19:59because we're going to let that other calf drink.
20:02They're pretty committed to that cow, and they love her.
20:06It's the daily routine.
20:08This one here was born in early March.
20:15I think he drinks it faster than I can milk it.
20:18Just to know she's going to calf, that she is pregnant,
20:22kind of sets things a little bit more in confidence, I guess,
20:25for what next year's going to look like.
20:27Come on.
20:37This will last a few days for sure.
20:39The kids will pound that back in their cereal,
20:42and my wife will separate the cream off,
20:44and usually she puts it in the butter.
20:46It's got quite a real flavour to it.
20:49It's just pure butter from the cow.
20:52And then she also makes her own yogurt as well.
20:56That's kind of the products that we use the most here
20:59with Dandelion's milk.
21:10Let's go, bud.
21:12Finn's back to his usual self.
21:14I think his recovery has gone really well.
21:16He took a couple days to rest and sleep,
21:19but he was back at the dog park within three days.
21:22He likes to play, he likes to move,
21:24and he really didn't stop that much after the surgery.
21:31My dogs bring a lot of love in our family.
21:35Our puppies always keep us outside, they keep us moving.
21:38Whenever there's a space in any one of our beds,
21:41Finn is always next to us.