The Yorkshire Vet - Season 20 Episode 4
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00:00Across Yorkshire's moors and dales the world's most famous vets set the
00:06benchmark for animal care and James Herriot's legacy lives on. His former
00:15trainee Peter Wright, all my life I've enjoyed doing this, has been a Yorkshire
00:20vet for over 40 years. There we are, I'm going to do it my own way. Peter's old partner
00:27Julian Norton. Now has two practices. I don't want to let him go. One of them in
00:36the town where Herriot worked, surrounded by the North Yorkshire landscape he
00:41loved. Everything that you can see all across there is Yorkshire. And in the
00:45foothills of the Pennines, that's a Hollywood smile, a new generation of town
00:51and country vets also uphold the Herriot ethos. I'm just gonna feel a bit deeper
00:56inside see what we've got. The teams are united. We can probably knock this off
01:00ourselves, do you think? Never taking their eyes off the ball. As they help animals of
01:08all shapes. He's trying to grow an extra pair of legs. Sizes. Hello gorgeous. Types and
01:16temperaments. No don't be nasty. It's definitely not glamorous. Get that mucus out.
01:22But it's varied. So we've actually found gold, literally found gold. It's really easy. You've
01:28won Mr. Wet T-shirt. But they continue the Herriot tradition. It's alive. Treating all
01:34creatures. It's moving. I can't believe it. Great. Not quite the same as operating in
01:39theatre is it? And small.
01:53Towering high in the heart of the Dales. The famous Three Peaks.
02:02Pen-y-Ghent with its distinctive nose.
02:07The strikingly impressive Ingleborough.
02:12And tallest of them all, the mighty Wernside.
02:18Together they form one of the wonders of Yorkshire.
02:26And a 24 mile challenge with more than 5,000 feet of ascent for intrepid, dedicated hikers.
02:37Walking the walk as a Yorkshire vet also takes a lot of dedication. Because at times it can
02:44feel like an uphill battle.
02:48Near Huddersfield, Rohin's heard about a freak accident. So he's on his way to Adams Farm to
02:56check on a youngster whose heritage lies in the high hills of Scotland.
03:03It's an island calf that's managed to get stuck in a silage ring. The cow's managed to get in
03:08through the missing tombstone and tried to get out through a full tombstone and got stuck between
03:14the gap when I found her. I think she basically tried to get out for an hour or two and exhausted
03:19herself. It's limping really badly and it's going down on its back. It's standing but it's
03:26struggling to walk.
03:32Sounds like it's been pretty traumatic. She was stuck there for a while and we're here to see
03:36what are the injuries, what's going on. Could it be something serious or is it something we can
03:40treat?
03:42Morning, Adam. How are you doing? Are you okay? Pretty big limp that, isn't it?
03:47It is. I don't know whether that's something major or not. I've got an alter.
03:54It's a pretty severe lameness that, to be honest. It is the sort of thing you could see with a
03:58brachiar. So it does raise a few concerns looking at that. When they're limping that severely,
04:05it's got to be something serious, isn't it?
04:08There we go. Steady little woman. Steady, steady. There we go. Steady, steady, steady.
04:14There we go.
04:15I'm just going to start having a feel there. I'm just being quite careful to check every
04:23single joint there and see if we've got anything that feels unstable there. We're trying to
04:30see, is there one spot that's particularly painful? Although they are very good at hiding
04:36their pain. Or two, is there an area that feels like an instability in the joint or
04:43where there could be a fracture, basically? The worst case scenario here, if there's a
04:47fracture, it can be incurable.
04:57Driving around the county helping animals is routine for a Yorkshire vet. But over at
05:03the Huddersfield Hospital... Just the last few bits, really. Matt and David are helping
05:08practice director Martin prepare for a very different kind of aid-providing mission.
05:15There's been a lot of plans over the last few months. The ambulance is all set and we're
05:20setting off and driving to Ukraine.
05:25That's great. Thank you very much, guys. Thanks for your help. That's the final bits in.
05:31Martin will be taking medical supplies used on animals here at the hospital in Yorkshire
05:37to help soldiers in the war over 1,000 miles away.
05:42I've managed to pool together, courtesy of a lot of our suppliers, a huge number of items
05:47of first aid, which hopefully are going to be really useful to save lives at the front
05:51line. We've got lots of suture materials. We've got about 3,000 sutures in there. The
05:58kind of stuff that we use in theatre. It looks like there's quite a lot of human stuff
06:02as well. I've bought some of it at auction and we've had a lot of it donated. These are
06:06fantastic. These are splints for broken bones. These are adherent dressings, so someone who's
06:14shot in the chest, literally that's applied. It has a one-way valve in it, so it will let
06:20air out but not let air in. They're amazing things, these. Where did you get the actual
06:26ambulance from? I bought it at auction. It's an ex-London ambulance, so it's done a quarter
06:31of a million miles and it's just reached the end of its life. You must be a little bit
06:35nervous going. Yeah, it's a little bit nerve-wracking. There are air raids really regularly, so anything
06:41we can do to help, I think, is really, really important.
06:45Although helping people in the Ukraine is the main goal, being a vet, Martin's keen
06:51to help the animals, who are also fighting to survive. There's a massive impact on farm
06:58animals and domestic pets. Obviously, lots of farms have been abandoned, lots of households
07:03have been abandoned, and so I've managed to line up to go to visit an animal rescue in
07:08Lviv. You should be proud. It's going to make a really big difference. Best of luck. Thank
07:13you. Take care of yourself. Have a nice day. Thanks, see you later. See you, Martin.
07:18I'd definitely be feeling a little bit nervous if I was Martin. It's a really big thing driving
07:23all the way across the area, there's supplies, so we're wishing him the best of luck.
07:28It's an absolutely massive undertaking. It's so impressive what is put together, and I
07:33just hope everyone comes back in one piece and makes a difference.
07:39We're heading towards Hull to the ferry terminal. Overnight ferry tonight, and then we'll be
07:45arriving late in Lviv in sort of two days' time.
07:51At the port on the east coast, Martin's met up with friend and fellow charity volunteer
07:57Craig, who will also be his vlog cameraman on their epic journey into the unknown.
08:06There's a bit of a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Quite excited to be setting off,
08:11but it is a country that is an active war zone, so it's really going to be quite harrowing
08:17and really very, very thought-provoking. So, lots and lots of different emotions over the
08:22next few days.
08:28Coming up... Hello, Woody, wagging your tail.
08:31Looking under Woody's waggy tail, Julian isn't happy.
08:35Oh, crikey, that's going to cause all sorts of problems.
08:38Rohin fears the worst for the injured calf.
08:41In that panic, trying to free herself, she could well have just done herself more damage.
08:45And Peter's shocked by a sheep's swelling.
08:48It's not so long.
08:59Near Huddersfield...
09:01Steady, go. Steady, steady.
09:04After a freak accident, Rohin's hoping the leg injury suffered by Adam's Highland calf
09:10isn't life-threatening.
09:14Starting off feeling around the hips there, it almost looked like he was sort of collapsing
09:18there when he was trying to put weight higher up in the limb, didn't it?
09:21Yeah, it's his back that's going down rather than his legs, isn't it?
09:25Yeah. It looks like it's going to be something in this region rather than in the distal limb
09:30that's causing the problem.
09:32She probably won't want to lift this one because she'll have to put weight on the other one now.
09:36Yeah.
09:40There's definitely a lot of soft tissue swelling here above the hip.
09:43Right.
09:44So when I'm pressing there, compared to the other side...
09:48But you don't think it's broken there?
09:50Unfortunately, there's two scenarios here.
09:52The best-case scenario is that she's just got a lot of bruising and, you know,
09:56possibly a kind of ligament strain or sprain in that region
09:59and that's causing the signs we've got.
10:02The worst-case scenario is that there's a fracture affecting the hip.
10:06It's a hip fracture.
10:09They can still actually walk around and put weight on it,
10:13but underlying there, there could be something more serious going on.
10:17We can't rule out the more sinister things,
10:19but we know that we can treat her for certain things that will get better.
10:24It will be pain relief and it will be an anti-inflammatory
10:27to help with the soft tissue swelling as well.
10:30So this, it just goes under the skin and that will work pretty quickly.
10:36I think how she responds to that over the next week will give us our answer, won't it,
10:41in terms of if it is that best-case scenario we're hoping for,
10:44that she's just got bruising and soft tissue injury,
10:47then she should really bounce back with that.
10:50I'll leave you these when I go.
10:53It's that next week of doing this and watching and fingers crossed it will be a good outcome there.
10:59She's a beautiful calf, isn't she?
11:02Like you're saying, otherwise, perfectly healthy and strong.
11:05It's just a shame.
11:07Just unlucky, isn't it?
11:10If there's any worries in the meantime, just let me know.
11:14But I think we've given her a chance to have a moment,
11:17Poor little calf, she's been through a hell of a lot.
11:20She was stuck in that side of the tree for an hour and a half.
11:23In that panic trying to free herself,
11:26she could well have just done herself more damage in that process.
11:29There can be fractures in the hips and fractures affecting the femur
11:33that you actually wouldn't know about just by feeling.
11:36So a bit of a nervous wait now for the next week.
11:48At the practice in Thirsk,
11:50as Julian finishes another operation with his dexterous fingers,
11:56he's telling Robin and Kelly about his dancing feet.
12:00Currently, I'm watching Strictly.
12:03I'm bad at dancing, but I'm enthusiastic at dancing.
12:05To be fair, I've seen you at the Christmas party last year.
12:07You definitely need some lessons.
12:09What are you saying?
12:11I was good last year at the Christmas party.
12:14What are you saying?
12:16I was good last year at the Christmas party.
12:18I was on fire. That's as good as I get on the dance floor.
12:21I'll have to witness this this year.
12:28In reception, rather than Julian's dancing enthusiasm,
12:32Samantha and Woody need his dog expertise.
12:36I got him as a rescue dog about eight years ago.
12:40He's a lovely, lovely companion.
12:42He's unfortunately got a growth on his rectum.
12:46I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
12:48I'm hoping it's a benign growth
12:51rather than anything more life-threatening.
12:54Woody? Is that Woody? Hello, Woody.
12:56Is this Woody?
12:58Yes, he's very happy to be here.
13:00Good boy. I can tell he's a very enthusiastic young man.
13:03He's got some wag in his tail, hasn't he?
13:05Yes, he is, but he's about 12 years old, I think.
13:07Never. He is.
13:09Can I just pop him on there and I'll just have a look?
13:12Hi, Woody.
13:15Here we go.
13:17Oh, crikey. Where's his bottom? Is that in there?
13:21That's going to cause all sorts of problems.
13:23Yes.
13:25So it's quite big, it's quite hard.
13:28It's a bit like a conker that's been sort of squashed.
13:32Squashed.
13:34I think the problem you've got with anal tumours
13:36or tumours around the anus
13:38is if they're close to the anus itself,
13:40you get into big problems of taking it off
13:42because you can damage the anal tissue.
13:45So generally speaking, the sooner you can take it off, the better,
13:48because if you leave it and it grows and it gets bigger,
13:51it gets closer to the anus and it's more difficult.
13:54Yes.
13:56I love dogs like this that seem to smile all the time,
13:59and his tail's smiling because that was wagging,
14:01but he's got that happy, smiling face
14:03as if everything's a good adventure.
14:06Yes, he seems quite happy in life.
14:09Well, once this is off, he should be a lot more happy.
14:12Anyway, Woods...
14:14Waggy Woody.
14:16Yes, Waggy Woody, I'll see you later. Good luck.
14:18You're in good hands.
14:20Good, good. Bye. Come on, Woody.
14:22Good boy.
14:24This way for an adventure.
14:28Nervous, but I'm hopeful.
14:31He seems so full of life and happy,
14:34he doesn't seem to be ill at all.
14:36With Woody now much less waggy...
14:38Very sleepy now.
14:40..Fiona can prep him for surgery.
14:44It's not the nicest of places to have something removed.
14:48I've definitely got the bum deal today.
14:53Well, it's very close to his backside,
14:55which makes it challenging in a number of ways, really.
14:59If it's too near the anus,
15:01then that can be impossible to take off.
15:04You can get damage to the anal sphincter,
15:06and that can cause incontinence,
15:08so we don't want that to happen at all.
15:18Near Thirsk, Peter's heading to a place he knows well.
15:22Just had a call from one of my neighbours,
15:25who is a farmer and is concerned
15:28because one of his ewes has a huge lump just under her head, he said,
15:33and he's not quite sure what it is.
15:36He's a bit concerned that it might be something not very nice.
15:40Hello, old girly.
15:42John is just three days into his lambing season,
15:46and his poorly ewe has already had a rough start.
15:49She's lost her lambs, unfortunately.
15:51They were born stillborn.
15:54You don't know it could be anything.
15:56It grew very quick over two or three days.
15:59I saw it starting to swell,
16:01and I gave her some antibiotics,
16:04and it's just getting bigger and bigger,
16:06so I thought I'd better have Peter out to have a look at it, really.
16:10Well, I'm 68, and I've known Peter most of that time, I suppose,
16:14because he was only a local lad next door village,
16:17so we'd grown up together, really.
16:22Morning. Morning. How are you?
16:24I'm all right. Nice to see you.
16:26Lambing time's here again, eh? Aye.
16:28That's some lump.
16:30Has it been there long, John?
16:32Well, it's started to grow about a week since,
16:34and it's got bigger and bigger.
16:36Is she eating, John? She's eating now.
16:38She's eating, drinking.
16:40Let's go and get her a needle and some stuff.
16:44Come on, girl.
16:49It's a bit of a funny one, this.
16:51There is a possibility it's a thing called a hematoma,
16:54which is where you get a knock,
16:56and it causes a blood vessel to rupture,
16:58and there's a lot of big blood vessels in that area.
17:03We do get a condition called bottle jaw,
17:06which I'm afraid isn't very good.
17:08Bottle jaw is a build-up of water fluid,
17:12and it's often associated with liver failure.
17:15SHE BLEATS
17:19I'm afraid she won't be with us long with her bottle jaw.
17:26Coming up... Let's have a look at your tongue.
17:29..there's no ducking a daunting job for Matt.
17:32Ooh, crikey, yeah. That's nasty.
17:35Julian hits problems in surgery...
17:37Oh, dear me!
17:39..and in a country devastated by war...
17:42It suddenly feels really real.
17:44..Martin sees the impact it's had on Ukraine's pets.
17:48There were two air raids last night.
17:50And obviously you can go to the shelter, but the dogs can't.
17:56BIRDS CHIRP
18:06Near Thirsk, Peter's examining his friend John's ewe.
18:11She has a mind of her own, hasn't she?
18:14..who has a worrying large lump on her jaw.
18:18My first reaction was, oh, it's got bottle jaw,
18:21which is often associated with liver failure.
18:25Now, that's not... It's not quite central.
18:29That isn't bottle jaw.
18:33That's good news, then, for a change. It is.
18:36Very pleased, because as Pete said,
18:38if she wouldn't have been here now, we'd have had to blow her down.
18:41There's a possibility that it could either be a blood blister
18:44or it could be an abscess.
18:46So I think what I'm going to do, I'm just going to pop a needle in there,
18:49John, first, and have a look to see, because if it was a blood blister,
18:52there's some pretty big blood vessels round there,
18:54then I don't want to be lancing it open.
18:57Right, the moment of truth.
19:05Oh! Puss.
19:08Puss.
19:10Excellent. That's good news.
19:12Can do something about this now. Right.
19:15No kind of fetishing.
19:17Just to numb the site.
19:23Whoa! Whoa!
19:25I see why you've got your waterproofs on now.
19:28I wasn't expecting...
19:30Whoa!
19:33That's some abscess.
19:35Oh!
19:38Right, that'll give her some ease.
19:40Hmm. Crikey.
19:42Well, that's one of the best abscesses I've seen for some time.
19:46I'll tell you what, it's almost put a smile on her face, has that.
19:49Leaves her a bit of pressure as well, doesn't it?
19:51It certainly will. Right, I'm going to flush that out now.
19:54I've never seen one as big as that before.
19:56Haven't you? No.
19:58No, we've had odd ones. Yeah.
20:00And I've not been pulling, John, but you've been about of it as well, haven't you?
20:03I have. You've seen like two of them.
20:06I can say that to John, because I've known him many years.
20:10After the ewe recently lost her lambs,
20:13this is some much-needed good news for John.
20:16It's the best possible outcome that we could have had.
20:20What causes it?
20:22You know, it could be, if she's lost a lamb, it could be because of this abscess.
20:25Would it make a poisonous spread?
20:27Yes, I think so, John.
20:29Then you get toxins from the abscess.
20:32It's just sadly one of those things.
20:34I'm just going to give her a bit of painkiller.
20:37I've been giving her antibiotics.
20:39Right, I'll go a bit further.
20:41Thank you, Peter. Thank you, John.
20:43Thank you very much.
20:46There's probably somewhere in the litre of pus there.
20:49And, you know, looking at her as we finished off there,
20:53I think she was rather grateful for what we've done.
20:56And that might sound a bit daft,
20:58but she certainly looked a lot brighter when we'd finished.
21:01And for a veterinary surgeon and for a farmer as well,
21:04that's very satisfying to see.
21:16On Adam's smallholding near Huddersfield...
21:19Come on!
21:21..it's been six weeks since Rohin treated a Highland calf
21:25who'd badly injured her leg while eating from the silage ring.
21:29There was two outcomes of this, really.
21:31A, she'd be back here with this lot,
21:33or B, unfortunately, it would have been a put-it-to-sleep job.
21:37I thought, we'll give her the chance to recover,
21:40but I wasn't convinced she was ever going to recover.
21:45As soon as we'd given her the anti-inflammatories,
21:49day on day, she improved.
21:51Within a week, she was back with this lot, running around.
21:56Fully recovered, no problems whatsoever.
21:59Come on, leg! Come on, leg!
22:03It's the easiest way around in cows,
22:05you don't chase them, let them come to you.
22:08It's always better to see them out in the field,
22:10it's where they live into it,
22:12when you've got them as a backdrop to them.
22:15But when it comes to feeding his herd inside,
22:18Adam's sure that in future, everything will be fine.
22:21Silage ring's going to get welded this time,
22:23before we use that again, for sure.
22:25We'll not be using that silage ring until we get some welding done,
22:29get a loop back on it.
22:31I only give her a 50-50 chance, really.
22:34I'm amazed at the outcome it came at,
22:37which I was very, very pleased about.
22:43COW MOOS
22:49At the practice in Thirsk...
22:51Oh, dear me!
22:53..Julian and Fiona have just hit a problem,
22:56removing Woody's anal tumour.
22:59We've got a leakage.
23:01So there's a number of things that can leak down here.
23:04I don't really want it to get into the wound.
23:07It's a bit of a difficult area, in many ways, to operate on.
23:11We've got the anus that can leak.
23:14Sometimes we have to put pads within the anus
23:17to stop faeces leaking out.
23:19The other thing about this area, there's a lot of blood vessels.
23:22From a surgical point of view,
23:24it can be a little bit more challenging.
23:30Are we sending it away?
23:32Yeah, we're going to do, yeah.
23:34I'll go get a pot.
23:36The next bit is dissecting around the base of it
23:38to make sure we don't cut through any delicate or sensitive structures.
23:42What I don't want to do is damage the anal gland
23:46because that really would be bad.
23:51So that is the very last bit.
23:55Yeah, it's off.
23:57Excellent.
23:59So now it's time to start stitching everything back together.
24:02And then we should be nearly done.
24:04It's gone quite well, really.
24:09There we are.
24:11Lovely job.
24:13So we'll take these stitches out in 10, 12 days,
24:18something like that,
24:20by which time Woody should be as good as new.
24:26Hi, Woody.
24:31Oh, little puppet.
24:33Get your little tongue in.
24:35You look fine.
24:37Hi, Woody.
24:41A few hours later,
24:43the anxious wait is nearly over for Woody's owner, Samantha.
24:49I'm excited.
24:51I've missed his waggy tail.
24:54There he is.
24:55Hello.
24:57Hello, you.
24:59He's been typically happy.
25:01Little tail's still going.
25:03But he came off nicely, and I'm glad we did take it off
25:06because he needed to come off.
25:08He needed to come off, yeah.
25:10And, yeah, just take it easy.
25:12Don't let him sit on any gravel or anything like that.
25:14Right.
25:16You know, just nice comfort places.
25:18Brilliant. Thank you very much.
25:20All right, no problem.
25:22Thanks for getting him in so quick.
25:24No problem at all.
25:26Thanks for bringing him in.
25:28He was a lovely patient.
25:30Oh, good.
25:32Cheerio. Bye, Woody.
25:34Bye.
25:44As a new day dawns in Huddersfield,
25:47at the animal hospital,
25:49there's another busy morning of operations ahead.
25:53They have all the specialist kit they need.
25:57So after using some of their suppliers
25:59over 1,000 miles away in Poland...
26:01Ah, look at that.
26:03...Martin is en route to war-torn Ukraine
26:06with vital medical equipment.
26:08You've heated all the sort of oxygen and...
26:11You've not needed it yourself yet.
26:16So we had a late night last night, got here in the pitch dark,
26:19but this morning it's beautiful.
26:21It's a really early start, feeling a little bit apprehensive
26:24as we set off today in the convoy.
26:26Martin, with his friend and vlogger Craig,
26:29is heading east from Poland.
26:31We get the ambulance and all the various different aid items
26:34that we've got across the border and into Ukraine.
26:38To a country that for the past three years has been a war zone,
26:42with total casualties reported to be around one million.
26:47Hello. Thank you.
26:49Thank you very much. Thank you, Craig.
26:51That's how much it means to be able to come and meet you.
26:56As a vet, Martin's also keen to see some of the pets
27:00that were victims of the war.
27:04But his first focus is the humanitarian crisis
27:07and his ambulance of supplies for the charity Pickups For Peace.
27:12Most of the vehicles that they take are old pick-up trucks.
27:16Farmers donate their old vehicles
27:18and they go to serve on the front lines.
27:25So we're now into Ukraine.
27:27And a load of something dropped on that tram line.
27:31Suddenly feels really real.
27:33Approaching their final destination in the city of Lviv in western Ukraine,
27:38Martin's ambulance is instructed to run the red lights.
27:42We've got a police escort for the final part of the journey,
27:45close convoy, and straight into the governor's buildings in Lviv
27:49where we're dropping the vehicles off.
27:52I'm delighted to say we've made it to Lviv.
27:55Quite a white-knuckle ride into town.
27:58A real mixture of emotions now that we've arrived.
28:01It's clearly a city that's at war but trying to function normally.
28:12The next morning, Lviv seems peaceful.
28:15But for Martin, it's been an eye-opening night.
28:18Last night, there were two air raids,
28:20so we spent four hours in the air raid shelter.
28:23Turns out that there were some rockets launched
28:26from Russian MiG fighters somewhere in the area.
28:33The vehicles and supplies are officially handed over in a special ceremony.
28:41Now Martin's turning his attention to the war pets.
28:45With more than six million Ukrainians having fled the country,
28:49it's estimated that over 100,000 animals have lost their homes.
28:54I think it's going to be really interesting to see the impact
28:57that the war is having on the animal population as well.
29:03He's being given a guided tour of this rescue centre
29:06by Elena, who speaks English.
29:08There were two air raids last night, weren't there?
29:12And obviously, you can go to the shelter, but the dogs can't.
29:29All around, there are dogs who, until recently, had loving homes.
29:35This dog, his owners were displaced from their home,
29:38left the dog here and then were carried on across the border into Poland to safety.
29:45This dog was wandering in the forest, living wild in the woods.
29:50This dog was found in winter.
29:52He had a tumour.
29:54He was sort of taking his last breaths.
29:57It's so obvious how much you care.
30:00To see that emotion is really heart-rending.
30:05Quite incredible, the work that they're doing, with such limited resources.
30:14Oh, it's not working?
30:16Government funding for the animal rescue has been reduced,
30:19but that's obviously really impacting on the work of Victoria
30:23and what she and her colleagues are able to do.
30:28But the care that they're giving for the animals is just outstanding.
30:33Oh, that's lovely to see.
30:35Hello, hello.
30:39He's real happy, isn't he? He's such a nice little boy.
30:43I really, really appreciate the time that you've spent today.
30:46Just keep up the good work.
30:48I hope things improve for the whole of Ukraine.
30:51My absolute best wishes.
30:53Thank you so much for showing us around.
30:56Really appreciate it.
31:03Three days ago, a vet left Yorkshire
31:06hoping he could help in Eastern Europe.
31:09It's been a real rollercoaster of emotions as a trip.
31:13Pretty hard work on the drive,
31:16and then pretty hard work emotionally while we've been here.
31:21Seeing both the human suffering
31:24and the animal suffering that's going on.
31:28Oh, he looks really happy now.
31:31But then it's really good to be able to make a small difference
31:34to lives that have just been absolutely destroyed
31:37over the last couple of years.
31:40Back in Huddersfield,
31:42regular work continues for Martin's colleagues.
31:46Although there's often very little that's routine
31:49about Matt's daily job list.
31:52He's come to a local college's animal care centre,
31:55where Humphrey the dog is being cared for.
31:58It's a place where Martin and his colleagues
32:01have a lot of fun,
32:03and it's a place where they can get to know each other.
32:06Humphrey has come to a local college's animal care centre,
32:09where Humphrey the duck has been living a carefree life
32:12with girlfriend Henrietta.
32:14Until now.
32:16Unfortunately, Humphrey has got a very personal problem.
32:19He's got a penile prolapse.
32:21The end of his penis is getting quite nasty and infected.
32:29Rebecca is hoping Matt can help with the duck's delicate difficulty.
32:33This is one of our male Muscovy ducks here.
32:35He's always around Henrietta, he doesn't leave her alone.
32:38They're inseparable.
32:40Hi, Rebecca, you all right?
32:42How's it going?
32:43I'm good, you?
32:44Good, good, good. Not too bad.
32:46How's Humphrey doing?
32:47He's not doing so good.
32:50His penis has been out for quite a few days,
32:53and it's now starting to turn black.
32:55Sorry, Humphrey.
32:57Let's have a look at you.
32:59Ooh, crikey, yeah.
33:01That's nasty.
33:04It's very hard at the end.
33:06It's very dark, it's quite necrotic.
33:08You can just see that infection is just starting to spread up.
33:11So what we need to do is get the penis that's healthy
33:15numbed at the base and then take away this nasty dead bit here.
33:19It does seem to have been bothering him.
33:21He's not quite himself at the minute.
33:23He seems quite upset.
33:25Well, no-one wants that hanging down from between their legs, does he?
33:28Certainly, it needs must, and we need to get that dead bit off.
33:33We're going to have to amputate it.
33:35If I was Humphrey, I wouldn't be too worried,
33:37because ducks can have a penis length up to 40cm long,
33:40so he's got plenty to spare.
33:42So while it's hard to say Humphrey is an unfortunate duck...
33:46Get the jacket off.
33:48..Rebecca thinks he might be feeling that way soon.
33:51He's a bit of a nightmare, generally,
33:53so I'm not sure what it's going to be like during the surgery.
33:56Right, assume the positions.
33:58That's it, we can work with that.
34:00Put that over your head. Don't look at me while I do this.
34:03Right, so this is just the look and aesthetic
34:06that I'm just putting around the base of his penis.
34:09That'll just numb everything.
34:11I have to say, no matter how long you're in the profession,
34:14penile amputations still make me squirm a little bit.
34:21Still to come...
34:23Let's turn your bottom round.
34:25That's not the most attractive angle.
34:27..are Waggy Woody's woes behind him?
34:30So the diagnosis from the lab, it was there.
34:33And after a huge abscess eruption...
34:35How's she getting on?
34:37..has she burst back to life?
34:39We might have a quick look at her, John, if that's all right.
34:42Yeah, no bother.
34:45BIRDS CHIRP
34:52In Thirsk, it's a couple of weeks
34:55since Julian operated on Samantha's old rescue dog, Woody,
34:59to remove his anal tumour.
35:02Hey, Woody. Hi, Woody.
35:04Wagging your tail and looking pleased to see me.
35:07How's he getting on? Is he doing all right?
35:09After those first couple of days, he was so happy to get that cone off.
35:12And the tail still wags?
35:14Yeah. Yep.
35:16Right then, Woody.
35:18Let's turn your bottom round, if we can.
35:21Sorry about that. It's not the most attractive angle, but...
35:27So that looks really excellent.
35:29The wound has healed up absolutely perfectly.
35:31Couldn't be better, really.
35:33It's an area that often the healing isn't quite as good as you'd hope
35:36because of constant wagging of the tail and other factors.
35:40But it looks great, and we'll take these stitches out now.
35:43And that's then Woody in the clear.
35:46So you just need to stay still, Woody.
35:48No, it's OK, baby. It's OK.
35:50Good boy. One more to go.
35:52There we are. Excellent. Final one out.
35:55Now...
35:57Good.
35:58Disordered.
35:59Disordered, Woody.
36:02So the diagnosis from the lab, it was their perianal adenoma.
36:06They're benign, they're not cancerous, they don't spread,
36:09but they do get bigger and bigger.
36:11We always need to take them off.
36:13So you're in the clear, Woody. You're mended.
36:15There. Right, you want to go down?
36:18Very good.
36:19Well, thank you very much.
36:21Come on, you. You can go and wag your tail.
36:23Have a good day.
36:24Thanks. See you.
36:25Bye.
36:26Woody's recovered really nicely from the surgery,
36:28and most importantly, his tail hasn't stopped wagging from beginning to end.
36:32So, yeah, he's been a great patient, and it's been a nice outcome today.
36:40And a few weeks later...
36:44Good boy.
36:45Woody's tail has hit wag speed ten.
36:49I was very, very worried.
36:51He's been my companion for about the last eight, nine years, I suppose.
36:55So he's very important, and he's kind of with me all the time.
36:59So I sleep in my bed, and wherever I am, he is.
37:02He just follows me everywhere.
37:04So for him not to be well, and the thought of I might lose him is horrible.
37:10He's great now. He's back to his old self, and he's just...
37:13He's just Woody, really.
37:15And his tail's still wagging, always.
37:27In West Yorkshire, Matt's been called to the local college by Rebecca,
37:32and he's removing part of their duck Humphrey's infected penis.
37:37So I'm just making sure that I've got a good grip on it.
37:43As you try, just cut once.
37:45Right, there we go.
37:46Oh, sorry, teeth.
37:48Just going to give it a last little splash of spirit to clean it before I cut,
37:52and then we'll have that nasty end off.
37:56Right, here we go. Moment of truth.
38:00Three, two, one.
38:07There we go.
38:08And here is the offending appendage.
38:12Green, infected, and nasty.
38:14Not what you want at the end of your willy.
38:16I'm glad it's off him now. Hopefully he'll be feeling a bit better.
38:21Right, just going to poke it all back in now.
38:23Three, two, one.
38:26So it's really important that it stays in,
38:28and where it should be, out of the way to prevent any further infection.
38:32Open your mouth.
38:38Humphrey is having his painkillers, and he's having his antibiotics.
38:42At this point in time, I'd like to say that he appreciates what we've done for him,
38:47and he's very thankful, and will waddle off a lot happier and calmer.
38:55However, from looking at his face, he is well and truly annoyed.
39:00So we've got some bridges to build.
39:03We can put him in here for now.
39:06Right, in you go, Humphrey.
39:08There you go. Sorry, Chief.
39:14Everything's gone really quite well with Humphrey.
39:16It was a really nasty, gangrenous end of the penis,
39:19so I'm really quite glad to have got that nasty end gone.
39:23What the body needs to do now is it just needs to heal up
39:26the remaining tissue from the amputation site,
39:29and the swelling needs to go down.
39:31But he'll definitely be feeling a lot better
39:33now he's not got his todger dragging across the floor.
39:37A month later, Matt is back at the college to check on Humphrey.
39:44You all right, Rebecca? How are you?
39:46I'm good, you?
39:47Good, not too bad, Ta.
39:50So, how's he doing?
39:52He's doing really well now. He seems really happy.
39:54He's plodding around and enjoying himself.
39:57He's a bit of a glutton, but he's got a good appetite.
40:01He's got a good appetite.
40:03He's doing really well now. He seems really happy.
40:05He's plodding around and plucking with his girlfriend.
40:11Well, it's like nothing's ever happened, is it?
40:13Yeah, he's still trying to make with her.
40:15And she's still rejecting his advances,
40:17so really nothing's changed for Humphrey, has it, really?
40:19Aw, bless.
40:23So, no signs of it popping back out, anything like that?
40:25No, it's all looking all right?
40:26No, it's all been good.
40:27He's got the little bit of flesh hanging out,
40:29but other than that, it's all good.
40:31Henrietta seems really happy that she's got her partner back.
40:34She's not by herself.
40:36That was good. Do you think she missed him?
40:38Yeah, she definitely missed him.
40:40I think she might be regretting it a bit now that she's left him alone.
40:44Humphrey's looking really well,
40:46so pleased to say I can sign him off.
40:48It's certainly not slowed him down in his advances with Henrietta.
40:51She's a lucky duck.
41:01Near Thirsk, it's six weeks since Peter treated his old friend John's ewe,
41:06whom they were worried about after she'd lost her lambs.
41:10She had a huge swelling under her jaw,
41:12which turned out to be a massive abscess.
41:15Whoa! Whoa!
41:17So I've just popped in today just to see how she's getting on,
41:21and hopefully she's doing OK, but you never can tell.
41:28Morning, John. Morning, Peter.
41:30How are you doing? Not bad. How's she getting on?
41:33Not so bad. She's there, walking about.
41:36That's a good sign. It is, yeah.
41:38No, she seems to look fine.
41:40I might have a quick look at her, John, if that's all right.
41:43Yeah, no bother. Come on, girl, let's have a look at you.
41:47Come on. Come here, girls.
41:50It's not bad, that.
41:52There's some scar tissue there, but in the scheme of things, very little.
41:57I'm more than happy with her, really.
41:59And she's looking very bright.
42:01A success story for you.
42:03Well, it's always nice to have a success story.
42:05You don't always get them, do you? No.
42:09I did try to foster a lamb onto her because she lost her own,
42:12but then she wouldn't take one, so we'll let her run another year
42:16and give her the benefit of the doubt.
42:18I was going to say, not this year, but hopefully next year.
42:21She'll come up trumps. She might as well go straight out now.
42:24Enjoy a bit of sunshine for a change, next change from rain.
42:27It certainly does, doesn't it?
42:30Let them all out, Peter, this is us.
42:34Yeah, they're all as happy when they're out at grass, aren't they?
42:37Aren't they? Yeah. Well, you are as well, aren't you? I am.
42:42Something to see my patient thriving,
42:45and it's great to see that the abscess has gone completely.
42:49Later on in the year, she'll be hopefully put back in lamb
42:53and have some lambs of her own next year.
42:58It's a wonderful sight, that, on a spring morning, isn't it? Lovely.
43:01You look out there and they're out there, they're growing,
43:05they're happy, they're thriving.
43:07What more could you want?