(no audio) (upbeat music) - [Narrator] In the heart of glorious North Yorkshire lies the quaint market town of Thirsk.

Here, the world's most famous vet, James Herriot, lived, worked and wrote his best-selling books.

His former surgery and home are now a museum.

But his practice lives on nearby.

(phone rings) - Good morning, Skeldale Vet Center.

- The practice is the original Herriot practice and that brings with it a certain feeling of responsibility that we're carrying on that Herriot tradition, treating animals of all types and sizes.

Whoa.

- [Narrator] Julian Norton is the Yorkshire Vet.

- Aha.

Coming to work on the morning, we're never quite sure what's gonna happen and it's a great place to work.

I think it's the best job in the world.

- [Narrator] Julian runs the practice alongside partner and former Herriot trainee, Peter Wright.

- Everything that you can see is Yorkshire.

- I've been doing it for 35 years now and I still never get bored of it.

It's what it's all about, really.

- [Narrator] Here, together with Skeldale's dedicated team.

- Get you back to safety.

- Right, thank you.

- All right, you're welcome.

- [Narrator] They treat animals of all shapes.

- [Julian] They're very cute.

- [Narrator] Sizes, types.

- Oh, crikey, get off me.

- [Narrator] And temperaments.

(animal snorts) - Hey.

- No.

No.

- [Narrator] It's definitely not glamorous.

(Julian groans) But it's varied.

- That goes back in there like that.

- A little bobby dazzler, are ya hey.

- [Narrator] It's rarely easy.

(dog squealing) As the Yorkshire Vet carries on the Herriot tradition, treating all creatures great and small.

(gentle inspirational music) (upbeat music) Winter has finally given way to spring in North Yorkshire.

As nature stirs, the landscape turns a vibrant green.

Daffodils bloom, as newborns gamble.

(goat bleats) Sometimes, new lives need help into the world.

And the Yorkshire Vet's happy to lend her hand.

- Where is she?

She's fastened up in there.

- Yeah.

- [Narrator] Farmer, Anthony Cooper... - [Julian] Buckets of water on these.

- Yeah, yeah, I will get you some of 'em now.

- [Narrator] Has called Julian to help a mom to be who's struggling.

(cow moos) - The bull that's the father of the calf is an Aberdeen Angus, which, well, historically they're easy to calve.

They usually have nice small calves that come out without too much trouble, but not always the case.

Sometimes you get much bigger calves.

That sounds like it's what we've got here and they can take a bit more persuasion to come out.

(jovial enigmatic music) - [Narrator] Anthony's father, Gerald, owns the farm and breeding cows is his livelihood.

- We tend to keep all the calves on and rear them up and sell them out, the bullets, you get with bull calves outta them, you know.

- [Narrator] There's not much he doesn't know about farming.

- I left school at 15 and never went back.

(laughs) Old-fashioned farmers, I think we're a dying breed.

- [Julian] Big his feet, aren't they?

- [Anthony] Yeah.

- Big his head as well.

- [Anthony] Yeah.

That's why I called you.

(Julian and Anthony laugh) - Right, well we'll see what we can do.

So the head's there, the feet are there, which is good but she's obviously not getting on with it.

She's just standing there, kind of not doing much.

And if we're gonna get this calf out, it would be helpful that she'd give us a bit of a hand by contracting and pushing.

(cow moos) - [Narrator] To save mom and baby, Julian needs to act fast.

- So this is a carving jack which allows us to get more kind of constant pressure on the calf.

As the head starts to engage in the tail of this, that's when we get a feel for whether there's gonna be enough space or not.

Right, so I've got quite a lot of pressure on this calf and its head is just about engaging in the pelvis.

- [Narrator] But there's a problem.

- It's not really, it's not really budging, the head isn't properly coming in.

(cow moos) I just think that's about as tight as I want to pull it.

- Yeah, well, when I felt it, I knew it was a big 'un and I thought you might say that.

- It's kind of, I just think if we go anymore, we're going to endanger her and endanger the calf.

- [Narrator] There's only one option and it's drastic.

- Would you be happy if we did a cesarean?

- Well, I'd be happier than trying to pull it out.

(upbeat lively music) - [Narrator] The life of a vet is varied.

- Whoa.

(laughs) That's a hedgehog and a half, isn't it?

- [Narrator] At Skeldale, they never know what'll be brought in next.

(upbeat lively music) - It looks a bit rattled.

We'll give it some meat, some fluid as well.

- [Narrator] But for Peter, it seems today is all about birds in boxes.

- We've got a nice little hen in here, who's a bit of a pet called Henny Penny and Henny Penny's been attacked by the family dog and we're just going to just stitch her back together again.

So she has a bit of a ragged wound on her back and we're just going to sort her out.

- [Narrator] But there's just one problem.

- Henny Penny's gone.

(laughs) - [Narrator] She's still in her cage.

- I thought she felt light.

- What's that?

- The hen.

We lost Henny Penny.

How to look a chump in one easy lesson.

Oh God.

I'll travel with Henny Penny again.

Don't you two tell anybody, will ya?

You there, Henny Penny.

That's it, that's it.

I love hens.

That's it, dear.

You're coming with me.

I like the way they talk.

(veterinarians laughing) Lovely.

Right, Henny Penny.

I'd like some hens but my wife has overwhelmed me because she said the fox will get him 'cause there's a lot of foxes around us.

But I will eventually get me way sometime in the next 10 years.

- [Narrator] For now, Peter will have to settle for helping Henny Penny.

- She's been attacked and the family dog's taken a chunk out of her back.

It needs just tidying up a bit and stitching back together.

Then, Henny Penny's former beauty will be restored, won't it dear?

- [Narrator] The wound is deep.

- It's gone into the muscles along the back there.

So we're going have to tidy all that up.

Just take those feathers out from around the wound and then we're just going to have to.

That's good.

- [Narrator] And Peter has noticed something else.

- There's a large area of skin there, that isn't healthy.

A lot of that skin's going to die off.

I'd like to trim that skin out but the problem is, if I trim all the denatured skin out, I'm not gonna have enough skin to pull together.

I'm limited in how much skin I got to play with there.

Problems, problems.

- [Narrator] Coming up...

The team are desperate to trace a lost dog's owner.

- I'm just a bit worried that she's not got long 'cause her eyes have just all of a sudden flopped back.

- She's exhausted.

- [Narrator] Can Peter save Henny Penny?

- So that's as far as I dare trim.

- [Narrator] And can Julian save a mum to be and her calf?

- It's a big calf and I'm effectively lifting it up against gravity.

(gentle lively music) - [Narrator] It's a sunny spring day in Yorkshire.

- I mean, it's the perfect place to be to be standing for there.

Can you get us a couple of buckets of water?

- Yeah.

- [Narrator] Julian is at Gerald Cooper's farm.

He's prepping for an emergency cesarean on a mum to be who's struggling.

- It's too big to come out.

It's pretty well jammed in there.

The head is as far in as I can get it and I think if we keep on pulling, we're gonna end it with big problems, a dead calf and not a happy outcome.

So we're gonna do a cesarean.

(gentle enigmatic music) So that's the first step, I'm done clipping all the hair off the side.

In actual fact, a cesarean for the cow is the easiest option really because it saves an awful lot of trauma and pain and discomfort.

So compared to a really big tight carving, it's actually the best thing for the mother.

So if she could choose, I think she'd probably prefer a cesarean rather than pulling it out the back.

- Well, it is, it's just getting over it afterwards, isn't it?

That's the only thing.

As long as it don't get any infection, well it's plain sailing then.

- Wait till we've finished - I hope, anyway.

- [Julian] Before you say it's plain sailing.

- [Narrator] First, Julian numbs the whole area.

- Just reacting a little bit more than she is.

She's obviously gonna be a good girl.

Just to sort of sterile it, we've gotta sterilize it all.

- [Narrator] And that includes his own body parts.

- So it's quite a good idea when you're doing this kind of operation, if possible, to not have to wear any plastic tops 'cause I'm gonna be right inside this cow's abdomen, right up to my shoulders.

It makes it better to be sterile, if you're a bit more clean and there's less contamination inside the cow's abdomen if you take all your tops off as it were.

There's fewer places where we're getting buckets of nice warm water and there's three this morning, which is good.

Right, so.

And that's all been numbed with local anesthetic, so she won't feel anything.

That is... Again, this is all numbed as well.

Sometimes it's just a little bit of a twinge, see their way of pulling through muscles.

And we're into the abdomen there.

So we get the interest out, it should have the calf in it.

I suppose the hardest bit is getting the calf up and out of this hole 'cause it's a big calf and I'm effectively lifting it up against gravity.

(upbeat dramatic music) - [Narrator] It's not easy, they need baby out fast.

So Anthony lends a hand.

- And then what we'll do is, we'll just pull it slightly back first until we're completely out.

Need a big hand on it.

Whoa.

Whoa, crikey.

- Oh.

(cow moos) - Big girl, isn't it?

Yeah, you wanna see?

(gentle inspirational music) - It should take about hopefully half an hour or so and then it should be trying to get up.

Usually, the cow would lick it now and that sort of stimulates the calf and the cow to mother it, you see, that's how the early ones do.

- [Narrator] But Julian has one last job.

(gentle fantastical music) - You clearly want to bath before - Really?

- You got it all over your body.

- [Julian] Yeah, yeah.

- [Narrator] While the calf gets a wash from mum, the Yorkshire Vet must make do with a bucket.

(gentle fantastical music) - That's gone really well.

I'm really happy with that.

Really good outcome, really good operation.

She was a perfect patient and now we've got a perfect calf and a perfect mum.

Perfect job here, couldn't do better.

(cow moos) (upbeat enigmatic music) - [Narrator] Back at the practice, Peter's prepping for surgery on poor old Henny Penny.

She's been attacked by a dog.

- Just trimming off that decayed dead tissue.

You can't really graft skin on birds very well.

It's not, it doesn't lend itself to grafting unfortunately.

All the edges of the skin's dead.

So we're just freshening that up now.

Yeah, we can't go any more than that 'cause we just haven't got the elasticity in the skin and we haven't got the amount of spare skin that we would like.

So that's as far as I dare trim.

Right.

Right Henny Penny, let's see what we can do with you now.

- [Narrator] Peter needs patience and a steady hand.

- I think as long as she keeps away from the family dog, I think she'll be okay just sort of sauntering about.

(gentle enigmatic music) Okay.

- [Nurse] Do you want a smaller needle or?

- No, that's fine.

That's fine.

There you are Henny Penny, let's see what that does for you.

They're quite gentle things, the way they speak, it's quite calming.

People say running water's quite calming, but I think hens just chattering about outside your door is also quite calming as well.

- [Nurse] There we go.

- Welcome back, Henny Penny.

Nice to see you again.

A really nice sleep, hey?

(chuckles) - [Narrator] It seems Henny Penny is not in the chattering mood.

- Yeah.

Right, she'll go back to bed.

- All right.

- Shall we?

Right, come on Henny Penny.

Sit.

(gentle enigmatic music) (gentle dramatic music) - [Narrator] Across the hall, there's an emergency.

Rachel's been called to help vet Sarah and head nurse Sarah.

They're dealing with a lost and extremely distressed dog.

- Just call it Collie RTA or something like that.

Yeah, we just had a lady come in.

She's found this dog, just as a stray dog.

She's taken it home to help it warm up and dry out and at the house, the dog's collapsed and had a very big fit.

So rightly so, she's brought the dog straight down, so we can just have a look.

The dog obviously looks in a horrific state.

I think she's probably been out and had a fit outside.

- [Narrator] She's exhausted and in shock.

The cause of the fit is a mystery.

- [Veterinarian] I am still quite suspicious just from the appearance of her that she will have been in some sort of traumatic incident.

- [Narrator] Vet Sarah decides to x-ray her.

- To me, she looks like a dog that's possibly been hit by a car, but I can't find any evidence of anything, any trauma anywhere.

Abs in a x-ray is a bit difficult to read because she is so filthy.

We're getting a lot of artifacts on there, but there's no evidence of any massive orthopedic trauma anyway.

- [Narrator] They are no closer to finding answers.

It's frustrating for everyone.

- But there's no, the problem with this dog is we have no idea about her at all.

We dunno if she has any underlying medical issues, we don't know what medication she's on.

We don't know anything about her.

- It's important we find whoever it is that owns her.

Currently, we don't obviously have any consent to be able to treat this dog.

We've done our best, we've done the emergency first aid for her.

We've double checked, there's no major breaks, there's no major bleeds.

We've put her onto fluids to try and help with the shock.

We're gonna give her some anti-inflammatories and some pain relief to try and help settle her a bit.

So we'll just get her comfy and settled in.

We'll get her warmed up and dried out a bit and go from there.

- [Narrator] But the collie's condition could be deteriorating.

- I'm just a bit worried that she's not got long 'cause her eyes have just all of a sudden flopped back.

- She's exhausted.

- [Narrator] If untreated, fits can be fatal.

To save her, they need to trace her owner.

- Engaged.

At least there's somebody there.

Hopefully we'll be able to find its owners.

I've rung all of our local farms but everybody's out and about at the moment, I can't get hold of anybody.

(upbeat dramatic music) Hi, it's Sarah calling from Skeldale Vets in Thirsk.

Just could you give me a call back please as soon as you get this message.

Thanks, bye-bye.

Hopefully I'll be able to get somebody, so we can get somewhere, get some help for the little dog.

- [Narrator] Still to come.

- They're like, grab it.

- [Narrator] Julian's on a wild duck chase.

- Oh, you pesky duck.

(duck quacking) - Hey boy.

- No, no.

- [Narrator] Peter turns horse whisperer.

- You're okay.

Let's be good for your Uncle Peter.

(goat bleats) - [Narrator] And things heat up at the surgery.

- It smells a bit like barbecue smell.

(goat bleats) (gentle enigmatic music) - [Narrator] Thirsk is a community of animal lovers and it's not just their own pets they care about.

Today, Julian and Rachel have been sent on a wild duck chase.

- Can't see any ducks anywhere, at least not injured ones.

- [Narrator] A call came in from a member of the public who's concerned about one of the town's flock, but they're struggling to find it.

- You haven't seen an injured duck by any chance somewhere near this little river?

There's not been, you've not seen- - Well I've actually come through the carpark.

- That's all right, that's all right.

(gentle enigmatic music) Ah.

That's him there, look.

That, oh poor thing's broken his leg, look.

Or is it, no, what's happening?

There's something hanging out of his bottom.

There's a big what looks like a prolapse hanging out of his backside.

It doesn't seem to be giving the duck that much of a problem, he's turning around and pecking it with his beak.

- [Narrator] Julian wants to catch it to get a better look.

- [Julian] Right, can we grab it?

- [Narrator] And that's easier said than done.

- He can fly.

It's not gonna work, is it?

They're like, grab it.

You keep an eye on it, I'll get the net.

- It has gone back in the water.

Just keeping an eye on it.

- If I can get that like that over his head, then we'll be able to get him.

- [Narrator] But the duck has one distinct advantage.

- Oh, you pesky duck.

- [Rachel] He's not helping, is he?

- He's not wanting to play, is he?

Well, we'll try it one more time.

Naughty duck.

- Certainly haven't done this before but it's just a shame we haven't caught up with him this evening.

- [Narrator] But it's not over yet.

The Yorkshire Vet isn't giving up without a fight.

(upbeat dramatic music) - Aw, missed.

(ducks quacking) Outsmarted by a duck.

We're gonna have to admit defeat I'm afraid on this one.

(ducks quacking) I'm gonna head back to the practice now and I'm gonna need to do a little bit of research on this one, I think, because I'm not entirely sure what that big pink thing is dangling down.

I'm anxious as to what my search engine's gonna think when I type in the required keywords.

You see, if it was one of those to catch, it would be easy, wouldn't it?

Nevermind.

(ducks quacking) (gentle dramatic music) - Hi, it's Sarah calling from Skeldale Vets in Thirsk.

- [Narrator] Back at the surgery, Sarah's still trying to trace the lost dog's owner.

- I'm just trying to ring around people in the village where the dog was located.

It's really important if I can try and find the owner of this dog.

The reason being, we can't treat this dog without the owner's consent.

All we can do is provide emergency first aid.

So we've done quick x-rays and we've put her onto fluids to try and help with the shock.

The dog has had a big fit.

We know that from the lady that brought it in.

So really, we could do with running bloods just to make sure its electrolyte balances are okay and it's not gonna have another fit, but we really need to find the owner.

(gentle inspirational music) - [Narrator] Luckily, news travels fast in Thirsk and owner Annabel has been found.

- [Veterinarian] Hi, can I help?

- [Annabel] Yeah, I've come to pick up Jess the Collie.

She was out on the farm with four other dogs.

- Do you wanna just take a seat?

- And Jess didn't stay with the pack.

So I turned around to wonder where she was because she never strays and she'd gone.

- That's fine, right, come on through.

- [Annabel] Oh, this was such an issue.

- [Narrator] And Annabel reveals... - There's my gorgeous girl.

How are you doing?

- [Narrator] Jess suffers from epilepsy.

- Jess started having seizures in August and we took her to our vet and they prescribed her with a form of medication.

She's never had a fit on a walk before, they've always been fits during the evening or at night, but she's obviously had a fit on a walk today and yeah, totally lost her bearings.

- [Veterinarian] It's all right.

- In August, - Okay.

- Is when she first started having them.

Then, she had another bout in October and then this is her third bout.

- Okay.

- Since that, she didn't have any at all.

- [Veterinarian] And she's just cracking and just to see her like this, I dunno what you do.

- [Narrator] Managing epilepsy can be tricky.

- Well, would you be happy for me to ring your vet - Yeah, totally.

- And then I'll just have a quick look at the history.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- And then if you would like me to, I'll get one of my vets just to do a quick workup and we'll just have a look.

- Yeah.

- If you didn't mind, we'd like to keep her overnight.

- [Annabel] Yeah, keep her here.

- To keep the fluids going in.

- Yeah, yeah.

- We were very relieved, weren't we Isabelle, when we found Jess?

- Yeah.

- When we heard she was all right and yeah, so hopefully she'll come through and everything will be back to normal.

- Okay.

Good girl, Jess.

(gentle inspirational music) (dog barking) - [Narrator] After a busy morning, Julian's finally got to the bottom of the duck's problem backside and he's filling in the concerned caller.

- The thing hanging down, I think it's actually his penis, you know, his willy.

It's funny, but that's what duck's penises sometimes look like when they've been, you know, busy mating and things at this time of the year.

What I would do is just keep checking it every sort of so often.

As long as it's still looking fairly perky and getting about, then I don't know that there's a lot we can do.

If you can catch it, then catch it and bring it in and we'll have a look.

All right, cheerio, bye.

Ducks are pretty voracious in terms of their sexual capacity, particularly at this time of year and you know, he is a wild animal and they're pretty good at taking care of themselves.

So if we can get to see him, that would be great.

If not, then I'm sure things will settle down back to normal without too much involvement of our veterinary care.

Suppose in a way, floating around in a cold river at this time of year, that's probably the best treatment he could get for a swollen penis.

- [Narrator] While the rest of the team keep the surgery ticking over... - Morning Peter.

- Morning, now John.

- [Narrator] Peter's at an equestrian center seeing a couple of horses who are having problems chomping on the bit.

- Jolly good, right.

Richard and John have bought this golden and they've noticed he has some, what we call wolf teeth, which are vestigial teeth that sit just in front of the molars, the teeth that they use for grinding all the food up.

The problem with wolf teeth, it has very little roots on them and they wobble about, and as they wobble about, the bit catches them and irritates them and it makes them a little bit more difficult to control.

- [Narrator] And today's patient, Lofty, is no exception.

- He might be a bit of a lad to get a needle in.

- [Peter] Okay.

- He won't like it.

- It won't like it.

- Won't he?

- [Narrator] To remove the teeth, Lofty needs a sedative.

- Is he good with a twitch?

- [Narrator] But he's not a fan of the needle.

- All right, me old mate.

- Good boy, good lad.

- Hey, hey, that's it.

- Hey, hey, hey.

- No, no, no.

- You're all right.

Can't go any further forward, can you?

Good lad.

Well, he likes to... (gentle dramatic music) - Hey, hey, hey.

- No, no, no, no.

Hey, hey, hey.

- No, no, no.

- [Narrator] It's a battle of wills but Peter's perseverance pays off.

- Stand still.

You're okay.

Just be good for your Uncle Peter.

There, don't jiggle about, it'll be over very quick.

There you are, steady now.

Steady, steady, steady.

Steady, steady, steady.

(horseshoes clopping) - Hey, hey, hey.

- No, no, no, no.

Don't be silly.

- Hey.

- Don't be silly.

- Come on now.

- Well, there we are.

- That'll take this thing out of him, won't it?

- I bloody hope so.

- [Narrator] But Lofty's having the last laugh.

- That doesn't seem to have knocked him out much, that does it?

- It hasn't done much at all, has it?

A little bit more.

- [Richard] Right as a button- - [Narrator] Peter can't remove the troublesome tooth until Lofty's sedated and that's gonna take time.

But there's another patient, Murphy.

- [Peter] Yeah, this is more my type.

- [Richard] Yeah.

- Let's see if we can succeed this time.

- Good boy, Murphy.

Perfect, Peter.

- Well.

- Huh?

- He has a vein like a hose pipe.

If I missed that one, I'd be shouting.

- [Narrator] Unlike Lofty, Murphy's the perfect patient, meaning Peter can crack on.

- Come on fella.

- Good boy.

- He is, isn't he?

- [Richard] Good lad, good lad.

Good boy.

- Yeah.

- [Richard] Good boy.

- Yeah, nothing on that side.

- [Richard] Sorry.

- Nothing to that near side.

- [Richard] Yeah, just the one.

- Just the off side, yeah.

- It's a crucial part of equine management in my opinion.

- [Narrator] And vets have been using this method for decades.

- This job that you are doing, Peter, have been much the same for a long time, won't it?

- Oh, as long as I've been in practice, this hasn't changed.

Oh, it's a fairly basic principle really.

You go around the tooth, you work it around, you slang the ligament that attaches it to the socket, it hasn't a particularly big ligament for that and then it just courses out.

Well, that's really smooth and that's beautiful.

Even though my granny always said salt peas is no recommendation.

- You are starting to chatter nervously 'cause you know we've got to tackle this monster again in a minute.

(Peter laughing) - Yes, you're right.

(horse neighs) - [Narrator] Coming up, Peter prepares for round two with Lofty.

- I think we'll reserve judgment about whether this is going to be easy or difficult.

(goats bleating) - [Narrator] And Julian's surgery faces sabotage from a furry friend.

- This goat here is chewing the anesthetic machine and we need to keep an eye on him 'cause if he actually chews through that pipe, then that's the end of the procedure.

(goat bleating) (gentle enigmatic music) - [Peter] Probably.

(horse neighs) - [Narrator] Earlier, Peter was asked to remove wolf teeth from Lofty and Murphy, but while Murphy was the perfect patient... - Smooth as a baby's butt.

We can't say it fairer than that.

That's it.

- [Narrator] Lofty was less keen to cooperate.

- Hey, hey, hey.

- No, no, no.

You're all right.

You're okay.

Just be good for your Uncle Peter.

- [Narrator] Peter's now getting ready for a rematch.

- I think we'll reserve judgment whether this is going to be easy or difficult.

It can be, I mean, yeah, look, you just have to swing it from the rafters sometimes, but no, it should be, with a bit of luck, we should be okay.

- [Narrator] Peter's plan, an extra shot of sedative.

- I got, I'll stick to this side, I think John.

Got to share it better this time, aren't we?

- Pick up now.

Good boy.

Hey, come on, come on.

Good lad, good lad.

- You're doing better, you still need- - Hey, hey, hey, good lad.

- Hey.

- Good lad.

- That's it, normally.

We're still in it, now we're in, that's it.

I'm very happy now and you don't hear me say that very often.

(laughs) - [Narrator] Now, it's a waiting game.

- Yeah.

- [Richard] He's still fighting it.

- Yeah, he is, isn't he?

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Lofty finally loosens up.

So Peter perseveres.

- [Peter] No, I haven't got it yet.

- [Richard] All right, come on.

- I tell you what, they're bigger than you think, these.

- It's very easy to break them and leave half, isn't it?

- Glass, I've seen all like that.

Has it come out?

- Something's come.

- That'll do.

- Exactly.

- Is that all of it?

- That's all of it.

- Are you sure?

- I'm certain.

- So they're still sensitive on them.

That's all of it, isn't it?

- Yeah, there's a ligament there.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, yeah, I'm happy with that.

Yeah.

- Well done, Peter.

- Pop it under your pillow tonight.

- [Narrator] After a tricky start, there are no long faces here.

- Well, that went very well.

The ligaments brought down nicely and they came out in the entirety, so I'm happy.

- [Narrator] And after all those sedatives, Lofty is on cloud nine.

(horseshoes clopping) - Good boy.

(gentle enigmatic music) (motorbike engine roaring) - [Narrator] Back at Skeldale, the whole team are eagerly awaiting Julian's next patients.

- This way.

- Well, oh dear, how many?

- So where are they then?

In the back of your car?

- Yeah, they're there.

- And there's five?

- Yes.

You need to come inside.

- [Julian] Come and have a look at them, they're a great time in here.

- Gorgeous, I want one.

- [Julian] Come to have a look.

- Yes.

(goat bleating) - Oh.

- Aw.

It's not too bad.

Okay, what are they doing in there?

- (laughs) No, on the other side.

- [Rodney] Hey, don't mess with it.

Come on.

- They're very cute, I must say, look at them.

- [Narrator] Owner Rodney has brought the kids in to have their horns removed.

- You can see they're the horns, they're quite hard that they'll need to be off.

Now, goats is slightly complicated 'cause you can't give them local anesthetic because they're very sensitive to that.

So we need to do it under full general anesthetic.

If you come back about quarter to 11, something like that, - Yeah.

- We'll be done.

Okay, see you later.

- Okay, bye.

(goats bleating) - Most farmers who keep goats have them de-horned or ideally disbudded when they're little because a goat with horns is usually quite a handful.

They cause damage to themselves, to each other and usually to the farmer as well by butting things vigorously and sometimes they grow into the head and that can be a real problem 'cause it's painful then when the horn grows near the head.

(goats bleating) - [Narrator] Julian's keen to start but the ladies won't leave the kids alone.

- Well, I was brought up with goats, used to be milked and we used to just drink goat's milk.

- I think you need to get for reception, don't ya?

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- Me and a goat, as long as it don't poo on me.

(laughs) - [Narrator] Sylvia reluctantly gives up the goats and Julian can get to work.

- They don't really like the first bit.

Cover your eyes, goats.

Yeah, the goats are fully anaesthetized with this gas, so they can't feel it.

- [Narrator] The horn buds are burnt off with a hot iron.

- There's smoke coming off like this.

Yeah, it smells, whenever you disbud any animal, it smells a bit like sort of, well, it's semi-barbecue smell but it's more of a sort of singed hair smell.

Like, when you used to get too close to the bunsen burner in chemistry lessons at school.

Yeah, just do it, so sometimes you can.

- Just gonna put the head on the blanket.

- Right, who's next?

I can't see any volunteers.

- Any volunteers.

(goat bleats) Oh, here we are.

- Aw, - Come on.

- He's kinda coming out.

- [Narrator] They're not keen and one naughty kid seems intent on sabotage.

- This goat here is chewing the anesthetic machine and we need to keep an eye on him 'cause if he actually chews through that pipe, then that's the end of the procedure.

(laughs) - [Nurse] Sorry.

- When it's done right, it's a very innocuous procedure and they won't be getting into any trouble, they won't be damaging their horns or damaging each other.

- Here you go, little one.

Get your horns out you naughty goat.

- [Narrator] The kids have really taken to Kate.

- Can we keep this one?

- When he comes, you could ask him.

Sure if you offered him a good price.

- I'm going to ask.

You're mad.

- [Narrator] And they've left Julian a little present.

- I see, you have a nice wee on my floor.

Perfect.

- [Kate] What is with the goats piddling everywhere?

- [Julian] We're gonna need the mop out in here.

- [Kate] (laughs) I think so.

- Oh yeah, we don't mind a bit of mess from goats if they're having as much fun as this, we can tolerate a bit of wee on the floor.

We've seen a lot worse.

(goats bleating) - [Narrator] Earlier, lost dog Jess, was brought in after being found wandering locally.

She'd suffered an epileptic fit.

- I'm just a bit worried that she's not got long 'cause her eyes have just all of a sudden flopped back.

- She's exhausted.

(upbeat lively music) - [Narrator] Jess is now back home with her family and enjoying the great outdoors.

- Yeah, hasn't she?

(Jess barks) (family members laughing) Since the vets have changed her medication, she's not had anymore fits.

- No.

- So she's live and kicking.

Feeling well, happy days.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- [Narrator] And no one's more thankful than Annabel's son, Jack.

- Since she's been to the vets and she's feeling better, I felt happy.

- With every month or two that goes past, you have more confidence that we've got a secure treatment and when it's your little boy's dog, it's even more important that you, you know, 'cause he dotes on her.

- She means the whole world and a lot more.

- Aw.

- Aw.

(upbeat lively music) - Yes, yes, thank you.

- [Narrator] Next time... Julian's emergency call is a family affair.

- I think my dad has got the makings of a good vet.

- (chuckles) Cheeky.

- [Narrator] For Peter, it's all about the birds and the bees.

- [Farmer] That's another one.

- [Peter] Do you not teach your daughters the facts of life?

- [Farmer] I tried, no, but it didn't work.

(laughs) - [Narrator] And Julian fights to save a mother and her unborn baby.

- She definitely needs some help, I think, with this one.

Having a bit of a go, isn't it?

(upbeat lively music) (upbeat lively music continues) (upbeat lively music continues) (no audio)