🦊 Fox Needs To Be Spayed Before Returning | FULL EPISODE | S02E18 | Vet On The Hill

So you're looking at the list for today there Kirsty? Yeah there's not too much going on is there? Well don't speak too soon. As the Richmond practice Scott and receptionist Kirsty are awaiting the arrival of a very unusual patient. Hi guys. An orphan fox is being brought in by Kirsty this is Red. The young couple run an alpaca farm in Yorkshire but often volunteer to take on wildlife that has nowhere else to go. Kirsty's favourite animal is a fox so you've literally made her day. Red was found as a cub. There were several attempts to return her to the wild but after the last release she was discovered emaciated and close to death. Hello beautiful. I mean how rare is it you can actually touch what should be a wild animal. With Red unable to survive in the wild Andy and Keeley volunteered to give her refuge. We've got a large enclosure within a captive environment where she'd be perfectly cared for and we can offer protection and although it sounds very cheesy a lot of love. But before Red can move into her new home she first needs to be desexed. The spa is really important for Red for a number of reasons. First of all to try and rule out things like ovarian cancers and memory tumours but also when Red goes back to the farm she's a captive animal so of course we don't want her to have any babies but also if she calls to male foxes there's a lot of other vulnerable animals at the farm that could be injured. I know. Can we just do a quick exam just to make sure she's okay for the spay and we know we're doing the right thing for her. All right let's have a little look at your baby girl. Okay. Look at those, you wouldn't want to be bitten by those would you? I'm just amazed that I can touch this fox without her trying to bite me or run away. To look into her mouth, her eyes, have a look at her ears, listen to her heart, these are all firsts for me and it's absolutely incredible. You know looking at her makes you rethink what the vast majority of people think about foxes. It's true yeah. Yeah they do get a bit of a bad reputation unfortunately. They do yeah they do especially around here when they go and eat people's pet rabbits and guinea pigs. Foxes really do polarise people here in the UK. They either love them or they hate them especially when their numbers are increasing rapidly in urban areas. Now they might live in close proximity to us but they're still wild animals. They shouldn't be approached by the general public but because of Red's history she's very much a one-off case. I don't see there being any risks to this particular procedure. With Red passing her health check, the spaying of the young fox can go ahead. I can see how bonded you two are and Keely I know that you are a vet nurse if I remember rightly. So how would you like to help me perform a surgery on your girl? I'd love that. That'd be brilliant. It's good that I can be there for Red especially she's going under anaesthetic so there's someone familiar there for her and Red hopefully feels a little bit more secure with what's going on. I think I'll just sit outside and worry if that's all right. As always with animals you take them on and as soon as they come into your care you can't help but become attached to them. It's like adopting a child. Good girl. Mommy's got you. Ready? Ready? In Brentford, three miles north of Richmond, Scott's new patient Hugo is enjoying some playtime with yoga teacher Natalie. Two months ago Natalie adopted the Bullmastiff after a chance encounter at one of Scott's practices. Hugo's previous owner had just come in and was asking for help to rehome the four-year-old. So I was going into the vets to buy some special cat food for our cat and there was this beautiful dog in there turned out to be Hugo. And basically the guy who had Hugo just said do you want him? And I was like what? When we met him he had this lovable nature around him but there was just this insecurity. You could see that he didn't quite feel safe in the world and I really related to that and I said that to him and I said you know I'm going to take you by the paw and we're going to do this together. You know you and me we're going to feel safe in this world together. Can you do some up dog with me? No? Just sleep dog? After her daily yoga session Natalie will be taking Hugo in to see Scott. The Bullmastiff has little medical history so he needs a thorough vet screening for any potential problems. I think it's just to be sure and to be on the safe side we just want to have him checked over. Every day I just look at him and just fall in love with him a little bit more. He's just the most gorgeous being and I adore him. I love you. Yes I do. So Emma I've got your patient Red here. Yes. At the Richmond practice. There she is. Head nurse Emma is about to meet a surprising patient. This is Keeley and this is Red. Nice to meet you. You said you were bringing me a patient for a spay you did not say you're bringing me a fox. No. Oh my goodness. It's such a beautiful surprise though. You had, you had. It is gorgeous. Animal rescuer Keeley who's a trained vet nurse is joining the team to spay Red. It's always a bit more nervy when mum's watching. It's definitely fascinating for me to be here to watch this. I've never seen a fox under anaesthetic before I've only ever seen them in the wild so it's nice to be this up close with her doing something different really nurse wise. All looks good she's nice and settled under anaesthetic. Good. A bit nerve wracking but I'm sure she'll be fine. It's funny I just randomly feel sort of elated and nervous I don't know why I don't know what it is I think it I think it's a fox I think it's it's obviously it's you know Keeley as cool as you're being about this obviously I know how much you care about this fox don't you. Upstairs Red's other owner Andy is anxiously waiting. It's always nerve wracking it's only a short time but it seems like hours when you're here waiting. This operation's going to be one of firsts like I'm just looking at that going it's not just a spleen it's a fox spleen. Everything is a fox spleen isn't it. You've got a big smile on your face I've not seen you smile as much for ages look at that. This is because it's amazing what a great job we've got. Andy and Keeley feel it's really important that all the animals that they look after are neutered so to have this fox spade is just the right thing for her and for her future to ensure she doesn't have babies. So that my friends is that Red's spade all done let's wake her girl up shall we. I can barely tell you've been in there. Thank you Keeley you know I aim to please. No I do I do love a really small incision line. Hello expecting dad here she is with mummy. She's been such a perfect little patient hasn't she Keeley. She's been like came around really nicely yeah. She's ready for the lovely hills of Yorkshire so as sad as it is it might actually be the last time you guys have a proper cuddle with your girl because uh we need to start encouraging you to be a bit more wild than you are. Physically being able to hug a fox is without doubt a unique experience but we don't want Red to be a pet under any circumstances she'll be a wild animal living within a captive environment. I really hope it's okay if I invite myself up to see this beautiful patient of mine. By all means but if you're coming up anywhere there's a few other patients you might want to see. Oh is that right? Yeah if possible. Are you going to elaborate at all? No I like a little element of surprise. Yeah yeah well and I like a challenge. Considering all the crazy animals that he looks after I'm sure it's going to be lots of fun. Goodbye gorgeous girl can't wait to see you soon okay. Oh you must be Hugo. Yeah this is Hugo. Look at you hey you've got to have a voice like that. Has he got a voice like that? At St Margaret's Natalie has arrived for Hugo's checkup with Scott. Hello my name is Hugo I'm very handsome. He's absolutely beautiful aren't you mate? Should we go and see you in the consult room? If I have to. Come on then let's go. Natalie's just got Hugo so we don't really have much history so it's really important that we do a full physical exam just to make sure that he's healthy as he starts his new life. Can I have an examination of you hey? I suppose it's for my own good isn't it? Very rarely when I'm treating animals do I give them speak but for Hugo he's got an incredible deep booming voice in the form of Natalie. Your ticker okay? Sounds good yeah yeah. Let's have a look at those big choppers. But the fun stops when Scott finds a mass in Hugo's mouth. Is that the first time you've seen that Natalie? Yeah. Whenever you see a lump in the mouth of an animal that's always a concern the reason being is they're very black or white. They're either completely benign and nothing to worry about or fiendishly malignant and the animals that have that type of tumour can be dead within months. So that's very much something that we need to look at straight away. It's not something we want to leave and particularly the love affair that you guys have already struck. We don't want to break your relationship up and I think sometimes we have to jump on these things quickly and just make sure it doesn't get out of control. As a vet we see relationships between owners and animals all the time but the relationship that Natalie has with this dog so soon is incredible. I'll probably be fine Hugo. Well she absolutely adores him. Scott will remove the lump immediately and send it off for testing. You're gonna go for a little sleep and then after that we'll find out what's wrong. He's only just come into our lives so I just can't imagine or think about it not being okay. You're staying with me buddy. See you later baby. Bye bye. Oh god. Oh I know. Oh he's a good boy. I know. I know. It's a horrid noise isn't it? It's that you get used to it. At the St Margaret's clinic, huge blast if Hugo needs to be anaesthetised but he's not going quietly. To knock out Hugo we need to place an IV catheter which allows me to give him the anaesthetic he needs but unfortunately big Hugo is a bit of a baby and he doesn't like the clippers. Hey that's all done. See that's all done. Yeah you're friends again. Thank you. We're friends. All right so sleepy time now and get that nasty lump out of your mouth shall we? Scott and nurse Emma can now start removing a suspicious looking mass on Hugo's gums. Okay one two three. Now that Hugo's under anaesthetic I can really see this lump and it's a very angry looking thing and it's extending quite a long way down the enamel of his canine. So what I'm going to do is basically cut it off at where the gum line should be and hopefully in future that'll mean that he won't bleed as much when he's chewing things. Right well I am alongside an anesthetist. I need you to be chief lip holder. It's not a title I get assigned every day of the week. No this isn't the most elegant of surgeries. I'm literally just gonna have to lop it off. Just lift away. One nasty lump removed. All right so that's that. I think it's time to wake him up. Good boy. There we go. There we go. Oh dear. The lump will now be sent for testing to find out if it's cancerous. If it is something sinister it's really concerning. So we'll just have to wait and see. Cross our fingers and hope for the best. Later that evening Hugo's owner Natalie is waiting at the clinic. I can hear him. Anxious to be reunited with her gentle giant. Hello. Who's this? My boy. Hello. Hello. It's me. I cannot believe you're not more excited. Oh are you a bit dozy? How's your mouth Poppy? Yeah I'm really happy with the result. It came out really nicely and now he's got a nice clean gum line. You'll be able to see. So that's normal and then this is the new one. So you can see it's nice and straight and clean now. Oh yeah what a difference. And now we've just got that anxious wait for the next few days. Yeah are you a bit anxious too about it? Yeah just hoping for the best really. You know coming in for a health check and then spotting something and to have it treated very quickly is brilliant and then Hugo will hopefully be okay and life can resume as is. The new normal. The new normal with Hugo which I can't imagine a normal now without Hugo because it's just such a fabric of my life already. Come on you. Come on champ. Wake up. Come on big fella. Time to go. Good boy. Thank you Scott. All the best Natalie. See you soon. Bye Hugo. Bye. Bye Scott. Here's the man. Thanks Scott. Bye. Bye mate. See ya. Bye. Come on then. Good girl. I know you want to play ball don't you? One of Scott's nurses Sam is enjoying a day off with her four dogs. Jack careful. Among them is nine-year-old Jack who's caused Sam plenty of heartache over the years. I know you want to play ball but you can't run around. Jack's unfortunately had to have seven major orthopedic surgeries in the nine years that I've had him. So he's had three hip operations in one hip. He's had another hip replacement in the other hip. He's had cruciate surgery. He's had spine problems and also a plate put in one elbow. Careful. He's actually a bit of an inspiration really because I look at him and just think he's gone through so much. Nothing fazes him. He's always wagging his tail. Everyone he meets absolutely loves him and when you're having a bad day just think he's got a lot more on his plate than I do. Jack come here. Jack's medical bills have cost more than 30,000 pounds already but now the Labrador has yet another issue. There's obviously something wrong with Jack's left hind leg and that has progressed him being completely lame at times. So I am quite concerned that there is something quite seriously wrong. Good boy. Don't want you running around hurting yourself. Sam will soon be taking Jack in to see Scott and she's dreading the diagnosis. Because Jack is a nine-year-old dog I am worried about putting him through an anaesthetic at this age. Are you tired? No. Jack means the absolute world to me. I've had him since he was 10 weeks old and he's grown up with me and he's a massive part of my life and I couldn't imagine him not being here. Really I would be heartbroken if anything happened to him. So it's the bionic dog. Hi mate. He is my bionic dog. Oh dear. Oh no. I just think it's so gorgeous that he still is just such a friendly chap in the vet clinic to the vet after everything he's been through. You're a good boy aren't you? It's always upsetting when a mirror of staff which feel like family come in with their animals. Should we get you in and have a look at you? So when Sam walks in yet again with Jack and Jack has a new issue that we need to deal with of course straight away I feel for Sam. So I can see immediately there Sam that he is not evening up his back leg so he's taking all the weight on the right leg and the left leg is taking virtually none. You can just see how easy it is to move that foot and not that one. Immediately Scott suspects that Jack has ruptured another cruciate ligament. Okay so I'm going to do something called a cranial draw basically just sees if the cruciate ligament that major ligament running through the joint and keeping the two parts of the leg in alignment so let's just see. Unfortunately I can see that there's an abnormality that there is movement and there shouldn't be it should be solid and stable. So has his cruciate completely ruptured or gap gathering that way? I think it's very likely that's the case. Oh Mr Jack so another surgery. Another surgery yeah it's a real shame it's a real shame and one thing we obviously have to address Sam is the fact that these surgeries have happened every year for a lot of years but now what we've got is a nearly 10 year old dog and that's a concern it's a massive concern. Anesthetics in older dogs are always problematic and yes he's been through them over and over again but that also is yet another thing to be a little concerned about. And recovery time gets longer doesn't it? Yes well it's one thing to break a leg and have or have a hip replacement when you're 20 but when you're a grandmother that's just fallen down the stairs it's a different thing and he is like an old granddad now. I just really didn't want him to have to have another surgery but equally I know I obviously can't leave him like this and he is in discomfort and I don't want him to just live on pain relief and just hopefully get by. We have to do what's best for him don't we? Yeah. Jack will now be referred to specialist orthopaedic surgeon Michael Hamilton. To have to consider going through another surgery that is absolutely harrowing but she's such a brave girl she's such a dedicated girl and she's got a big heart so Jack is incredibly lucky. In northern England for a reunion with his patient Red. I'm so excited to be able to catch up with my good friends Andy and Keely again and just to see how their beautiful little fox Red is getting on. The fox needed to be When she was first rescued she was unbelievably tame even though she'll never be able to return to the wild Andy and Keely are hoping with a little bit more time and space more of her natural instincts will return. It'll be great to see how she's getting along but I've got a sneaking suspicion that that's not all I'll be getting up to when I get up there. Come on. Foxes are solitary animals and Red is now living in her own enclosure with inside shelter and access to an outdoor run. Good girl. Andy has been gradually reducing human contact. Feeding her is from arm's length there's no more hugs unfortunately but that's exactly what we want she's acting like a wild animal. Hey Andy. How you doing? Yeah hello Red. Hello gorgeous how's my patient? She's doing really well. More of a wild streaker now which is good. When Red was first rescued there were several attempts to rehabilitate her to the wild. They all failed and it became clear she couldn't survive away from the farm. We absolutely are not going to put her in the face of death again so she needs to be in a secure environment and as close to wild as this fox will ever get. I'd love to stroke you but you know what I know that's the wrong thing. It's tough this animal welfare malarkey isn't it? It certainly is. She'll just have times when she calls out for company and it is heartbreaking to sort of lock the door at night and think oh bless her she's crying out but you know it's the right thing to do at the end of the day. But I'm a little concerned for her next door neighbours because those ducks are going to get more nervous the more wild she gets. That's it remember love thy neighbour all right. Good boy. Near Marlow Buckinghamshire. Hello Sam. Sam has brought nine-year-old Jack in to see orthopaedic surgeon Michael. How do you do? And this is infamous Jack. Hello my friend how you doing? The unlucky Labrador has already endured seven surgeries including two hip replacements. Now Jack has a suspected ruptured cruciate ligament. Come on follow me there you go I'll follow you there you go that's fine right okay. It is hard to see Jack struggling no owner likes to see their animal in pain and he knows that he can't run around it's hard to watch. Oh yeah see that finger moving forwards yeah look at that very unstable. That should not do that that is one ruptured cruciate ligament. Oh he may also have damaged his meniscus the little shock absorber. The meniscus is a piece of cartilage that cushions the knee joint when the knee's unstable it can be damaged or torn. And then people people describe a really sharp stabbing kind of pain in your knee I think that's what he's got so he's putting a very brave face in it but the fact he's as limpy as he is on that leg I think it's because he's painful. We're going to do a thing called a TPLO which stands for tibial plateau leveling osteotomy. In a normal knee the cruciate ligament is a big cable that holds the bones in that position but now that's snapped the bones are doing this so we're going to make that slope flat so now when he stands on his leg there's no hill. It's a bit like if you stand on an icy hill you'll skid down the hill and the steeper the hill the quicker you skid but if you stand on an ice rink it's still icy you don't go anywhere unless someone gives you a push. I would normally say that these dogs will make a full recovery and that's a pretty bold statement as an orthopaedic surgeon but the vast majority of them do. He's never going to win gold medals put it that way but we can definitely get this knee as good as it's going to be. Sam now needs to say goodbye to Jack. Michael will be taking him straight into the operating theatre. You still love me don't you? I make you better. I do feel a bit nervous about the surgery as with any of the surgeries there's always risks and things could go wrong but I just really hope all goes well. You're gonna be brave. He just wants to kiss you to death. In Yorkshire. So these are the patients we want you to have a look at. Okay. Animal rescuers Andy and Keeley have asked Scott to help them with two of their most unusual animals. What do they think I guess? Well it's a mammal. It looks like a raccoon. It does and that's why it's named the raccoon dog. Okay and either it looks really sweet or it's trying to get me. I don't know which one. He is quite sweet. I have to be attentive with him. Hello. I would imagine that Scott's never seen a raccoon dog before. Oh hello aren't you beautiful. Although people seem to believe it's a raccoon it's not related to a raccoon in any way shape or form it's actually a canine species. The pair of raccoon dogs living at the farm are brother and sister Bert and Baby. They were both sold as pets to separate homes but were rejected and have now been taken in by Andy and Keeley. Hello you're going to be nice hey. Are you going to be nice? They are advertised online as being dog-like and very friendly and unfortunately then people do buy them and realise they can't cope with them and then they do end up in rescue centres. Today Andy and Keeley are hoping to reunite these siblings. What we're trying to do here is we want to integrate them together but before we can do that we need a health check from a vet before we can think about introducing animals together. Let's get to it. Let's get you in there. So raccoon dogs by their very nature are social creatures and they form a big family unit so we want to sort of recreate that within the captive environment. We've castrated Bert simply because we don't want any undesirable offspring and not to mention the fact that they're brother and sister so we don't want any inbreeding whatsoever. Hello Bert. So he's our male raccoon we got him when he was younger so he spent a lot of time around humans hence why he's a bit more amicable. Right this is the amicable is it? Wow they are some teeth. I nearly had my first raccoon dog bite. Raccoon dogs originate from East Asia and are often hunted for their fur. Wow just feeling this fur it's absolutely incredible isn't it? Yeah it's fantastically thick and unfortunately that's part of the problem so they originated from Japan and they were imported to Eastern Europe for the purpose of hunting for the fur trade. Well most people don't wear fur anymore. Well unfortunately in 2008 they found traces of raccoon dog fur in fake fur as well. You're joking. So you could be inadvertently wearing raccoon dog there. My god it doesn't feel doesn't feel like it. I don't think it is. Well let's vaccinate you mate and then we can reintroduce you to this little lady next door. It's really important to check animals over before they're going to be integrated with another animal just to make sure that they are healthy and then once you've established that to vaccinate them to protect their health. Good boy and then you can have your friend. With Bert vaccinated and given the all clear to mingle with his sister it's now Baby's turn but Andy has concerns about today's experiment. Baby is quite a subdued subordinate female but on the other hand is quite immature so he wants to play all the time whereas she wants to act like an adult raccoon dog so I'm worried that when they get together he might be a bit too rough with her. Hello sweetie. Hello. Do you smell vet? Do you? That's probably the problem. Scott now needs to capture Baby for her vaccination. Catching my first raccoon dog was actually not quite as terrifying as I thought that it was going to be. Oh poor Baby. I mean it and hey I didn't get bitten so successful outing. Shall we have a little hug? Good girl. Yeah that's it. Good girl. Good girl. That's it. We're hoping when they're together she'll come out of a shell most so she can become more of a raccoon dog hopefully. They play nicely. They play nice. Yeah all right we'll give you your vaccination. Good girl. Hey and then you can finally live the rest of your life with your brother. You're all done. Like a medic that stands on the side of a football field just in case of injury. I need to be here to make sure that when these two raccoon dogs get introduced that they don't rip each other to shreds. If there is any kind of injury they can bleed out quite quickly and it's a really important idea. Nervous. A little bit but she seems to be looking for him. Yeah. So that's a good sign. In Yorkshire Scott is on standby as raccoon dogs Baby and Bert are finally given the chance to live together as a family unit. All right Andy shall we bring bro over. Bert be gentle with your sister young man. They were both sold as pets when they were just babies but later given up. The fear is that the more boisterous Bert could be aggressive and hurt his sister. Place him down. Now remember you're a guest so be polite. Let's just hope there's no bloodshed. No overt aggression straight up so that's good and you know how siblings can fight don't you. Quite right yeah. Oh wow good boy Bert. A little bit of grooming going on there that's got to be a good sign. Yeah really good sign. The introduction's gone really well the mutual grooming that's occurring and the fact that there's no aggression whatsoever I would feel comfortable leaving them now as a little family unit. We'll obviously keep an eye on them and monitor them on a regular basis to make sure there's no sort of untoward aggression or injuries to either of them but I think it's looking promising. Little brother come home to roost. With the raccoon dogs happily settled. Right so this is our newest resident, youngest animal on site. Andy and Keeley have got one more test for Scott and his knowledge of exotics. Looks like a mutant mouse with a echidna like spiky coverage with weird sort of rabbit like feet. I think we try to make Scott's visits here a little bit more interesting. I'm sure he's used to cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs so I think something a little bit different to spice up his life and to test his knowledge really. This is a common tenrec. Mate I'm gonna stop you right there there's nothing common about that. Peaches is an eight week old baby that came from a zoo and is currently living in Andy and Keeley's home until she grows up. Yeah she's quite fast. Oh my she's so weird. You are so incredible looking. Look at that nose. We'll test you on which animal it's related to and take a guess that would be a clue. A long nose, an extremely long nose in fact. Oh it can't be an elephant. It is yeah so one of its relatives is an elephant. I'm absolutely amazed to find out that a tenrec is actually related to an elephant and apparently in their evolution one of them decided to move to Madagascar where they have lots of trees so they were smaller and then you've got elephants roaming on the plains and they get to grow a hell of a lot bigger. Well you see you learn something new every day is a bit. I have such respect for Andy and Keeley they are surrounded by animals that they look after 24 7 and the fact that then when they come back to their sanctuary their home and they still have peaches in their care just shows how much they love the animals they're looking after. How lucky you in the penthouse to work with Andy and Keeley. Near Marlowe nine-year-old Labrador Jack is about to undergo surgery on his ruptured cruciate ligament. Here we go all right all right you're all right yes you're all right thank you. So the first part of the procedure is to get inside the knee joint right I'm just going to crack on now and actually look at the cruciate ligament or what's left of it and also to check the meniscus the shock absorber because if he's got a torn meniscus and we miss it he's going to stay lame. So we're going to push this in here and see that white thing that there is part of his shock absorber which is torn so that is a torn meniscus. If we didn't check that meniscus and left that torn within no matter what we do with stabilizing the knee he'd still be sore which would be a failure. With the fragments of the torn meniscus removed Michael can now start stabilizing Jack's knee. Right ready yeah go and what we're going to do now is the nuts and bolts of the procedure we're going to actually make the top of the tibia which at the moment is on a slope we're going to make it cut in the bone and we're going to move it such that it's flat and we're going to stabilize it in that new position with a plate and screws. Power screwdriver makes you feel like you work for McLaren. This is the last screw going in. Beautiful. So the plate is in so we're just closing them up now. Outside Jack's owner Sam is waiting for news. She's been Scott's vet nurse for three years but right now that's not helping. This is Jack's eighth surgery and just because he's got through other anaesthetics doesn't mean that this one's going to go completely to plan so I know what to expect but it doesn't stop me worrying. I just can't wait to see him know he's okay and just get him home and give him lots of love and cuddles. That test that we did before with this finger moving forwards we do the same test now rock solid stable. So a bit of added pressure given that it's a friend's nurse's dog I guess she's a friend as well now. All looks good feels good I'm happy. Look Jack someone here to see you. Hello. Hello. Hello mum. It all went really well his meniscus was torn as we suspected his knee is stable the plate positioning is good. Well we're very pleased that his eighth surgery has all gone well and look you're gonna be normal again. Jack is just everything to me I love him to pieces so it's a huge relief to know that everything's gone well and that he's um he's coming home with me. I reckon this is what he's after. Give him some of that. Mr Jack. Jack look. Oh yes I'm a Labrador. He definitely seems like he's back to normal. Jack's self eating so soon after coming around for his anaesthetic that he's already got his nose straight into a bowl of food. You've got all over your nose. The healing powers of a bowl of food. We usually keep them overnight but because his mum's a vet nurse he's going to go home and recover with her. But the hard work is just about to start for Sam. Jack will have to put up with being confined to a cage for the next few weeks with only short daily walks allowed. He's such a nice dog aren't you? That's your lot I think. All right mate get well soon don't get fat get well soon and I'll see you in six weeks lovely okay right all the best. Before Scott leaves Yorkshire Andy has asked him to examine their oldest alpaca senior citizen George. Hello mate you must be George. I must be honest I'm not the alpaca vet that I could be. We don't really have a huge amount of them running around the hills of Richmond so it is a new species for me to work with but they do seem lovely. George acts as a headmaster in this group so he's in charge of the adolescents. What are the challenges of looking after these particular creatures? Well they're fantastic animals to work with but they're renowned for doing one thing and that one thing is spitting. That's delightful isn't it? Everything that's worked here has had it in the mouth full in the face. Good to know. Thanks for the warning. But despite the heads up... You spat right in my mouth. There have been lots of challenges to alpaca farming. Whilst I'm just having a nice chat with Andy and looking at all these beautiful alpacas one of them spits right down the back of my throat it's totally disgusting. Oh man. Oh go away stop it. Despite having a bad taste in his mouth from the welcome party Scott is not going to be deterred from taking on George's health check. Come on sweetheart that's a good boy. There we go. Perfect. Oh okay you're gonna let me have a little look at you. Good boy. Good boy I know. You can just have a look in here. George is a 19 year old alpaca arguably one of the oldest in the country and he's got a special place for us because he's the boss of the park. He's got a lot of attitude but he's also got a lot of affection. Andy's got a few loose teeth in here. Yeah. Well they're still healthy and they're still within those cavities so I don't think they need to be removed but I suppose considering his age it's no big surprise. Yeah. That he's got some loose teeth. It's amazing he's got his teeth still in With no infection or gingivitis found George has avoided a dental procedure this time round. Scott now needs to listen to his chest and heart. Hey George come on mate. George decides that he doesn't want me to listen to his heart. He's an old man he knows himself and so he starts to give me a bit of a kick. No kicking. So it's nice and strong and slow. This boy has still got some time in him yet I think. Good boy George. Well you know you weren't kicking me but we can put that behind us. Scott's last check is on George's aging legs. So what I'm just feeling is rather than a sort of smooth flexible well lubricated joint this is actually like nuts and bolts. I mean really what he's got here Andy is just the arthritic knees of an old man. Yeah. As far as George's joints are concerned I think a little bit of anti-inflammatory on a daily basis would be fair enough but I think George really just needs a lot of TLC and a lot of love. And it's very clear that he quite enjoys a cuddle. He likes a bit of affection. Yeah so I think just keep on doing what you're doing. Lots of love for the old boy. There you go. We can do that can't we? Yeah. Oh man. Just as we're finishing up with George mother nature takes its course. It's not really our kind of show. And on that note I think it's time for me to go home. Well Andy thanks very much again another eventful trip. Always a pleasure. Thank you so much for your help. And always a pleasure and never a chore but actually there's always a lot of chores. We certainly will. We'll find some more for you next time as well. Sure will. All right cheers mate. Take care. Thank you. Bye. Bye. There's one thing that I can be certain of in Sheffield. The learning curve never stops. This time I can add alpacas, raccoon dogs and even tenrecs to my veterinary CV but I absolutely love my new patient list. Even the ones that spit. Hugo what's this? Are you interested or do you just want to sleep some more? 140 miles south Hugo is now back home and his devoted mum Natalie is preparing dinner. Is it steak? No it's dog food. I want steak. What are you home for dinner? Can I have some of that? Here we go. Dinner. It's been four days since Scott removed a suspicious lump from the bullmastiff's mouth and Natalie has just received the test results. Scott gave us a call to tell us the good news that he has the all clear which is brilliant. Brilliant news. I was saying I wasn't worried but underneath I was just desperate to get those results and I don't think I'd realised how worried I was until we heard that he was okay because I got really teary and was just so relieved. Having a nice snooze there Hugo? You are the most beautiful dog in the world aren't you Hugo? You're so handsome. Come on team geriatric here we go. Have you ever seen two wonkier dogs? No. And two months after the surgery to repair Jack's ruptured cruciate ligament the Labrador is back to his normal happy self enjoying a stroll in the sun with Scott's border terrier Betty. Look at you two the king and queen of the wonky dogs. Last year Betty survived spinal surgery and just like Jack she's also bounced back. Good girl Betty. Good running. It's lovely to see them both happy both recovered as well as they can do from their ordeals and the surgeries that they've had to have. Jack come on. Jack come on. Well done. Good boy. Not bad. Betty and Jack have done so well and come on so far from where they were that it's definitely been really worth it. Well he is walking just so well isn't he? Oh I think so I think he's done really well. Yeah he's putting his weight nicely between well all the legs considering all the legs are a bit problematic. I know. And I just think what's so sweet about him is that he's eternally happy and it just shows that it's it's worth everything you've been through I think. I think so yeah it's not been easy at points at all but then when you see him happy running around and being a normal dog it's lovely to see. I think what dogs remind us is that you just need to live in the moment and enjoy each day and both my and Sam's dogs have been through the wringer and we could have chosen to finish it there but we pushed through hoping for the best and that's exactly what we've got. Our dogs aren't perfect but they're happy and they're smiling and they're enjoying each day and we're enjoying every day that we have with them. Come on come on. I know it's so exciting.