♪ ♪
(dog whining)
♪ ♪
DR. POL: Good morning!
Tater!
Well, hello there, big guy.
You crazy cat.
(purring)
(door chime)
Okay, where's the owner?
Andrew is bringing his hamster in.
And it's a young hamster. He's about 4 months old.
SIERRA: Hi. ANDREW: Hello.
He's in the back right here.
DR. POL: Is he that big?
ANDREW: Yeah.
SIERRA: He's about like this big.
ANDREW: Donovan is a teddy bear hamster
that's about 6 months old.
He's constantly like scratching his face and everything,
so his eye is kind of all swollen
and his breathing is kind of off.
DR. POL: Go ahead, bring him in, we'll check him over.
ANDREW: Okay. SIERRA: Okay.
ANDREW: I'm worried it could be something serious.
I mean, he is a hamster, so, like, not really sure
what we're supposed to do or anything.
DR. POL: Oh, my gosh.
Why does she look so rough?
ANDREW: Just kind of worried he might get sick and die.
Don't really know.
DR. POL: Come on.
You want to listen to his heart?
This is just what I like to do
because then you know what's going on.
Just a second.
Little animals with the little hearts have a heartbeat so fast
that it's unable to count.
See how fast it goes? ANDREW: Oh, wow.
DR. POL: Bdddddt! ANDREW: Wow.
DR. POL: Our heart rate is between 60 and 80,
while these hamsters are 200 plus.
And as long as they're beating that fast, everything is fine.
Hey. Let me look at you.
There you go.
His teeth are fine.
Yeah.
But I think he has a little snotty nose.
I'm gonna treat him for a snotty nose.
NARRATOR: Doc's eyeing an upper respiratory infection.
DR. POL: Okay.
This is antibiotic in dextrose.
See that 0.1?
ANDREW: Yeah. SIERRA: Yeah.
DR. POL: That much. Twice a day. Right in his mouth.
Let him just lick it up because he likes the sugar.
And then we'll go from there.
SIERRA: And we just have one last question.
DR. POL: Yes.
SIERRA: You kept saying she.
ANDREW: Is it a he or a she?
DR. POL: I don't know.
This is a he.
ANDREW: Okay. SIERRA: Oh, okay.
Found out that Donovan is actually a boy!
DR. POL: Look at this.
SIERRA: Oh, yeah. ANDREW: Oh, okay, yeah.
We're definitely relieved.
Now hopefully he can start feeling better
within the next couple days.
(oinking)
MARCIA: Oscar! Oscar!
He doesn't listen very good.
Oscar decided he was gonna take on his archrival,
and he went after him, and he took on a dog 20 times his size,
and he got the short end of the stick.
He's got a hole there.
That's all I can find so far
because that's all he'll let me look at.
Right?
He's been in shock, lethargic, droopy, not eating.
DR. NICOLE: You have Oscar?
Hi, bud! MARCIA: That's him.
DR. NICOLE: What happened to him?
MARCIA: Oscar's got an attitude, and he hates this dog.
DR. NICOLE: Okay.
MARCIA: So this morning he went outside to go to the bathroom
and saw Riker, and he just took off running and he nailed him.
DR. NICOLE: Little dog, big attitude, huh?
With Oscar's attitude, I don't want to risk anyone getting bit.
This guy started the dog fight.
So he's gonna wear a muzzle.
Hold on, quit.
Then we can go ahead and fix him.
Whole bunch of swelling down here.
MARCIA: Not only am I worried about his injuries...
DR. NICOLE: Definitely infected.
MARCIA: but I'm just worried about his attitude,
because he just doesn't seem to want to stop.
DR. NICOLE: Oh, sorry, sorry. WOMAN: You're okay.
So I think we're gonna take some next steps
to keep those two apart.
DR. NICOLE: In order to make sure Oscar doesn't have
any other ailments or trauma,
we're gonna go ahead and take some x-rays.
You look lucky, bud, I'm not seeing anything.
No broken ribs, diaphragm's intact, no broken bones.
Gonna go clean up your wound, bud?
Just the puncture wounds.
Good boy.
I don't like to sew up bite wounds.
You're so tough.
That dog's saliva, tartar, everything in its mouth
gets pushed into those bite wounds.
Sorry. Sorry.
So it's better to leave some bite wounds open,
that way all that debris, bacteria and everything
can ooze out instead of staying inside.
Okay, that's it.
That's all.
Here he is.
Everything's intact, everything's where it should be.
And the only wound he walked away with
was that little one on his side.
MARCIA: I'm relieved that Oscar's gonna be fine.
DR. NICOLE: We're not gonna stitch it,
we're just going to let it heal on its own
with some antibiotics and pain meds.
Okay?
Hopefully he learned his lesson, but...
MARCIA: It may take a few more fights like this
before we can get them to just get along.
DR. NICOLE: He's got a mind of his own.
MARCIA: He does!
This'll just kind of set him back for 3 or 4 days,
but he's already acting like his normal self.
He'll run the household like he always does.
(kiss)
♪ ♪
(baa)
MISSY: June is a 3-year-old doe.
She's a Nigerian dwarf.
This is her second kidding.
And she has decided that she doesn't want to nurse them.
She will butt them or run away.
We're really hoping that she can get it together
and actually become a good mom.
(baa)
DR. POL: Hello. So now you have a bad goat.
MISSY: I don't know what's going on with her.
This is a first-time experience for us,
for a doe not, not actually taking care of her babies.
Like, she'll let his one nurse.
DR. POL: Yeah.
MISSY: This one, she could give... she doesn't care.
(bleating)
Alright, you want to pull her out?
DR. POL: Yeah, I want to see her bag.
MISSY: Come on.
DR. POL: Is this her first litter?
MISSY: Second.
(bleating)
DR. POL: When I examine June, everything is fine.
She is just an ornery... Yeah. She only wants one.
June is a very healthy little goat,
it is just that she thinks that one is too weak to live,
and she wants to do just everything for the strong one,
and bunt the other one away.
Okay.
I can give her tranquilizer, and you use that a couple times.
Then make sure both of them are nursing.
Then stop and see what she does.
If she still head-butts the other one, do it again.
(baa)
In nature, they probably would die.
But because we humans are around,
we make sure that everybody gets enough to eat.
Okay, put a half a CC underneath the skin at a time.
NARRATOR: Helping the doe relax
will help her accept both kids...
DR. POL: Yep!
NARRATOR: enabling them to get the nutrition they need.
DR. POL: Okay. Give it a try.
MISSY: Alright.
(bleats)
DR. POL: If we can have both on June the goat,
everything should be fine.
(bleating)
(chirping)
(panting)
ERIC: Yeah, that's a good boy.
Duke is a 10-year-old chocolate Lab.
That's a good boy.
I've had him since he was a baby little puppy.
He's kind of been my boy the whole time.
He loves getting into things he shouldn't,
which is part of the problem why we're here probably.
DR. BRENDA: Hello, Eric.
Why don't you go ahead and bring him in?
ERIC: He's been having some issues of pretty bad irritation
on his rear end.
He's got diabetes real bad also,
so we're, anything we kind of get
a bit more concerned about with that.
DR. BRENDA: Hello, buddy. ERIC: Come on, buddy.
DR. BRENDA: We'll do a temperature first
and then we'll go from there.
ERIC: We noticed a black, bloodyish liquid
draining from somewhere in the area,
just can't figure out exactly where.
DR. BRENDA: Sometimes it's just anal gland stuff coming out
that sometimes can look bloody.
ERIC: He's been more kind of sullen and whimpering a lot.
It really breaks my heart to hear him just laying around
whimpering all day long.
DR. BRENDA: He is running a temperature today,
he's up to 104.2, which is not normal.
ERIC: Like I said, he's my boy, so I want to make sure
he's happy and content as long as possible.
DR. BRENDA: I'm not finding any masses in the area;
I'm not finding any drainage in the area, which is all good.
There's a little bit of blood.
He's got an infection in his right anal gland.
NARRATOR: The gland excretes a pungent liquid
that allows dogs to mark their territory.
DR. BRENDA: Infection in the anal glands could be
one of the reasons he's running a fever today.
But other than that, he looks pretty good.
ERIC: Figured out he's probably got an infected anal gland.
DR. BRENDA: Okay, so we're gonna put him on some antibiotics,
and I'm gonna put him on some medication
to bring his temperature down.
He'll feel better and we'll get the infection cleared up.
He should be hopefully feeling a little bit better,
and if he's not, I want to know.
ERIC: I'm feeling pretty good about it.
We're still gonna check back in Thursday, Wednesday, she asked,
just to make sure his situation hasn't gotten any worse.
DR. BRENDA: Okay, you guys have fun.
ERIC: You, too. Thank you very much.
DR. BRENDA: Yup, have a good night.
ERIC: We're gonna go home this afternoon,
get some dinner, play some fetch.
Usually Duke is more of a keeper than a returner,
but it's still fun for him.
That's the evening plan.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: Whenever Doc and Charles
respond to an emergency,
it's good to know experienced help is waiting.
DR. POL: Clay Knob has been a client almost 40 years.
Hi, guys!
DALE: Hey, Doc!
DR. POL: We are getting old together,
and we're helping each other as much as possible.
That's her?
DALE: Yes, sir.
DR. POL: They have a cow with a twisted stomach.
Man, you couldn't find a smaller cow, could you?
NARRATOR: To reposition the stomach...
DR. POL: Come on! Come on.
NARRATOR: Doc needs to get the three-quarter-ton cow
on her back.
DR. POL: Okay.
We have long rope to loop around the neck.
Here, pass it to me.
Half hitch behind the front legs,
half hitch in front of her back, and pull.
Now what we're gonna to do, we're gonna roll her.
DALE: Given the situation with the heat
and she's not feeling very good...
DR. POL: Careful. Hey!
DALE: she might be a little bit excitable today.
DR. POL: Watch it!
(moo)
DR. POL: We got enough guys in there,
we roll her all by herself.
The temperature is over 90.
Pull her right up there.
If we would tranquilize this cow,
she would overheat and die from stress.
She has to roll this way.
NARRATOR: Gas has built up in the cow's stomach...
DR. POL: Don't you kick.
NARRATOR: displacing it and shutting down the GI tract.
DR. POL: Hey!
What we have to do is pull the cow down.
Here. Pull.
Watch it!
What the heck is wrong with this cow?
Roll her on her back.
Flat out.
Front leg up in the air.
And then it floats to the top.
Good.
Right in place at the bottom of the belly.
Okay, watch out.
DALE: Yep.
DR. POL: I hurry up and stitch the stomach to the belly wall.
Ready?
So it doesn't float up to the top.
DALE: No, but we're gonna do it anyhow.
DR. POL: She's gonna kill ya.
This cow is not the tamest, you could say.
Holy Moses!
DALE: She had a lot more fight in her
than I think Doc had expected.
DR. POL: Hold--son of a gun!
DALE: And it was kind of hairy. (laughs)
DR. POL: One more time.
Ready?
It's never easy.
DALE: Watch out!
Ho!
DR. POL: Okay, that should be good enough.
Tie her up.
Now she'll live.
Most of the time if we get there early,
the cow just takes right off again.
You got hurt?
DALE: No!
DR. POL: Good, then we're done.
DALE: Thankfully everything went well.
(radio beeps) DR. POL: Mobile one to base.
JANET: My 15-year-old Chiweenie Lil has something in her eye.
We're not sure what but it's, it's draining pretty good,
and she can't keep it open, so it looks painful.
Either pink eye or an allergy attack
or she got something in it or...
I hate having her have anything wrong with her at her age.
If it's something serious, I know that a dog that age,
they're limited on anything that they can do for her.
DR. LISA: Alright, well, I'll take her inside with me
and we'll take a look at what's going on.
Oh, poor sweetheart.
Lil's eyeball is our primary concern today,
so that's where I'm gonna start my exam.
WOMAN: Oh, don't be scared!
DR. LISA: I've got to stain her eye.
I can tell that Lil is pretty nervous being here.
She is away from her familiar people.
She's in a very unfamiliar environment
with a lot of really strange smells.
Oh, look how red your poor eye is.
I can definitely understand her discomfort today.
Oh, babe, it's okay.
I'm not gonna eat you, I swear.
After I stain Lil's eye...
It's so hard to be you, isn't it?
fortunately, I don't see any ulcers,
which is a really good sign.
Alright. Part two.
All of her reflexes appear intact,
so this looks like maybe just a mild conjunctivitis.
Will you tilt her head back for me?
After cleaning out Lil's eye,
I'm going to give her the first dose
of some topical antibiotic ointment,
just to treat the local infection.
Oh, babe.
Her owners are going to have to continue this treatment
hopefully for just about a week or so,
and that should clear everything up just fine.
AUSTIN: Uh-oh.
JANET: Uh-oh, here she comes!
DR. LISA: Alright, she was such a champ.
AUSTIN: Good.
DR. LISA: The cornea isn't damaged at all.
It looks mostly just like a fairly mild conjunctivitis.
JANET: I'm feeling better now that it's nothing serious.
DR. LISA: This is just an antibiotic ointment
that has a little bit of an anti-inflammatory in it
to make it a bit more comfortable.
The outlook for Lil is excellent.
It should be easily cleared up
with the treatment we started today.
AUSTIN: Thank you. DR. LISA: Have a great day.
JANET: Everything's okay, and they can go back to hiding
under the blanket.
DR. POL: Okay.
Katie is bringing a couple emu chicks in.
They've not been doing very well.
KATIE: I know, you're not very happy, are you?
Rex is the biggest emu.
His leg looks like it's almost walking backwards.
The small one is Fool.
She was born on April Fools, that's how she got her name.
She has got, like, splay leg where she can't get up to walk.
DR. POL: Okay, let's go in the garage and let me see them walk.
KATIE: It's a little concerning.
DR. POL: Okay.
Put them on the floor.
Ah.
If they would be normal,
they'd be running around like very fast running chicks.
And this one?
What the heck is going on with those things?
Okay, grab them.
This is all malformed right in here, see that?
KATIE: Yeah.
DR. POL: And that's all in there.
The bones try to grow,
but there's not enough calcium and vitamin D.
NARRATOR: And both are essential nutrients
for healthy bone development.
DR. POL: But we going to tape the legs up so they can't move.
KATIE: Okay.
DR. POL: I'd like to tape them up.
Both of them together.
So that the legs do not get malformed.
Right over its whole body, just like that.
And what we have to do is get better food for them.
Okay.
Enough minerals and vitamins in them
to make them stronger and straight.
You can change this every so often.
NARRATOR: With their legs immobilized
and a change in diet, their bones should grow in properly.
DR. POL: We'll see you guys.
KATIE: Thank you! DR. POL: Let me know.
KATIE: I'm feeling pretty hopeful about it,
and they're still young
so they'll come around pretty quick.
♪ ♪
(birds chirping)
LYNN: Come here, baby.
Jake is my golden retriever/ yellow Lab mix.
He's eight years old.
He's a little shy, but he's a very nice dog.
Well, you can see he's shaking right now in his left rear.
It's happened with this leg before.
This time we thought we'd better have it checked out.
DR. BRENDA: Okay.
So we're gonna do a good physical exam on Jake
to figure out where the lameness is coming from,
where he's painful.
We're feeling all the joints, comparing left leg to right leg.
His problem is up in his hip on that side,
because the knees, when I compare right knee to left knee,
they feel the same.
I would recommend we take him downstairs for an x-ray today.
LYNN: Okay.
DR. BRENDA: Just so we can see what's going on
and how bad it is.
And make sure it's just the hip and not something different.
LYNN: My biggest concern is that it's some sort of tear.
DR. BRENDA: Jake, come on.
LYNN: Where he'd have to stay off the leg or stay inactive.
That's pretty difficult to do with a 95-pound dog.
DR. BRENDA: So his problem is in his left hip.
He's got a little arthritis in both of them,
but none of it, nothing's bad.
NARRATOR: A common ailment that often leads
to joint inflammation.
DR. BRENDA: With some joint supplements
and some pain medication, he will be much happier soon.
LYNN: It was good news.
Jake doesn't have any kind of tear.
You ready?
He certainly can live with arthritis.
I'm very relieved that it isn't something more serious.
You're a good boy.
DR. LISA: Alright.
Janet is bringing in Whitey today.
He's one of her barn cats.
JANET: Yesterday morning when I went to feed him,
he was kind of wobbling, and you know, his head was sideways.
DR. LISA: Oh, my goodness.
JANET: And his eyes are darting side to side.
DR. LISA: That's awful.
JANET: I've never seen a cat like that before.
DR. LISA: It's like the world is sideways.
DR. LISA: He feels pretty bad right now.
JANET: Yeah. I'm just worried about what's going to happen.
He looks pretty bad.
DR. LISA: If I hold his head still, his eyes are still.
Whitey has what we call nystagmus.
The eyes flick back and forth rapidly.
Whitey just doesn't really know which way is up anymore.
This almost looks like another cat may have bitten him.
You can see, he's got like a little abscess here
at the base of his ear.
That would definitely be causing some inner ear imbalance.
JANET: Mm-hmm.
DR. LISA: It's kind of difficult to see the deeper structures
of the ear just because there is so much nastiness.
I'm mostly looking to see if there's any masses.
I don't see anything.
Yeah, it's pretty goopy down inside there.
I'm gonna make a slide of this and see what's in there.
JANET: I don't think he seems to be in pain,
but he's frustrated and scared.
DR. LISA: Infection causes quite a bit of inflammation.
Well, that's what the problem is.
And inflammation can disrupt those very sensitive cells
that are responsible for helping you
keep your sense of equilibrium.
This like stringy stuff is the white blood cells
basically attacking the bacteria.
A key part of Whitey's treatment
is going to be antibiotics in his ear.
Okey-dokey.
I can't rule out completely that something might not be wrong
with something important in his brain.
I've got so many things for him.
But there's definitely something obvious
that we can treat in his ear.
And I am hoping that once that's resolved,
all of his problems will kind of go away.
Last poke, bud.
JANET: He's pretty drugged up right now.
DR. LISA: If it's not improving, just let me know.
JANET: Whitey's gonna stay in for probably a week
to make sure that he's doing okay.
And if he's not getting better within a week, I'll come back.
Whatever it takes for Whitey, yeah.
That's what we're gonna do.
(rooster crows)
DIANNE: There you go.
Curl up.
You're okay.
Our first calf of the year was born on Sunday.
We were excited,
but it was laying there prone stretched out,
with very shallow breathing.
We don't know what's going on.
DR. POL: He looks terrible.
Calf doesn't look good.
And yes, we have to try to save this one.
Where is the blood coming from?
DIANNE: Uh...
DR. POL: From his navel?
Oh, yeah, feel this here.
Feel how big that navel is there?
What I find is a navel infection that spread to the joints.
This is all joint infections.
The wet navel picked up some bacterias
and then they actually go into the bloodstream,
and they settle in the joints.
And it's not doing good at all.
That's why this calf is not walking.
DIANNE: Good thing we came.
I never would have picked it up because to me it looks normal.
DR. POL: Penicillin is still the drug of choice.
DIANNE: Okay.
DR. POL: There's still a good chance
that we can save this one.
I would give this one 6 cc of penicillin twice a day.
She's going to treat it very hard with antibiotics.
Right there underneath the skin just like that.
Can you tube-feed it?
Maybe once or twice, and hopefully by that time
it'll start working again.
Because the calf is too weak to nurse,
you have to use a tube and feed the calf through a tube
so that he gets stronger.
DIANNE: Tube-feed it what?
DR. POL: Milk, milk replacer. Good quality.
Then in a couple days when he's stronger
and the antibiotics are working,
he probably will nurse on the bottle.
Okay, good luck.
DIANNE: Thank you very much.
Can we get your head in a better place, huh?
I feel very glad that I came in.
Period.
That's... we needed an expert opinion.
NARRATOR: It's going to take a bit
to get the calf up to speed.
This pup is already in high gear.
DR. LISA: Hey, guys, you got a little puppy for me to look at?
SAMANTHA: We do, yeah.
DR. LISA: And how is Duke?
SAMANTHA: Say, "Alright."
Duke is 12 weeks old.
DR. LISA: Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness.
SAMANTHA: He had some puppy shots previously
when we got him, and Duke needs some more puppy shots,
a nail trim, and some flea and tick medicine.
DR. LISA: Oh. Thank you for the kisses! I'll be back.
SAMANTHA: Thank you.
CHLOE: I like cuddling him, and I like having him in our family.
DR. LISA: Look at this baby.
Duke is a typical energetic, very happy puppy,
and that mood is just really infectious.
(laughs)
With puppies, it's important to make sure
that it's a really positive experience.
Good boy!
SAMANTHA: In the three weeks we've had him,
he has grown like a weed because he loves to eat.
DR. LISA: Hi! Hi! WOMAN: Oh, my goodness.
DR. LISA: You want this?
He seems to be really enjoying all of the treats and affection
that we're showering him with today.
WOMAN: He's too intent on those treats.
DR. LISA: Good boy!
More treats needed!
WOMAN: Aw, aw, aw.
DR. LISA: Here.
Good boy!
♪ ♪
Come on, tornado.
I feel very pleased to give Samantha
a clean bill of health for him.
He looks like he's growing really well,
and she's doing a great job taking care of him.
Here he is.
Oh, the wiggle worm!
CHLOE: I think I'm gonna go play outside with him,
throw some balls for him and stuff,
and if he brings them to me and drops them,
I'll give him a treat!
♪ ♪
DANNITA: I brought four baby goats in to see Dr. Lisa.
They're acting really strange.
They started dragging their back legs.
Kind of wobbly, almost like they were kind of like drunk.
Especially after they nursed.
And then they would just collapse.
I've been breeding goats for over 10 years,
this is the first time I've seen it.
DR. LISA: Oh, dear.
Right off the bat, I can tell
a couple of them are really not feeling well.
Some of them can't even really stand.
DANNITA: I thought maybe after watching these guys
maybe it was something genetic.
DR. LISA: I can definitely understand
why Dannita is so concerned.
DANNITA: This one's the worst.
I don't think he's gonna make it.
DR. LISA: He looks pretty down and out.
DANNITA: Yeah.
DR. LISA: One of the youngest kids is definitely worse off
than the other three.
I'm gonna take our sickest one inside.
I'm gonna see if I can boost him up with some extra fluids.
See if I can get a better idea of what's going on with him.
I don't know if he's just like so sick he's not reactive,
but he might not be visual.
DANNITA: I don't think the first guy's gonna make it.
He's looking a little rough.
DR. LISA: He's so small.
I can tell this little guy
has a little bit of pneumonia going on,
which is making him not feel too well,
and he's definitely a little bit on the cold side.
Not sure if it's parasites or like an infection or like polio.
Which is a condition where, due to a deficiency of thiamin,
which is one of the B vitamins...
(kid cries)
the cortex of the brain
almost starts to melt a little bit.
(cries)
It's the most alive you've sounded.
Looks like since he's gotten that hydration boost,
this little kid is actually perking up a little bit,
which is a really good sign.
Alrighty.
DANNITA: Oh, he perked up a little bit!
DR. LISA: Yeah, after I poked him a couple times.
DANNITA: Look at you. DR. LISA: Yes.
DANNITA: He's a feisty one, he's got a lot of spirit.
DR. LISA: I think I made him angry.
DANNITA: I really thought that he was a goner,
and I thought she was gonna end up putting him down.
But he's perked up, so that's good.
DR. LISA: The way that they're acting,
I'm pretty suspicious of like a thiamin deficiency.
It's fairly common if their diet is a little bit off.
I'm going to give them all thiamin.
NARRATOR: It'll help the kids bounce back.
DR. LISA: The thing Dannita is going to have to do at home
is continue with the thiamin boosters.
(kid cries)
DANNITA: Oh, you're dramatic. (kid cries)
DR. LISA: To make sure that they're getting enough thiamin.
(kid crying) I swear I'm helping you.
DANNITA: Yeah.
DR. LISA: And that they're recovering
from a possible deficiency.
Look at him!
DANNITA: Almost. DR. LISA: Almost able to stand.
DANNITA: Happy! I'm taking all four home.
DR. LISA: Call the office if you have any concerns.
I'd love to hear how they're doing.
DANNITA: Okay.
DR. LISA: So if somebody can let me know.
DANNITA: Okay. DR. LISA: Alright?
I just hope that all of the treatments we've started today
are enough to bring them back from the brink.
♪ ♪
MICHELLE: Love you. Don't forget the ears.
(laughs)
He's not spoiled at all.
(laughs)
NARRATOR: A few days ago, Dr. Brenda treated Duke
for an infected anal gland.
MICHELLE: Duke has kind of been laying around
groaning and grumbling.
He's had a bellyache for two days.
There's Doc Brenda!
DR. BRENDA: What's going on with him today?
MICHELLE: Bloated, distended belly.
DR. BRENDA: Why don't you go ahead and bring him in?
We'll take a look, see what we can do.
MICHELLE: Duke has a special place in the household.
Let's get you, pal, come on.
Duke is my boy.
We love him very much.
He's never looked like this.
DR. BRENDA: Duke has put on four pounds since his last visit.
It could be that he's retaining some fluid.
It could be that he's got more food in his system than he had.
Come here, Duke.
Any vomiting?
MICHELLE: No vomiting.
DR. BRENDA: Stool's normal or diarrhea?
MICHELLE: Nope, normal.
DR. BRENDA: His temperature is down a little bit
from what it was the other day.
It's down to 103 today, so it's still a little bit high.
The abdomen is full today,
so we're gonna investigate that problem.
Alright, let's take a picture of the abdomen today
and see what's going on.
It's probably not related to the problem he was here for
just a few days ago.
Come on, we're gonna go downstairs.
MICHELLE: He has gotten into something before,
and it's tore his guts up a little bit,
and you know, he suffered for it.
I'm nervous. He's 10 years old.
There's the possibility of losing Duke.
DR. BRENDA: Ooh, careful!
MICHELLE: So we want to take every step we can
to make sure that that doesn't happen.
DR. BRENDA: Okay, I am not seeing a whole lot of anything
exciting in there.
MICHELLE: I'm actually quite relieved
that it isn't something that he self-induced.
DR. BRENDA: For whatever reason, his GI tract
just got a little bit off,
and he's got an overgrowth of bacteria.
So we're gonna put him on antibiotics
to see if that helps get the GI system happier,
getting it more mobile
and making things go through him better.
MICHELLE: It's about dinnertime, Duke doesn't miss on dinner,
so dinner and probably a nap.
(panting)
(whimpering)
JENNIFER: I came to see Dr. Lisa today
to bring my 11 Great Dane puppies to get their shots.
11.
NARRATOR: The average litter is usually only 5 or 6 pups.
JENNIFER: This is my first Great Dane dog
and my first litter of puppies.
There's a lot of them, it's a lot of work,
but they're so cute.
DR. LISA: Oh, my goodness, okay.
Hello! JENNIFER: Hi!
DR. LISA: I'm gonna take them in a couple at a time.
And then when I'm finished, grab a couple more.
JENNIFER: I think everything will go well today.
The only problem I've seen
is that one of them might have an issue.
The white one with the bald face.
Questions on the sight on him.
DR. LISA: Yeah, sometimes the ones with blue eyes like this
have some vision issues.
We'll see.
Does this one have a name or...
JENNIFER: This is Lydia and this is Peabody.
DR. LISA: Okay.
Alright, I'll be back!
It takes a little time for puppies to develop
some of their normal eye reflexes,
but I expect to be able to tell if Mr. Peabody is visual today.
He's not really reactive to any of the eye stimuli
that I'm giving him.
What do you do on the ground?
Hmm.
I think he might not be able to see at all.
WOMAN: Awww.
NARRATOR: Thanks to a superior canine hearing
and sense of smell...
DR. LISA: This your little snout?
NARRATOR: Mr. Peabody should be just fine.
DR. LISA: He's definitely still able to enjoy all the fun things
that dogs like to do.
Okay.
I'm not certain, but I almost don't think he can see at all.
He doesn't react at all to movement close to his face.
JENNIFER: Mr. Peabody might be blind.
And if he is, that's okay, I'll just keep him.
DR. LISA: Otherwise, they're perfect.
JENNIFER: Great.
(whimpering)
DR. POL: Blind dogs can be just as happy as anybody else.
If they are born that way, they don't know any better.
Look at me, I'm colorblind.
I was born that way, and I don't know any better, and I'm happy.
Beautiful.
You got 'em sold?
JENNIFER: Only four of them.
DR. POL: Only four?
TOM: Still have the one saved aside for you!
DR. POL: Shhhh!
We've got 600 pounds of dog in the house already!
JENNIFER: Oh, yeah. DR. POL: Thanks, guys!
JENNIFER: We'll see ya later. TOM: Thank you.
DR. LISA: Next we have Mickey, Groucho, Poppy, and Archie.
WOMAN: Come here, Groucho!
DR. LISA: Vaccinating puppies is extremely important.
Puppies don't really develop their own immune system
until they're several months old.
Good boy!
I'm working my way through the rest of the litter.
You can see.
Lots of walking.
What a good boy!
(whimpering)
They all look fantastically healthy
and are a whole lot of fun to snuggle with.
Okay. You're done!
JENNIFER: I'm grateful for Dr. Lisa
for taking care of my puppies today.
I think she did a great job.
DR. LISA: Everybody was perfect except for our friend Peabody.
JENNIFER: Thank you so much.
DR. LISA: You're very welcome. You have a great day.
JENNIFER: Thanks! DR. LISA: Yep!
(whimpering)
DR. NICOLE: Today we got an emergency call for a calving.
Is she supposed to be due?
ROSEMARY: Oh, yeah.
DR. NICOLE: Rosemary has a cow that was supposed to calve
a couple days ago, but she hasn't seen anything.
Gonna push?
MICHAEL: Come on.
DR. NICOLE: The cow is trying to push,
but she's not really having any good contractions.
JOE: Come on.
DR. NICOLE: Come on, girl.
It's not looking good.
DR. NICOLE: She's pretty tight in there
and a lot of that's probably due from just swelling.
Her uterus is swollen around the calf, and the calf is bloated.
Now we're gonna have to get some chains.
Mom can't push her out, I have to pull her out.
Once I get both of these on, I may need more help with pulling.
Here, loosen up.
Ooh, watch out.
I have to position the calf correctly
which is both front legs forwards,
and head forward in a diving position.
The hoof is coming off.
Almost instantly I start feeling the hooves coming off,
with my hand.
Oh, man.
I'm not sure if the calf had something going on internally
or if there's something wrong with mom,
but it's been dead for at least a couple days.
At this point it's all about saving the mom.
Just pulling it back as far as she can.
She's fighting me.
Come on, girl.
Even with two other grown adult men...
JOE: Come on. DR. NICOLE: No!
She is trying to push us all over the place.
Doing okay?
Mom's uterus is so tight and swollen around the calf.
And I'm really struggling with that right now.
A little bit of progress.
Yeah, I think we're going to need the puller.
Next is the big guns.
I have to get the calf puller out.
I don't know if she's gonna stand for this.
To see if I can get some extra strength and angles
to pull this calf out.
Okay.
Would you mind doing that? And I'll push.
Once we get a little bit further, I'll take a feel.
♪ ♪
You want to stay?
It's coming.
Slowly.
I'm trying to use all my force just to get the legs out.
Come on, girl.
JERRY: What is that?
DR. NICOLE: And once I get the legs out,
I can get the head out.
Walk it back.
Her calf is bloated inside of her.
The head is just too swollen to make it through the birth canal
with the front legs.
(breathing heavily)
We're all just soaked, exhausted,
but we got to keep going.
♪ ♪
Right now I'm just trying to save mom,
so I'm gonna go ahead and do a fetotomy,
which means taking out the calf in different pieces.
Okay.
Just got to be careful that we don't cut her uterus.
I'm able to get the wire around the head.
I think we basically have almost all the fur
off of the calf's head right now.
With the hair coming off, it just slips right out.
Okay.
I don't think I can get this around her head
and make it stay.
The only other option is a C-section.
ROSEMARY: What are the chances of her surviving
after the C-section?
DR. NICOLE: (sighs) About 50/50.
ROSEMARY: What do you think, Joe?
♪ ♪
JOE: Uh.
Go ahead and put her down.
ROSEMARY: I think you're right, Joe.
I just think she needs to be put down then.
DR. NICOLE: I'm sorry, girl.
The owners have decided to go ahead and have her put down.
That way she doesn't have to suffer anymore,
and I agree with them.
She's been through a lot.
Huh, girl?
This is very hard.
I tried my best, but can't save them all, I guess.
♪ ♪
(rooster crows)
♪ ♪
DR. LISA: Hello! JANET: Hello.
DR. LISA: How we doing?
JANET: It's improving.
Well, I don't know.
This is Whitey's follow-up for an ear infection.
When I brought him here, I thought that was the end of him.
I couldn't really see any good outcome to it.
Whitey's eyes aren't darting back and forth like they were,
but his head is still tipped to the side quite a bit.
DR. LISA: Perfect.
He's still sideways.
JANET: Yes.
DR. LISA: I am concerned that he had such a severe infection
he might never be back to his totally normal self.
But I'm happy with the strides that we've made so far.
At least he's able to hold himself upright.
I'm pleased by that.
The treatment is at least helping,
but the problem is not completely resolved.
Alright, let me look in that ear, buddy.
Alright, I'm gonna go stain this,
and then I'll be back in just a minute, okay?
JANET: Whitey's pretty special.
He's real friendly for being semi-feral and a barn cat.
Pretty scary in here?
I know.
DR. LISA: Oh, my goodness.
I am concerned about the rod-shaped bacteria,
which are never normal to find in an ear.
NARRATOR: The rod-shaped bacteria are found
in water and soil
and are highly resistant to most antibiotics.
DR. LISA: Alright.
So what I'm seeing this time that I didn't see before
are some rod-shaped bacteria.
Those aren't really normal to have.
I'm concerned that my initial ear medication
has not been aggressive enough against these rod bacteria.
So we're gonna switch to an ear drop
that you're gonna put in.
And I'm gonna switch to a different medication,
hoping to have some better results.
Just have to massage this in there for a minute.
Whitey has significantly improved at this point.
Alright, it's looking pretty good!
And it looks like we're just about there.
JANET: Whitey and I are both looking forward
to having this behind us.
It'll be great to not have to put the drops in anymore
and bring him back to the vets.
But you know, we're gonna keep going forward.
♪ ♪
DR. POL: Kellie's bringing her 5-year-old
standard poodle Roxy in, because she woke up
and there was vomit and diarrhea all over the place.
KELLIE: She just did this.
DR. POL: Throwing up.
That is not something people like on a dog.
Bring her in.
KELLIE: She's kind of like my fur kid.
Come on, come on, Rox.
She's pretty special.
She's been there through thick and thin, so.
Hopefully nothing traumatic is wrong with her.
DR. POL: See that? KELLIE: Yeah.
DR. POL: The gums are dark.
KELLIE: What does that mean?
DR. POL: That she has poisons in her gut.
She's toxic.
DR. POL: Oh, it's dark.
KELLIE: When he looked at her gums,
he said that she was toxic.
I don't understand what happened.
That kind of made me concerned.
DR. POL: Did you take her for a walk yesterday or so?
KELLIE: No. DR. POL: Nothing?
KELLIE: Nothing.
DR. POL: I see that if they get into garbage,
they start throwing up and diarrhea,
and yes, it flies both ways very fast.
100.7, so that's normal.
Infection in the gut does not have to have a high temperature.
Let me get my stethoscope.
The heart is okay.
KELLIE: She was fine yesterday.
DR. POL: The lungs sound good.
She is very, very empty inside.
KELLIE: She had a lot of diarrhea.
DR. POL: We have no idea what Roxy got into.
But something really made an upset stomach.
We're gonna treat her for that.
Some people call it enteritis,
some people call it pancreatitis.
I'm gonna give her a bunch of shots to help her out.
KELLIE: Now that we're here and Dr. Pol looked at her,
I'm completely fine with the results
and I know she'll feel better by tonight.
DR. POL: Okay, that's one.
Here's something to slow down the gut, and everything else.
Okay.
KELLIE: Now what can I feed her?
DR. POL: Rice and hamburger.
And start feeding that a little bit at a time.
And go from there.
Outlook for Roxy's good.
This happens just about every day with some dog,
because dogs like to get into things that they shouldn't.
KELLIE: Okay.
♪ ♪
(geese honking)
NARRATOR: The last round of antibiotics
that Dr. Lisa prescribed for Whitey
knocked his ear infection out.
JANET: He's a lot better. He seems back to normal now.
You know, he's eating well
and he's playing with the other cats.
(growling)
Whitey's head is just slightly tilted now.
There's a good boy.
Dr. Lisa said it would probably remain that way.
He's had damage to his ears.
I don't know what's next for Whitey.
Just living in the barn with his friends, I guess.
Hopefully no more ear infections.
That would be great!
(meow)
DR. NICOLE: I got called out after-hours
to come to Ken and Nikole's.
It is an emergency.
Okay, where are we headed?
He has a mare that just foaled,
and there's something going wrong with the birth canal.
NIKOLE: She's had quite a few babies under her belt.
Normally she can handle this.
Usually doesn't need any intervention.
This is actually the first time
that we've ever had to call anybody on her.
DR. NICOLE: What you got going on there, huh?
Her placenta is still hanging there.
She has a red bulge right on the inside of her vulva.
I want to see what this is, girly.
At first I'm not sure what's going on.
It could be part of the placenta.
Once I'm able to reach in and take a feel,
I found out that it was just a big hematoma.
This is trauma from foaling.
'Cause it's not connected to her placenta at all.
It's actually her vaginal wall.
If the foal came out too hard,
if she happened to hit something while she was foaling,
it's hard to say exactly what,
but something related to foaling.
I'm not too worried about the hematoma at this point.
With time, some icing and some anti-inflammatories,
it'll go away.
Just trying to see if I can get this a little loosened up.
I am slightly worried about the placenta
since it's still hanging there.
And then I'll give her a shot to help get it out,
and then I'll tie it up, too.
So as more comes out, you can also go ahead and knot it up,
that just helps add more weight to the top of it
and kind of have it come out naturally.
This is a good memory,
because mom and foal are both doing great.
Oh, my goodness, how cute!
NIKOLE: Dr. Nicole did a great job.
I'm very grateful that she took care of business.
DR. NICOLE: See you later! (chuckles)
NARRATOR: All is good.
Now for some mother-baby bonding time.
(moo)
Before calling it quits, Dr. Lisa has one last client.
DR. LISA: Here at Isaiah's today to take a look at a couple cows.
We're just checking them to see if they're pregnant or not.
Hi!
And as soon as I pull in the driveway,
Miss Bella is a great welcoming committee.
I feel right at home here.
ISAIAH: Bella, she's, anybody that pulls in,
she's the first one to find them.
DR. LISA: Hello! ISAIAH: How's it going?
DR. LISA: Good, how are you? ISAIAH: Good.
She's a pretty good dog.
So, I've got two of these cows out here.
DR. LISA: How are we gonna catch them?
ISAIAH: I've got a chute out there, they're already...
DR. LISA: Oh, perfect.
NARRATOR: These girls... (moo)
are ready to take a walk on the wild side.
DR. LISA: Which isn't surprising,
a lot of beef cows are a little bit hard to work with sometimes.
(mooing)
That was unexpected!
ISAIAH: We've dealt with it before,
and it usually doesn't end well.
DR. LISA: Once they're all riled up,
it tends to kind of be a losing battle, but.
ISAIAH: I just decided that we better just back off.
It is what it is.
I'll probably have Dr. Lisa back out
and have her check them again.
DR. LISA: Yeah!
I think we're gonna call it a day.
(mooing)
Captioned by Side Door Media Services