Tragic! Big Dog Struggles To Walk As Joints Fail | S3 Ep15 | Vet On The Hill

How you going? Yeah, not bad. Hi Maisie. This is famous Maisie. Yep. Oh my gosh, she's huge, David. Maisie, hello baby. Gosh, beautiful, isn't she? Thanks. So, she's not walking right? I think it's her back left leg. Okay. She just doesn't seem to want to put too much weight on it. How long ago did that sort of start? I would say about, probably about a week ago. Okay. I noticed it, and a bit more reluctant to go out for our walks, which isn't really like her. You look quite nervous, no? Yeah, you do. It's one of those things, you know, you deal with clients all the time, but then when you become the client, it's very different. Nathan is mystical, calm and collected. He's a very chilled out fella. Come on, this way. Rarely does he show his emotion, but today I can really see it in his face. His heart's on his sleeve, and he's a very nervous boy. Look at me. Good girl. She does seem a little bit tender, even just touching her hip joint. Okay. So now I'm just going to try and extend it, mate, okay? Oh, you're a strong girl, aren't you? Okay. Let me just feel. That's it. Okay. All right. Okay. Let's have a feel of this knee now. Good girl. So she's definitely tender in her left knee more than she is in that hip. Yeah, she really does not like that. And it does feel a little bit thickened, actually. Good girl, good girl, good girl, good girl. Extend that right out. Okay. Maisie actually presents quite a number of challenges because she is so large. She's very big, so hard to sort of grab hold of everything you need to and manipulate it. So it does mean it's quite a challenge, and we do need to make sure we keep our wits about us today. It feels a little bit like nuts and bolts in this knee also. Not as thickened as the other side and not as painful as the other side. No. So I think your initial assessment of a left leg issue is absolutely right. So what we need to do is to give her a sedation to be able to examine her a little bit better while she's deprived of her senses. And then we'll do some x-rays and just see what's going on in all of these joints. Okay, mate. Okay. Assume your position. I have to get on top of my dog. Okay. I'll try not to miss anything. Scott's not got the best view at the moment, but let's hope he doesn't make that needle slip. All right. You ready? Yep. Okay. Oh. Okay. Oh, brave girl, brave girl. Here we go. Well done. All done? Yep, all done. Here we go. Giant breed dogs are known to have a number of genetically predisposed conditions because they are so huge. Oh. Good girl. But all that weight and pressure comes to bear on the joints, and therefore they do tend to have more issues with their joints than a smaller dog would. So what we now need to do is to x-ray her. So we take a number of different images, starting with the knees and then moving to the hips. X-ray. Just to get a full picture of exactly what's going on with little Maisy or big Maisy. So what do you want to know, the good news or the bad news? What is the good news? There is good news. Yeah. The good news is that her hips look fine. Oh, wow. Which is really good. So they're sitting nicely into that hip joint there, nice and smooth. Her knees, however, are a concern. She's put more weight onto the left. Mm-hmm. Twisted very quickly and injured her cruciate ligament on the left. It's a very common injury of football players or netball players, anyone that turns suddenly and stops. She's got serious inertia going on. Once she's moving, she's not going to stop quickly. No. So at some point we need to give that stability back, and unfortunately the only way that we can do that is with surgery. So I'm going to send you to a very good mate of mine, Michael Hamilton, the orthopaedic surgeon, and he can have a look at Maisy and see what he needs to do. OK. Yeah. Now that I know what the problem is, I don't know what the next step is, what Michael's going to say about it. We'll just have to wait and see. So some tough times ahead, unfortunately. Poor thing. Aren't you kind, sweetie? Across town, Scott's wife Zoe and daughter Quinn are on a special mission to collect the next patient. Let's go and feed the chickens! Yeah, you can show me where they are, honey. So Scott gets a phone call from Quinn's school yesterday, and it turns out one of their chickens isn't too well. So I'm here to essentially be a sort of veterinary assistant and come and pick up the patient. How are you? Hi. Hi, Zoe. How are you? I'm fine. Thank you so much for coming. We've been really worried about one of our chickens, you know. Poor Jane, she's been losing a bit of weight, and she's not eating properly. And we noticed that her wattle was getting filled up and not emptying by the next day. So that's why we phoned Scott. We were just hoping that we can make her better and sort out whatever's going wrong with her wattle. Sorry, Jane. Here she is. Well done, caught in one. Here's Jane. Hello, darling. Hello. Oh, my goodness, yes, you are a little inflated. To say the least. I think she is. It must be terribly uncomfortable for her. When did you notice that? A couple of weeks ago. So we've tried giving her some oil to try and dislodge the food that's stuck there, but it doesn't seem to have worked. So that's why we phoned Scott, to hope that he can help us out. Chicken man to the rescue. I'm sure we'll be able to help her. Being the chicken expert that I am, having been in the vicinity of the four we have at home, I'd say definitely a crop problem, full of stuff that shouldn't be in there, and we need to get it out. There we are. That's my take on it. Shall we take the chicken to Daddy, then? Yes. Do you think Daddy's going to be able to sort Jane out and make her better? My dad can sort any animal out. Oh, he's got a super daddy, haven't you? I'll get the box. Oh, good idea, Quinn. Thank you, Quinn. Wow, you guys are very organised. Well done. The chicken goes in here, then the blanket goes over her. Thank you, Quinn. There we go. Put the blanket over there, then. Whoa! I'll hold on to it. Put the blanket... I'll help you, sweetheart, if you want. There we go. There you go. I can see her little head popping out. Let's shut. Yes, make her safe. There we go. She's in. Great. The chicken rescuers. Let's go, Quinn. Let's get out of here. Quinn, chicken rescuer. Oh, well done. This is a heavy chicken. She's got a lot of extra weight with her. Yes, she has. I'll speak to you later on. Okay, bye. Come on, then, Quinn. This way, honey. Quinn is now going off to class, and Zoe will be heading in to see Scott. It's all been quite easy, really. I dropped one child off and pick up a chicken. Standard day, really. La-la, la-la, la-la. No one needs a sick chicken. Come on, Rufus. There we go. At the Richmond practice, Sarah from the rescue organisation All Dogs Matter has brought in two very special cases to see Scott. We've got Nellie, who's five, and Rufus, who's about a year. They came from a puppy farm. They would never have been in a house, never walked on grass, never played, never had a name, which I think is probably the saddest thing. We're here to see Scott today for Rufus to be neutered and Nellie to be spayed and to have her teeth looked at, which are in a very poor condition. It's likely Nellie, the older of the two, was used as a breeding dog at the puppy farm. Hello there, Sarah. How are you? Hi, Scott. So these are the new recruits? They are. Hello. This is Nellie. Hello, beautiful. You're very shy, aren't you? She's very shy. Oh, dear. Very shy. And who's this little chap back here? This is Rufus. He's a little bit of a baby, but he's growing in confidence. Yeah, so I suppose lots of the puppy farm dogs are pretty nervous. They haven't had much work on their basic training, have they? That's right. Well, let's get them in the consult room, shall we? Okay. It's very clear that Nellie and Rufus are traumatised. They're very nervous, very quiet, just little shadows of dogs. So how were they when you first picked them up? Just terrified. Stinky, terrified, wouldn't come out of the crate. Oh, dear. You can just tell it's just so timid and quiet because they've just not really had a life to this point. Life has just been being a mum, having puppies in fairly squalid environments. Yeah, constant puppies. Constant, constant. It's thought that as many as one in three puppies sold in the UK are bred in a puppy farm, and usually they're in squalid, filthy conditions with very little natural light. I really find puppy breeding at this level just abhorrent, and it really angers me. Obviously she's had a bit of a groom, so she's looking a bit shinier and healthier, but physically I can smell that there might be an issue with her mouth. She's got fairly bad breath. Yeah, yuck. So they're really pretty disgusting teeth, and they're a huge amount of tartar build-up, which is likely because of years of very poor nutrition. Just filling them full of whatever they can get hold of that's probably the cheapest and the same. Ew, yuck. OK, there's even a loose tooth there. Look at that. That must actually hurt. Oh, dear. OK, we can sort that right out. That'll make you feel much better, won't it? Looking into Nellie's mouth, it's very clear that she's suffering with quite a degree of discomfort. It is just the personification of neglect, and the people running this farm didn't even have the decency to look after her general health. All right, let's have a listen. It's OK. All right. So it really does anger me when dogs are treated this way, but even worse is this poor girl has got a heart murmur, a fairly significant heart murmur. And one thing we know about Cavaliers is that they genetically inherit most of their heart defects. The heart murmur that Nellie has should have stopped with Nellie, but being used as a breeding bitch, probably 50% of her offspring have the heart murmur that they shouldn't have because Nellie never should have been bred in the first place. It's disgraceful. So here's Rufus. Hello, Rufus. Hello. Oh, my goodness. You are so beautiful, aren't you? Hey. Hello, mate. You're all right. You're safe here. Don't you worry. You're a handsome boy. Yes. OK, so his teeth are lovely. Yeah. Not too bad at all, so that would suggest he's far younger. Yeah. He does look like he's probably only maybe a year or so. I think that's reasonable. OK, I'm just going to have a little listen here. Good boy. So he's blessed with a healthy heart. Yeah. Examining little Rufus, I can see he is, besides nervous and shy and doesn't have many social skills, understandably, he is a relatively healthy chap. So I'm hopeful with just a castration, he'll be on the road to recovery very soon. Well, I'll take these two new recruits of yours off your hands for the day. Lovely. Yeah. Perfect. Scott really has an understanding of puppy farm dogs and their needs because they are quite specific. They're very, very timid. They're having to learn everything for the first time. Look after them. I will. OK. And I'll give you a call once they're done. Lovely. Thank you. OK. Bye, Sarah. Bye. Take care. Don't worry. She'll be back for you soon. Hello, ladies. Hi. You're so cute. Thank you. Oh, you mean the dog? No, I wasn't talking about you. Yeah. No, it's fair. At the Richmond Clinic, it's surgery time for badly neglected King Charles Cavaliers Nellie and Rufus. And unfortunately, they are the unwanted from the puppy farm trade. Yeah, so both quite nervous. You can see quite shy. Today is day one of trying to improve these dogs' lives by at least giving them health. Certainly for Rufus, it's about neutering him. And for Nellie, it's about sorting out those horrendous teeth, checking out her heart, and of course, spaying her as well. All right. Scott will perform Rufus's neutering first and is being assisted by nurses Sam and Alicia. This is a very straightforward operation. It's one we do every day. But this boy has obviously been through a terrible life up to now, so it does make you sort of go, you know, I just want to protect you. So, Liz and I have got an eagle eye on this boy, making sure he's okay. So, Sam, I'll be coming through in a few minutes just to start on Nellie, okay? Rufus is nearly done. While Scott is working on Rufus, in the next room, Sam has started prepping Nellie. Okay, so there's no more baby-making for you, my boy. Now that Rufus's castration has been completed and he's recovering, I now move to Nellie. Now, she has a fairly significant heart murmur, but also she is an older girl. She's been through a lot, so this will be a little bit of a risky anaesthetic. Is she all okay, Sam? Yeah, I'm good. So, you can just see how massive this uterus is, which just suggests that it's been well and truly used and abused. Sam, how's she getting on? Heart sounds okay? Mm-hmm. Besides the murmur, of course. Yeah. All right, so, spay done. Dental next. Let's go. Now, normally we wouldn't do a dental on the same day as a spay. It's not great to liberate all the bacteria that will be present in her nasty mouth. But, needs must, and she's a dog that could really do with just one anaesthetic and everything being sorted. It's disgusting. She's never had anyone looking out for her best interests or her welfare. This is the first time, so to see her mouth in the state that it's in, it's pretty horrifying. See how easy they come out and just fall out. It'll end up being there's more teeth in that bowl than there is in her mouth. At least it won't be uncomfortable anymore. Yeah, she'll be much more comfortable without them. Better out than in, I say. Scott eventually has to remove 16 rotten teeth from the little spaniel. Okay, that's it for that. Beautiful. After sorting out her teeth and removing those 16 rotten teeth, I now move on to assessing a heart defect. You're happy with everything still, Sam? She's okay? Yeah. Because we've worked out the Nelly does have a heart murmur, I want to look into that a little bit more. So I'm going to be performing a cardiac ultrasound just to understand what problems are going on in Nelly's heart. Just in the centre there, we've got a sort of flapping saloon door, almost, which is the mitral valve, which is just a little bit thickened. So it's just not closing as well as it should. But the good news for little Nelly, the atrium is not significantly larger, which would suggest that it's not yet stretching because of this abnormality. So, as yet, she doesn't need any medication. She just needs to be monitored. Okay, so let's wake this girl up, shall we? Although Nelly has got a heart murmur, it's not having any impact on her general health at the moment. Now, we'll need monitoring in case it develops into heart disease sometime down the road, in which case we'll likely need medication or further diagnostic tests. But for now, she's all good. Look who I've got. Nelly and Rufus will remain at the practice overnight to recover from their surgeries. There you go. You're a tough old bird, aren't you, eh? Yeah. It's really wonderful to have been a part of Nelly and Rufus's journey. They've come from horrendous backgrounds where they've just not been loved or treated very well at all, and I've managed to bring them to a point now where they are healthy and they are ready to find a new home filled with love, and let's hope they find it. She's going to be okay. You're both going to be okay. Yeah, you're going to be just fine. This way. At the Cherry Tree practice, Scott's vet nurse Nathan has arrived with his Newfoundland Maisie to see specialist orthopaedic surgeon Michael Hamilton. We're here to see Michael for Maisie's leg. Hopefully there's something quite simple he can do. I'm really nervous about what's happening today. Having lost a previous dog anesthetic, it's not something that I take lightly. Hi, Nathan. Hi, Michael. Good to see you. Good to see you. Right, Maisie. So, I believe we have a ruptured cruciate. Come in and we'll have a feel and we'll get it sorted for you. Excellent. Right, Maisie, this way, darling. Let's go. Come on then. Up we go. Righty. Okay. So, let's have a little feel. She's got a big puffy knee on this left side. Let's have a quick feel up her leg. This is her knee. So, a little test that we do. Finger on the front of her shin, hold her knee, pull up on her toes. And that finger moving forwards tells me that she has stretched or partially snapped her cruciate ligament. So, there's your diagnosis right away. Whether it's completely snapped or not is irrelevant. That is an unstable knee. We call it the cranial cruciate ligament. And that's a ligament that kind of connects your tibia, your shin, to your femur. And stops the bones kind of moving around all over the place. So, in effect, what we do, the top of the shin bone is on a slope. And then when she walks, the femur rolls down the hill. We make it flat and put a big plate and screws on. Prognosis is really, really good. So, of all the things that she could have gone wrong, this is probably not a bad one to go wrong. Let's look on the bright side. Nathan's put on a very brave face. I can tell he's a little bit nervous. You know, he's the guy kind of reassuring the owners most of the time. Whereas now it's me trying to reassure him. So, the girls are waiting for us. So, we'll take her through. We'll get her to sleep. Do the surgery. You go off for a little walk or a drive or a beer or two or whatever. Might be out for a little golf. Yeah. And I'll give you a call as soon as she's done. And we'll get her back to you. With any surgery, it always carries a degree of risk. I see the good things. And I see the things when it doesn't quite go as planned. And that never leaves you. Although the operation's hard, and I really don't like to see anyone operate on my dog, I know it's the right thing for her. The time has arrived. So, if you hand her over, I'll take her through. And we'll get it sorted out for you. Right, Maisy. Wakey, wakey. Cruise ship repair time. Mais. Who's a good girl? At the Isleworth practice, Zoe is arriving with the school chicken. And Scott and vet nurse Regan are waiting. Hello. Hello, honey. Hi. Hiya. I got a chicken in a box for you. Do you want to see it? Yeah. Hello. Oh, hello, gorgeous. Check her out. Look. I got it right. It is definitely a chicken. Does she have a name? Jane. Jane the chicken? Jane the chicken, of course. Jane. She's beautiful, though, isn't she? Don't you know a Jane? Look at her plumage. I do know a Jane. My mum's called Jane. This one's full of front. I don't know about your mother. I'm talking about this one. Right. She's big up top. Big up top. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. It sounds like she needs some support, both physically and veterinarily. Yeah. That word. Yeah. So glad I brought her to you. Brilliant. Full of confidence. Should we go through the console? Yes. Let's go. I can't believe. Here I am, bringing chicks to see my husband. Hey? But I know he'll be able to help this one. Feel that. Let's have a little feel. What a massive bag of, well, crop. Oh, my word. That is bizarre. I know. It's mad, huh? My goodness, the crop that she has, that sort of storage area for food, is absolutely massive. It's a handful of grit. It's astounding. But within that, what you can feel is obviously food because the crop is there to basically hold food before it goes further down the gastrointestinal tract. It's kind of like the larder cupboard of the chicken, really. Okay. But actually behind that, there's a thick web of something. So this crop has become impacted with something. It's continued to fill. It's stretched. And now it's actually falling over her breastbone. And so it's just not emptying normally the way that it should. So what we need to do is actually X-ray and just see exactly what lies beneath. And if it's large enough, we're going to have to go in and perform surgery. This chicken is going through something right now. It's uncomfortable for her. And she's about to go through an X-ray, most likely surgery. Say bye. So you can feel that element of pressure here, like the kids are waiting for this chicken to come back all well and fixed by Scott. So, yeah, that's a bit of pressure for him there. Hi, guys. Hi. Regan and vet Tina will be assisting Scott. What is that? I know. Eh? Isn't that the most massive crop you've ever felt on a chicken in your entire life? Very big. Let's check her weight. Hey, big girl. Can we weigh you, sweetheart? Good girl. So at the moment, you're about 2.47 kilograms of chicken. Come on, Jane. Let's go get some pictures. Let's go and X-ray a chicken. Unfortunately, Jane's condition literally won't right itself, and already today I can feel that her crop is warmer, so it's starting to ferment. That will make this girl really unwell, and if we don't do anything, it could eventually lead to her death. Okay, stay still, Jane. X-ray. As you can see, a lot of material. That's very likely to be grit, which is absolutely normal. But what you can't see on here is what I can feel in the crop of Jane. So it's a little bit like a block drain, I suppose, in that what we've got is this sort of thick mass that feels like fibrous material. It could be hay. It could be grass. And that's meaning that the food isn't passing through. It's remaining in the crop. The crop is stretching, and then, therefore, food stays in there longer. It stretches more, so it's a little bit of a deteriorating cycle. So all of that needs to come out. Unfortunately, we do need to perform surgery, and the interesting thing is I think an anaesthetic is probably even more risky, so I think it's far better that we just try and do this while she's conscious. Birds don't do very well under anaesthetic. They're quite prone to stress, but also, unfortunately, with this particular condition, she could regurgitate during the surgery and then breathe that in, get aspiration pneumonia and die. So there's lots of major risks, and all of them can be reduced by performing the surgery conscious. Does that mean a local anaesthetic, then? Yeah. Luckily, she's quite a relaxed chicken, so hopefully she'll sit quite still for you. Yeah, she seems very good, doesn't she? OK, well, let's get to work. I'm just going to pluck this first. First we have to pluck poor Jane's crop, and then I give her the local anaesthetic, which is going to sting a little bit, but she seems to be taking it in a stride. She seems quite calm and quite relaxed, but who knows how she's going to react when I start to cut. She's a little stressed. I know. OK. Right. Everyone ready for this? Because I don't know what's going to come out. I also don't know how she's going to respond, but it needs to be done. Everyone ready for this? Because I don't know what's going to come out. I also don't know how she's going to respond, but it needs to be done. Good girl. In Isleworth, Scott, Tina and Nurse Reagan are about to perform unusual surgery on a conscious chicken. It feels very strange to have my patient looking at me whilst I'm doing this sort of thing. Hey, Jane. OK, guys, so I'm going to go into the crop now, so expect a really appalling smell. Jane has an impacted crop, so basically what I believe is that she's eaten something that she shouldn't, like long grass, that's slowed down the transit of food down into her gastrointestinal tract, and it means that I need to go in and get it out. Oh, man, that's rancid. Look at all this stuff in here. Oh, my God. It's not nice. Here we go. Here's the big thing. Wow. This is what I could feel. That is the problem right there. Oh, that is grim. Jane, how are you still alive, my love? How is she still alive? Look at that. Oh, my God. Oh, my God, it's still coming. Oh, my God. Oh. That's disgusting. It smells. Wow, that is rank. All right, Jane. Good girl. Jane's crop was full of really long grass, which has probably been building up over months, and it started to ferment, and it's giving off a gas, which leads to a really rancid stench. So if we can stop her access to that, then we might not have this issue come back. I can't believe how amazing she's been. What I want to do now, Regan, is just give it a bit of a flush, and then I'm going to start to close. Extraordinary. She's actually watching. Which is, that's off-putting. Yeah. The bizarre thing about performing a conscious surgery on an animal is that they can look at you while you're doing it, and Jane has her beady eyes literally set on me, and it does make her quiver a little bit, because it's an incredibly gruesome surgery, but she's taking it like a trooper. She's amazing, isn't she? I don't think I'll ever look at a chicken the same way again. No, she's very, very brave. There we go. And that is our first conscious chicken crop impaction surgery. Are you cooking? Shall we see how much she weighs quickly? Yes, that's a great idea. Jane's pre-surgery weighing, she weighed 2.47 kilograms, but after removing a huge amount of muck from her crop, I'm really interested to see what she weighs now. Moment of truth. Good girl. She's 2.235, so over 200 grams. Yeah. Of grossness. Of yuckiness. Removed from your crop, eh? Now you look like a normal chicken again. 200 grams might not sound like a lot, but for a chicken like Jane, it's 10% of her body weight, which is massive, and it really will make a difference to her comfort levels. Now it's out. Here we go. There you go. Alright. You can feel so much better. Because Jane's crop was distended for so long, it's become very stretched and very baggy, and even after the surgery, that isn't going to improve. So I do need to find a way to help to manage that so that she never suffers with crop impaction again. We're going to need to talk a little bit about support, aren't we? Stop that crop from filling up like that again. At the Cherry Tree practice, Nurse Nathan's beloved Newfoundland Maisie is being prepared for surgery to repair her ruptured cruciate ligament. That's a big old leg, isn't it? Three-year-old Maisie weighs in at a massive 60 kilos, and for specialist Michael Hamilton and his team, surgery will be a challenge. Right, so Kim, in here. Yeah. Hold. I mean, she was hanging off the end of the table. I mean, that's quite a big table, and the head was almost off that end. Her legs have dangled off this end, so it's quite hard for the assistants because they're kind of holding that leg of whatever it weighs, 15 kilos or whatever. So, yeah, it's just quite hard work. All right, so first incision. The first part of the procedure is we get into the knee joint. We look at the cruciate, what's left of it. I don't know, probably 5% or less of the cruciate ligament left intact in here. So this has been grumbling on for a little while. What we've got to do now, we have to very, very critically check the meniscus, the shock absorber thing. So just pull that foot, Kim. Yeah. So this is quite a fiddly thing to do. So we use this little probe, and we look right off the back. So what we need to do is remove that damaged portion of the shock absorber, the meniscus. And there it is. This should be all nice and shiny. It's all crushed, and that whole thing was kind of flipping forward in the knee. So taking that out will make a huge difference. With the torn fragment of the meniscus removed, Michael can now start stabilising Maisie's knee. So this is the blade that we cut the bone with. You push this into the bone, which cuts along that curve. There we go, right, okay. This is the scary part, because there's a big, big blood vessel just off the back of the tibia. And if we cut that, that's pretty stressful. It bleeds a lot. When it's full on, you know, you're cutting through the tibia of a 60-kilo dog. It's a pretty big deal. Kim's going to flush like she's never flushed before. Right, ready, go. Maisie's bones will now be held in their new, more stable position using a metal plate. Right, so... My favourite part is the power screwdriver. It kind of makes me feel like I work for McLaren or Ferrari or someone. So one, two, three, four in the bottom, then there's the curvy cut, and then there's four in the top. So now it's just a question of closing them up and checking everything's in the right place. Maisie's owner Nathan, who's also Scott's vet nurse, has arrived, anxious to find out if the surgery has been a success. I just want to take her home, give her lots of cuddles, and, yeah, just make sure everything's OK. Right, so the most important thing is, do we have any what we call tibial thrust? So same test as before, finger on there, up on the toes, no movement whatsoever. So although there's no cruciate ligament in there, when she stands on the leg, the knee is stable, and that's the most important thing. This procedure, it's elective surgery. I mean, if you didn't do it, she wouldn't kind of keel over, but she'd have a sore knee for the rest of her day. So to get her back to as normal function as possible, hopefully this procedure is the way to go. Right, come on through, Nathan. Here she is. Right. So look who's here to see you. Maisie. Hello, darling. Look who's here. Where's Maisie? Where's she gone? Hello. Hey. Recognise him? She might just try and run straight out here. Hey, Maisie. Daddy's here. Come on, then. Can you stand up? Oh, a little bit sleepy. A little bit sleepy. I'm so happy to see Maisie. She's been through a big operation. Michael's done a great job. She's moving already. Yeah, couldn't be happier. So everything went very well, and I have very high expectations for her. So over to you. As Nathan is an experienced vet nurse, he can take Maisie home tonight to begin her rehabilitation. This is Maisie. Maisie, good girl. Hey. Morning, Jane. Hello, baby. Hello. Good morning to you. Bright and happy. Very talkative this morning. Come on, then. Next morning in Isleworth, Jane, the school chicken, has recovered well after the unusual procedure to clear a massive blockage in her crop. You're a happy girl this morning, aren't you? Hello. Hey. Heya. Scott's wife Zoe has arrived to take Jane back to the school. She looks fat. Yeah, she's doing really, really well. So when I first see Jane, it's very obvious the difference. Her crop, although still a floppy crop, for lack of a better phrase, it's a lot better than it was. And she's looking fabulous. The only thing, however, is that because that crop was distended, was stretched for so long, unfortunately it is a little baggy and it will remain that way. That's a bit rude. It's a little bit rude. I'm sorry, honey. So she will forever have a floppy crop. She will. What happens now is that every time she eats, Jane's crop is going to fill up, it's going to hang over her breastbone. It means that the food won't transit through her gastrointestinal tract as it should, and unfortunately this will mean an ongoing issue for Jane. Also you can see her posture's affected. If I provide a little bit of support, you can see she immediately stands up. So what we need to do is something that I have never done before. I have never prescribed said treatment, and it sounds like I've made it up, but I haven't. It's a crop bra. A lot of ladies that might be quite well endowed in the front department, they need support. So what I've ended up doing is doing a little bit of primary school craft work, where I've used one of our surgical masks and attached it to a little bit of padding here and special support of the crop just in the centre there. It feels like we're on an infomercial. It's very lightweight, very supportive and very attractive. Call 0800 CHICKEN BRA. Of all the random stories that Scotty has told me about things he's had to do to assist animals in their welfare, a chicken bra I think probably is the weirdest. So that's where your crop is, so you just want to go underneath there and then hold it. So what we're going to do is place one around her neck, and then the other one goes underneath the wings. So that's just going to support that crop, keep it up, keep this girl eating and happy. Oh my goodness. Happy. All those years in vet college and this is what it's come to. Yeah, putting a bra on a chicken. I've arrived. I'm really glad to have been able to help Jane, and even though I've given her a rather amusing bit of clothing to wear, I hope that her flock will accept her for who she is, a lovely girl that just needs a bit of support. I now have to go and explain this to a school as to why the chicken is wearing a bra. But think of it this way. It's the UNF to explain it to the teachers, the teachers have to explain it to the kids. Hello, ladies. Do you want some? At the school, teacher Jane Parr is waiting for Zoe to arrive with the chicken. Hello, Mrs Parr. Hello, Zoe. Hello, chicken. Oh, I have got your girl back for you. Oh, lovely. There's a slight alteration that I need to talk about. She hasn't turned into a cockerel, has she? No, don't panic. It's not that kind of alteration. If anything, more feminine than that. Okay. Let me talk you through it. How am I going to explain this to Mrs Parr, and will she take me seriously? Hello, Jane. Oh, my goodness. You might notice she has a brassiere, for lack of a different word. She basically, Scott has emptied her crop out. But now, because she's left with, the only way to describe it is a floppy crop. Right. Say it carefully. Okay. Floppy crop. So essentially what Scott has made her is a crop bra. Okay. I love the way you're taking this very seriously, and that's brilliant. It's a crop bra, because once he managed to get all the seed, and there was actually a real mix of long grass and things like that in there, and that's what had caused the problem. Right. But then when her crop fills, as it would normally anyway in a chicken, it sort of fills and spills over her chest bone, as it were, and then she ends up front heavy again. Okay. So what the crop bra will do, will keep that crop back in place, so she can then stand up properly and the food can filter down as it should. Okay. You're going to be our only lady with a bra, aren't you, Jane? In all my days, I've never heard of a chicken with a bra. She's going to be the only chicken with a specially made lifter-upper. Oh, come on then, Jane. We're going to introduce you back to your friends. Shall we see what they make of her new apparel? Yes. Right, here we are, darling. Off you go. Great to have her back. Looks like she's really happy. But a crop bra! Oh, great. So now we've got to find somewhere that can sell professionally made crop bras. Fantastic. Okay, now don't be jealous now, ladies, because we can't afford bras for all of you. Definitely not in the chicken budget. Okay, you two ready to go? What's that in your mouth? Come here. It's okay. Oh dear, so nervous. Rescue dogs Nellie and Rufus have clearly fully recovered from their anaesthetics. They've been busy demolishing their bedding. Who's the guilty party? Oh, I don't know. Inspector Clouseau, I don't need to be. Okay, come on, you two. Come on. I can already see little glimmers of personality coming out. Certainly Rufus, he's a cheeky little chappy. He ripped up his bed. Nellie on the other hand, she's very quiet and very graceful. She's a beautiful nature dog and anyone is going to be incredibly lucky to own her. Foster mum Sarah from the charity All Dogs Matter is hoping both the little dogs can now look forward to a brighter future. I thought Rufus would be fine, but I've been quite worried about Nellie because she's had her teeth done and the spaying, so it's quite a big procedure for a little dog. And also to find out how her heart is, because we don't know how severe that might be. So that's been in the back of my mind all day. I've got an armful of cute for you. There they are. Oh, look at those. Good little Nellie. They've been perfect little patients they have. Do you want to just take one? Just take Rufus. I'll take you. So, we'll start with him because he was the first cab off the rank. So he's got his little castration wound, which will heal very quickly. He's been leaving it alone. He was a little bit naughty with his bedding that was in the kennel, so a little bit of behavioural training is understandably needed for this boy. But as far as any other health treatments, he's all in the clear and very healthy. Lovely. It's quite heartening to hear that he's being naughty and doing something that's normal and puppy-like, which he's probably never, ever done up until now. So I think he's definitely got a mischievous streak that will come through his personality at some point. And then Nellie, beautiful girl she is. So, completed the spay. That went absolutely fine. Went to a mouth, 16 teeth removed. So you can see she's got a lovely white teeth there in there now. Oh, my goodness. Look at that. Wow, that's better, isn't it? Goodness. So she's done very, very well. And then, last but not least, the good news keeps on coming because we completed a cardiac ultrasound. And what I could see is that, yes, she does have a valve that's a little abnormal and isn't closing properly. But in her case, we've got a perfectly functioning heart. Yes, she's got a heart member right now, but it won't have any impact on her future. Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. So it's really, really good results. Great. Couldn't be better. All right. So you can head off for these two. Lovely. And thanks for everything you do as well and to foster these dogs when you've got your own dogs. It's a massive commitment, so thank you. And let's hope for a loving home for these two. It's incredible to work in Britain where we have so many incredible animal charities that are dedicated to the welfare of animals. And people like Sarah, who opened up their heart and their home to these foster animals who desperately need it, thank God for them. So I'll walk you to the car. It just gives me more time to give her a bit more of a cuddle. Thank you. Maisy. Where's he gone? And six weeks later. That's a good girl. Mais. I'll get you. Scott's vet nurse Nathan couldn't be happier with Maisy fully recovered from her cruciate surgery. Where's he gone? Not only is she back to her old self, but she's even better. Michael did a fantastic job. She's running around, bouncing around. Her leg is better than it's ever been. Maisy means the absolute world to me. I worried so much. And now I've got a real sense of what it's like to be a client rather than the nurse. Where's he gone? That's a good girl. Aren't you?