Adventurer Ben Fogle, presenter of the new series of Channel 5 TV show Animal Clinic, has been going behind the scenes at the University of Liverpool’s campus at Leahurst, Neston.
Ben has been highlighting the day-to-day action at what is one of the UK’s top veterinary colleges.
At the campus’s three state-of-the-art operating theatres and recovery facilities, Ben has been following the daily dramas that come with treating the 10,000 sick animals that come through the doors every year.
On site at Leahurst are three specialist facilities treating cats, dogs, horses and farm animals. There are also two teams of mobile vets who treat patients in their homes.
In this evening’s episode (Wednesday), farm vet Jo Oultram faces an emergency when a dairy cow is brought in with a potentially fatal stomach blockage.
Jo rushes the cow into surgery and finds that its stomach has twisted and is rapidly expanding with gallons of liquid.
She must cut into the stomach wall and drain it as quickly as possible, but if she does not act swiftly enough the cow could die.
At the eye vet clinic, surgeon Peter McElroy attempts to restore sight to two very different patients.
Rose Chapman brings her eight-year-old miniature schnauzer Charlie all the way from Jersey to seek Peter’s help.
Charlie can barely see and Peter needs to perform dramatic surgery to give Rose her old dog back.
Peter is then confronted with one of the biggest tests of his career when he is asked to remove double cataracts from the tiny eyes of a capuchin monkey named Brian.
Peter has never operated on an eye of this size before and the surgery pushes him and the team to the limit.
Brian comes from the Gentleshaw Wildlife Santuary in Staffordshire where Jenny Morgan runs the sanctuary with her mum Lesley.
At the equine hospital, resident vet Niamh Lewis is taking on a case that has confounded vets across Europe.
Prize-winning mare Louisiana has produced some of the country’s finest dressage horses but she has suddenly stopped getting pregnant.
Using the latest fertility treatments, Niamh and a team of equine vets attempt to solve the riddle of Louisiana’s infertility.
Over at the first opinion clinic, vet Lindsey Harland has an equally huge task on her hands trying to microchip a giant tortoise called George.
It is no easy job as tortoises are notoriously shy, but after a bit of a struggle her shell-shocked patient succumbs.
Animal Clinic is on Channel 5 at 8pm.
