Incredible Northern Vets S01 E06
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00:00Chill Bumble. Bumble may have an internal ear rupture or skull inflammation. The
00:06best thing to do is to image the whole skull. Driving out to my mom's farm, you
00:11begin to call for a smudge. She's the first one from our reserve to be a
00:16veterinarian. My pet Tippy is in the clinic. It's always scary to bring her in.
00:21There's this one spot here. Worst case scenario, it is a type of cancer. I cannot
00:27imagine life without Artie. Across the country, be nice, indigenous vets are
00:34using their knowledge and skills, good little baby, to help the animals we love
00:39stay happy and healthy.
00:43Good boy. Outlaw is one of my many fur babies. I brought Outlaw in today because he is
01:03getting neutered. He's a one-and-a-half year old golden retriever. Are you shy?
01:09He just likes to cuddle. Oh, he just likes to ostrich into you. Yeah. Okay.
01:14Outlaw's super cuddly. He loves attention so much. It's very sweet. He just means
01:20the world to me. Hello. Eating and drinking well? Yeah. He's obviously a healthy weight.
01:26So it doesn't matter if you're a client or if you're a team member that I work
01:31with, I put my utmost care and attention into each and every patient. The only
01:36thing, we checked his... Yeah, his... Okay, he's gonna have a feel of his tummy. It's not
01:41even attached. Outlaw has the little bleb that's sitting outside of the abdomen.
01:48It's like a little outie belly button. Yeah, it's so small. Honestly, like, it'd be
01:53pretty simple to remove. We're already knocking him down for the procedure. Good
01:57boy. It's better to remove it just because the sooner we can figure out
02:01what it is, not only does that put your mind at ease, but it also allows us to
02:05have some options on how we deal with it.
02:09Oh, baby.
02:11That was like the perfect little circle. I know, it's pretty cute. Okay, you ready
02:17if I come? Being a client, it was definitely weird. Yeah, it's like every
02:24other surgery that we do here, but it's different because it's my dog. All right,
02:30the neuter is done, and now we're just gonna remove the little nubbin. What a
02:39weird lump. I wonder what's in it. I bet there's fluid in it. It feels pretty
02:43squishy. We can open it. You sure can. Whatever it is. All right, let's cut into this
02:49bad boy. Yeah. I opened up the nubbin once we removed it off of him, and a bunch of
02:54like purulent greenish brown liquid came out. Was it like a puss ball this whole
03:00time? Okay, good thing we took that off. Anytime that we have a weird, unknown
03:06fluid coming out of the body, it is important that we have a peek at it
03:10under the microscope. I don't see bacteria. My best guess, it was some like
03:16productive cell that just got trapped in a spot where it shouldn't have. I think
03:20maybe it was some cells that secrete sebum, like a type of oil for the skin,
03:26and that they basically got trapped underneath the skin. Let's go, bud.
03:31Ella, come on. Let's go. We will keep an eye on that area and make sure that it
03:35doesn't come back, but I suspect that we got everything and that he should be
03:39good to go. Good boy. You're okay. It didn't bother him none, but I'm glad it was
03:45removed because you never know. I know. Good boy.
03:57Okay, okay, chill. ARCS is a non-profit charity and they work with animals who
04:08don't have homes or have been rescued and essentially try to find them new homes
04:12and veterinary care. Today, we're looking at four little kittens. They were
04:22surrendered and they look really, really cute right now. They're all set
04:27with vaccines and deworming and we're going to be neutering him. This is Bahir.
04:32Bahir. Bahir is pretty happy healthy. No. Of course. The only thing I did find is
04:43he had a retained baby tooth. Which one is that? Top right. Bahir is a six-month-old
04:48kitty cat. Most cats tend to lose their baby teeth by like three to four months
04:53of age, so typically if they stay longer than that, there might be something going
04:56on. One, two, three, four, five. The biggest risk is it can cause issues with the adult
05:07teeth that are coming in and based upon his age, it's less likely that it's going
05:11to fall out on its own. I suspect it's probably has a pretty strong root. Are we
05:18ready to pre-med then? Yeah. Yeah. Do it. We'll do it. I want to get a better look
05:24at Bahir's tooth when he is sedated and not moving as much, right before his
05:28neuter.
05:39And I have your bupivacaine right there.
05:45Oh, it is mobile. Oh my god. This might be the best day ever. It's very mobile, so it
05:50can move around. I think I can just pick it out like this. Oh yay, it came out.
05:58Bahir's tooth was loose right away and it took very little effort for it to come
06:02out. Pretty much it was going to fall out on its own, whether it happened in the
06:06next day or so, but it didn't really need my intervention to do so.
06:11God bless. All right. Essentially, it just fell out on its own, which is the best
06:19case scenario. After they recover from the neuter today, they're going to be
06:26pretty much all set to make their way into their new homes. All right. When I'm
06:31at work, there's always a new challenge and I'm constantly pushed out of my
06:34comfort zone, so it makes learning fun.
06:41Why are you so scared? Classic stress behaviors. She's panting, she's avoiding eye contact, and this
06:59has been both on the anti-anxieties already. I feel like this on the inside.
07:04Yeah. Today, I brought in my two dogs, Artie and Charlotte. These are the most
07:13important dogs in all the world. Artie and Charlotte make me feel like I have
07:18purpose and that the purpose is good. Good job, Artie. Artie is almost 10 years
07:23old. We've been through a lot together. Anytime anyone's bringing a pet in and
07:28trusting us with their care, that's always a really big honor, especially
07:32when it's your team member and especially when you know how much they
07:35care about them. Oh, thank you. The worry with Artie is the skin condition that is
07:42not healing the way I expected. There's this one spot here. The hair is a
07:46different texture. She's been chewing on it? Yeah. This one was bleeding on Tuesday.
07:52And then there's one over here. I don't know what's going on. They almost look
07:56like hot spots. Hot spots are skin infections. They can happen for a number
08:01of reasons. They look crusty and they are often hot and red. The animal just
08:07keeps licking at it, keeping it moist, and it can get really big, really bad,
08:11really fast. You treated them, and to me, they look like they should have cleared
08:16up like normal hot spots. Yeah. So then with all the like multiple weird skin
08:20things, I was starting to get worried about like melanoma things. Melanoma is
08:24skin cancer, and with Artie being a little bit older, she's more susceptible
08:29to have those things. I think I'd probably just skip to like a biopsy.
08:35I think as veterinary professionals, we all very quickly spiral to the worst-case
08:41scenario with our own pets. Those are real things that could absolutely be
08:46going on. We're gonna start there. Then we'll work our way down before we panic.
08:52Trying to keep my emotions out of it is actually the most difficult part. I cannot
08:58imagine life without Artie. There is, yeah. Definitely can't. Artie is my soft spot,
09:06that's for sure.
09:15I think this bunny might be spicy. Bumble was a bunny that I saw over two weeks
09:20ago for an ear infection. Arcs had mentioned that maybe the ear infection
09:23wasn't completely healed, that there's something else going on, like an internal
09:27ear rupture or skull inflammation. I keep him like a football, and I literally
09:32tuck him in like that. So we are rechecking the ear today.
09:38Chill, Bumble. You got it, there you go. Squish her. Today is a special day because Alice is
09:45coming in to look at our exotic animals. My name is Alice Leveron. I am a special
09:53interest veterinarian. My personal focus is treating companion exotic animals, so
09:58reptiles, birds, rodents, and bunnies. This ear canal is more stenotic, so I can
10:04understand why it would look dirtier. So this ear, okay, a little bit abnormal, and
10:12so I think the best thing to do is to image the whole skull. Then you get a
10:15sense of, is there like a migrating form of disease? My experience with exotics is
10:20probably a little more limited, and Alice is very well-trained and knows what
10:24she's doing for exotics. She's a great resource to have. Let's try that.
10:33Beautiful. That looks pretty good. Yeah, that looks great. Okay. I'm looking at the
10:39inner ear structure of this rabbit, and the structure is very normal, so I don't
10:45think that there's reason to sample its ears any further. On the x-rays that we
10:52took, they look very normal. I think whatever was going on there earlier has
10:56probably been treated. Okay. There's no evidence of an internal ear rupture or
11:02internal skull inflammation, so pretty happy with that result that we were
11:06able to treat the ear infection. Don't have to worry about it much going
11:09forward.
11:16Sophie! So is this like a fancy rabbit? She's an Angora rabbit, so she's growing
11:21a longer hair coat. Do you have to like groom it like once a week type of thing? Or more?
11:25Sometimes even more. I like the little diamond on the nose. Yeah. And I would go on either
11:30side into the apaxial musculature. All the way in or halfway? Probably about halfway.
11:34Alice is a good teacher. Good job, Sophie. Tough cookie. And she's very patient and
11:41really knows what she's doing. That's perfect. And it's always nice to have
11:45someone that you can ask questions to and get an answer for. It was so
11:50amazing for us to have Dr. Alice and Dr. Emmett here to collaborate on our exotic
11:54cases. Overall today was really good. Yeah, I had fun, learned a lot, and then we got
11:58to help some exotic animals that needed the help, so it's a lot of good all
12:02around.
12:17We're doing it. Today, Shanna is bringing in Artie to have her sedated for a
12:24couple of skin tests. Look at the ramp. It's the most stressful day of my life.
12:30My own cat Tippy is also joining us in the clinic today. She's my soul cat. She
12:37is just perfect in every way. But I know she's in really good hands. I have to stop
12:43panicking about it. Dr. Allison and I made a deal that we would bring in our
12:47most attached pets together so that we could help each other through the
12:52emotional toll of working on your pets. Doing a skin biopsy on Artie. She's had a
13:02few little weird skin things that are going on. We're going to look a little
13:07deeper at the cellular level. Tippy was brought in because she is due for her
13:13yearly checkup. I like to do this when she's completely sedated as she's
13:17already a little stressed coming into clinic. I know that my team is amazing,
13:23but it's still always scary to to bring her in. I absolutely feel for Shanna.
13:33Artie is her soul dog. I definitely understand her stress. Do you want to
13:38have a lay down? I had to sedate Artie. It's always very stressful.
13:44For Artie, my heart is definitely on my sleeve. If you lay down, you might be
13:50sleepy.
13:56Biopsy is a little sample of the area of concern. My main goal for this test
14:04today is to just rule out the big and scary things. I'm doing a punch biopsy to
14:11take a small sample. So that skin looks fairly normal. This skin starts looking a little dark.
14:22So good so far, sweet girl. Shanna on the outside is keeping it together. I can
14:32only imagine on the inside that she's pretty anxious and nervous. Is this
14:36normally hair up here? Yeah, that's weird hair. The hair is growing in in a
14:41different color and a different texture and I don't know what that could mean
14:46but I feel like it's not great. Okay, we took three biopsies today. Two of them
14:55have me a little bit worried.
14:59This biopsy is fairly open-ended at this point. You're awake! Worst case scenario, it
15:11could be that it is a type of cancer of the skin. With Artie being a little bit
15:19older, she's more susceptible to skin things. There you go, be a good girl.
15:25It's freezing. Okay, at least we're on our way to having an answer.
15:47Driving out to my mom's farm, that's where I learned how to drive, was on this road
15:51and in the field between my house and Saddle Lake. I have been working a really
15:57busy job. It's nice to come back here to just relax, unwind, go horse riding.
16:08Emmy! You're home! It's been forever. Right now we're at my family farm where I grew up as a
16:16kid. It's about one field away from Saddle Lake Cree Nation.
16:20Hello, hello! Good to see you!
16:24Oh, your hand! What happened?
16:27I got hurt. I needed a vet.
16:31Hi there, Grandma. Good to see you. How you doing?
16:34Cider made it okay? Cider made it just fine.
16:37Oh, okay. It's good to have you home.
16:39Now, what kind of tea does everybody want?
16:42When they go to visit someplace, they always give you a tea and bannock.
16:46Yeah. Coming home always feels good. When I first started my undergrad, I was 17 and
16:52I had to move to Calgary for it. It was tough being separated from everyone that was here.
16:56Family support's really important. This is the new barn. Completely renovated.
17:02New beginnings here. Yeah, it is.
17:06New beginnings call for a smudge and a prayer.
17:10My uncle Pete is my dad's cousin, and he's a really big cultural significance in my family,
17:27I guess, because I don't have the biggest connection with my dad right now. Pete's always been there.
17:36Thanks, Pete.
17:38You gonna smudge the horses, too?
17:41First we gotta catch them.
17:47Can you whistle? Do they come when you whistle?
17:49It's against the wind, so they're not gonna hear.
17:53Shady! Smokers! Come on, boys.
17:59Emma has always loved animals since she was a little baby.
18:04Come here. Come on. There you go.
18:08At about age five, when she knew what a vet was, she decided she wanted to be a vet.
18:13Easy, old charmer. There you go.
18:18I knew it was going to be very difficult. It's very competitive.
18:22But when she makes her mind up to do something, she gets it done.
18:30Ready for the saddle?
18:32My mom has probably been my biggest supporter, but I always felt like there was a lot of support from Saddle Lake.
18:38After I graduated, I was invited to come to Saddle Lake's round dance as a keynote speaker.
18:44I had to stand up at the front and give an address, and they introduced me as,
18:49my name's Emma Jackson, and I'm the first veterinarian from Saddle Lake.
18:53And everyone stood up and started clapping.
18:58It was a really cool moment.
19:03Easy boy.
19:05She's the first one from our reserve to be a veterinarian.
19:10I think she's a role model.
19:14I'm really, really proud of her.
19:17I'd do anything for her.
19:27Do you want to look at Artie?
19:34Yeah. Do you want any tissues?
19:37This morning, I'm going to share with Shanna the results from the skin biopsy that we took from Artie.
19:42Worried is what I'm feeling right now. I'm so worried it's going to be something terrible.
19:47I cannot imagine life without Artie.
19:50From what the pathologist has shared, it sounds like that darkening and weird hair is a result of inflammation,
19:57so it looks like it's some bacterial infection.
20:01And it's healing up on its own.
20:03That's great.
20:04I know, I love it.
20:06Look at this. All three biopsies share features expected with healing superficial inflammation.
20:11Great. Real slow healing.
20:13A significant contribution of self-trauma.
20:15Yep, she's been bothering them.
20:17I'm glad we ruled out big and scary things.
20:19Yes, that is not melanoma, like I originally jumped to.
20:22Skin issues are so challenging because there's so many different reasons that it could be an issue.
20:28Is there any other skin support we should be trying?
20:31Let's try some apoquil, let's clean that area, and then as much as you can, try to not have her look in that area.
20:37Like, I don't know if she can wear, like, little pants or something?
20:41Yeah. Last time I did that with socks, she ate the sock toe off.
20:45Artie, come on.
20:47We're going to try some anti-itch medication with Artie, see if we can help her feel more comfortable that way.
20:52And we're going to see how she does.
20:54Okay. I like that one.
21:04They're going to be tired after this.
21:06But not because they ran around, because they worked really hard to get their snacks.
21:11I'm feeling much more relieved knowing that Artie's biopsies came back as non-cancerous.
21:17We'd have some ways to support her skin a little bit so she's not feeling so itchy.
21:24Artie has been with me since tech school.
21:27We've been through a lot in the last nine years together.
21:30Seeing her grow old is wonderful and also very sad.
21:34In your bubble mode.
21:36But I'm really enjoying the time that I have with her.
21:40I love you.