Dedicated vets star in new six-part TV series

Dedicated vets star in new six-part TV series

30 September 2020

THE trials and triumphs of local vets return to BBC2 screens this Friday evening with the start of a new six-part series of Mountain Vets.

The series follows the fortunes of two local veterinary practices, Downe Vets in Downpatrick and Newcastle, and Castle Vets in Downpatrick and Castlewellan, and their teams of dedicated staff.

It promises to be just as entertaining and informative as the first series, which was shown at the end of last year, and begins with a double header of two half-hour episodes.

Downe Vets was founded by Maurice King 43 years ago and now treats up to 300 pets and farm animals every week.

Born and bred in the Mournes, Maurice and his son, Cahir, have grown the practice to include a new generation of dedicated younger vets who care for the animals as if they were their own.

The practice covers over 300 farms in the area and the opening episode begins with Cahir racing to an urgent call-out.

A local pedigree sheep breeder has phoned in with an emergency — one of his prize ewes is having difficulty in labour.

Cahir must perform an emergency C-section, but it’s bad news. The lamb he delivers doesn’t make it. However, Cahir makes an unexpected discovery that leads to a miraculous happy ending.

Nuala Fitzsimons, is the longest serving vet in the practice. She’s juggling her busy work schedule with preparations for her upcoming wedding, so is determined to avoid getting kicked when she arrives to tend to a calf with an infected hoof.

She diagnoses a deep-rooted infection and the only choice is to put the calf down or take on a challenging amputation.

Back at the clinic, young vet Daisy Dillon is dealing with a classic autumnal problem.  As animals move into the warmth for winter, so do the rats and mice, and terrier Kim has been rushed to the clinic because her owner thinks she’s swallowed rat poison. 

Daisy has to act quickly to induce vomiting if she is going to neutralise the poison, which could be fatal. Kim’s day is about to get a lot worse.

Vet Jennie Bogie is the most recent arrival at Downe Vets and she’s seeing a new-born lamb brought to the clinic by its dedicated young owner. The lamb’s leg has a bad break and Jennie tries to put a cast in place that ensures it will walk normally again.

Finally, on Nuala’s last day of work before her wedding, nurse Genevieve is up to mischief. A local wedding tradition known as a ‘doing’, involves friends of the bride-to-be dousing her in buckets of gunge. Nuala’s last day ends with some very messy laughter.    

The second episode finds Jennie driving into the mountains to help with a case that reminds her that being a mountain vet is anything but glamorous, as she has to lance a giant boil the size of a watermelon on the leg of a cow. 

At Castle Vets’ clinic in Castlewellan, head nurse Julie Hurst has seen most things in her long career, but she is about to experience a first. A rare wild animal found lying at the side of the road has been brought in and before assessing what’s wrong with it, she must first find out what it is.

Meanwhile, one of the Castle Vets team, Terry Mullin, is off to see a local farmer about a cow which has lost weight after giving birth. Through touch and a simple trick with a stethoscope, Terry quickly diagnoses the problem and fixes it by hand. 

Back at Downe Vets, Jennie also has a mystery to solve. A family has brought in their beloved cat, Lottie. They found her collapsed after having disappeared.

Lottie means the world to them all as she was given to the family as part of the therapy when their mum was recovering from cancer. The pressure is on, but Jennie is stuck for a diagnosis. Will exploratory surgery and a fingertip examination of the animal’s intestines reveal what’s wrong?

Mountain Vets is on BBC2 this Friday at 8pm and again at 8.30pm.