Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet

And away we go.

This week, Dr. Michelle Oakley is braving the elements.

DR. OAKLEY (off-screen): Brrr! It's too cold out.

Visiting mustangs with a wild streak.

Oh! That hurt.

Here, kitty, kitty. This one's a little growly.

Solving the mysteries of a cagey lynx.

.

Okay, lovey. Okay.

And when an emergency C-section comes in,

getting the puppies out is only half the battle.

The puppies are fighting for their lives.

That silence is deadly.

I'm not hearing the noises I need to hear.

It's late February in Alaska,

and winter's still in full force.

Woo! Drive safe.

But for Dr. Michelle Oakley,

there are no snow days.

SIDNEY (off-screen): Do you want to go see a friend?

Down.

This week, she's doing her rounds

in Haines, Alaska.

MAN (off-screen): Okay, I got this one.

I work here at the American Bald Eagle Foundation when I'm in Haines.

I love this. Whoo.

They have a treatment room that is set up for us

to work on the various raptors that they have here.

I'm also able to use it to see community pets

when I come down here.

I didn't even do it yet. There we go.

.

And with thick clouds and heavy snow

making it hard to get out of Haines...

DR. OAKLEY (off-screen): Yup.

The animals only have one place to go.

DR. OAKLEY (off-screen): We have a fewsamples that need to go.

Whoa. What a stinker.

DR. OAKLEY (off-screen): That's what I'm talking about right there.

SDS. Spiteful defecation at my feet.

He does it every time.

.

Hello.

KIM (over phone): This is Kim.

Oh, hi, Kim. How's it going?

KIM (over phone): Looking out at the snowstorm out here and

I'm sure you can tell that I'm stuck here in Haines.

Yeah, it's like a complete whiteout.

KIM (over phone): I just kind of wanted to let you know that Dixie is at work with me --

And she hasn't eaten today and she hasn't drank any water that I can tell --

And she's getting a little squirrelly.

Kind of digging in her blanket.

Hmm.

Oh. That's a good indication that labor's started.

So, why don't I swing by and have a quick peek at her

and check her temperature?

KIM (over phone): Yah, that would be great if you came by.

I'd feel really good just knowing you're here --

Because there is no way I could get to Juneau right now.

Right, I know.

KIM (over phone): See you soon.

Okay. See you shortly. Bye-bye.

A tiny dog is big with puppies.

With no flights and ferries to a larger clinic,

Michelle is the only vet in town that can help the pregnant pup.

Woo!

So, we are heading over to Kim Phillips' place,

to where she works,

and I'm gonna have a quick check of Dixie.

Kim has a seven-year-old Yorkie named Dixie,

and Dixie is very close to her due date,

so Kim's getting very nervous.

I really don't want Dixie moved around right now.

We don't want to stress her and stop labor or induce labor.

Anything like that.

She's gonna be really stressed enough,

and I don't want her kind of moving around too much.

So I'm gonna go to her.

Hey, Kim.

Hey. How's it going?

Good. Thanks so much for coming.

Good! Are you nervous?

KIM (off-screen): Yeah. It's a little nerve-racking.

DR. OAKLEY (off-screen): Oh, yeah.

Dixie had a little fun on New Year's Eve

with my little male Yorkie named Teddy,

and now she's expecting puppies.

It's a little scary because she's had puppies before,

and she had to have a C-section.

If I'm stuck home with an emergency,

that's pretty unnerving for me,

because I want Dixie to be safe above all.

Oh, Dixie. There she is.

DR. OAKLEY (off-screen): Dixie, look at you. Little pumpkin.

Kim brought Dixie to see me earlier this week,

and I did an exam, I did an x-ray,

and she has two very large puppies.

The puppies look way too big

for Dixie to be able to have them naturally.

She looks in good spirits anyway.

Yeah, well, she's cheerful.

Yeah. Okay, but she hasn't eaten or drank.

No, she won't touch it.

Dixie, how are you?

Dixie's been showing some signs of impending labor.

She's been kind of digging around, nesting.

But those signs can go on for days

before they're actually ready to give birth.

Okay, why don't you bring her out

and I'll just do her temperature really quick.

KIM (off-screen): Come here, Dix, come on, it's okay.

Hi, Dixie.

We'll do the worst of it first, okay? So you can get...

KIM (off-screen): See now, what you're gonna do for her

what you won't do for me.

Tiny little butt.

Oh, my goodness.

Okay, Dix.

A really good sign that labor is imminent

is a temperature drop.

So Kim's been checking Dixie's temperature

every day for about the last week

to make sure the temperature's staying the same.

And when you see that drop,

that's when labor's about to start.

37, so her temperature has definitely dropped.

I'm gonna have a peek at her vulva. Hi, Dixie.

KIM (off-screen): Oh, Dix is like...

DR. OAKLEY (off-screen): So no discharge or anything like that?

Not yet, I'm watching.

That's why I have those light-colored blankets

so I don't miss it if it happens, huh, Dix-Dix?

DR. OAKLEY (off-screen): Right. Nothing there.

Babies were wiggly.

Were they? Good. Yeah.

Ooh, yeah, I can feel some movement there.

Yeah.

Aw. Oh, my God, so cute. Okay, sweetheart.

Can I see your color? Can I see your color?

That looks good.

So, Dixie's doing good.

She's been kind of digging around, nesting.

Her body temperature is 98.6.

Um, it was 99 yesterday.

So not a huge drop, but a slight drop.

But no sign of any straining

and not really clearly full on into labor yet.

Let's just hang tight.

I don't want to jump in too soon.

If we don't see any signs,

then we'll just, you know, keep observing her.

I don't really want to do a C-section here

because I'm not set up for that.

I don't have, like, a sterile surgical room.

You know, I don't have a lot of staff on hand

to help with the puppies.

So it's much better, and I recommend to Kim

that she go south either to Juneau or to Whitehorse

to get ready for the C-section.

Well, I'm gonna leave the thermometer with you,

see if you can't get another temperature again tonight

if there's any change.

I'll give it a try, but she's not very cooperative.

Right, yes. Okay, Dixie.

Keep growing those babies, alright?

And hopefully we get through this together.

I know, I'm so glad you're here.

DR. OAKLEY (off-screen): Yeah, alright, good. Thank you very much, Kim.

Thanks so much for coming.

DR. OAKLEY (off-screen): Alright, we'll be in touch tonight.

Alright, thanks.

Leaving Dixie under Kim's watchful eye,

Michelle heads to the home range of a wild mustang.

So, we're just heading out to Carolann's place.

She's got a couple horses there, Wilbur and Estrella.

And Wilbur has had a issue with his foot.

Anything on a horse's foot is life-threatening.

When you weigh 1,000 pounds,

life on three legs isn't an option.

Wilbur's owners, Carolann and John Wooton,

have called in their farrier, Josh, to help.

Hi, Estrella. How are you?

Estrella and Wilbur are some of the wild mustangs

rounded up off overcrowded public lands

every year for adoption.

So, what's going on with Wilbur?

Yeah, so, his foot's flared up.

So the first time was the first, when we first got here.

Right.

CAROLANN (off-screen): And it just out of nowhere just kind of popped up.

I've never actually had an issue before.

Okay.

And you never, but it didn't pop out of the coronary band

until this summer, right?

No, both times it came out. Same place.

Wilbur's been having an issue over the last year

of a chronic abscess,

and, and basically that's a collection of pus,

and in a hoof, it can be quite serious.

You have this hoof of course that's quite hard