The Incredible Dr. Pol

Got him!

This time on The Incredible Dr. Pol,

life throws one curveball after another.

Tie her! Tie her! Tie her!

Don't let her go!

But the team is always there for the catch!

You're going to need some work!

Meet Dr. Jan Pol.

He's a local legend with over 19,000 clients...

and a team that does whatever it takes.

Spring has finally hit central Michigan.

Oh, that doesn't hurt.

Dr. Pol and his son Charles

have a full day ahead of them.

And their next case is one reason why.

- Mobile one to base. - Go ahead.

Julie Sykora, what's the address?

We got to go to Sykora's Farm.

They have a pig there called Lenny.

And Lenny has a golf ball-sized lump behind the ear.

We just seen that it was getting larger,

and we don't want him to get infection and die.

See the one on the far side of its neck,

looks like a golf ball underneath?

Oh, yeah.

Our animals are mostly for 4H,

so it's important for us to keep them healthy until fair time.

It's this one right here.

As it's a 4H pig, you know, they really have to be pristine.

And an abscess can definitely count against you.

Grab a hold of him, Charles.

This is gonna require me to wrangle this pig,

which is always a little bit of a headache.

Pigs are quick.

Got him!

They'll dart between your feet.

We had him.

They'll dart around you.

Man, they are 50 pounds already.

Dr. Pol and Charles were running around

trying to catch that pig, it was really quite funny actually.

Hind legs.

Easier said than done.

What you want to do is you want to work it into a corner

where it only has the option to come back at you.

And then you just got to be quick enough

to grab those hind feet.

Got him?

They have limited defenses,

so once they're captured like that,

the only thing they'll do is scream.

I think that's an abscess from a shot.

This lump's probably from some kind of injection that he had at one time.

You feel there's fluid in there,

so you got to cut in there and drain it,

because it's a fair pig, it has to be beautiful.

Let him go. I've got the snare. I'm gonna open it up.

You want to let him go?

No, hang on him, I'll get the snare.

We already got him!

I'm not gonna catch him again.

Are you out of your mind?

These little pigs are pretty strong.

They can be a handful.

Hey! Hey! Those are my boots!

What, the other one's biting you?

Hey!

We use a pig snare which goes over its snout.

Okay, I got him.

And it's another way to control a pig.

Here.

We just stick a knife in there, drain the pus.

That pus that comes out kind of looks like a malt,

like a mint malt.

Here, I cut a big hole, see that?

Yeah.

Just pus.

It's just one of those gross things

that we have to deal with every day.

Get, take those and just clean it up sometime.

He's fine. Turn him loose.

Hey!

Work with me, not against me!

That won't get infected or anything, huh?

No, it was infected, that's the ab...

Now it's open, and now it'll heal up.

Abscesses you do not stitch.

You keep it open so that the dirt comes out

and you can just let it heal up by second intention.

Okay, Julie.

Alright, thank you.

Dr. Pol did a good job.

He got it taken care of in a quick, orderly manner,

that's for sure.

I like pigs.

It always creates a laugh; That's the thing.

You're always having fun with 'em.

This package just came in from the Loons, the Midland Loons.

Who is it to?

It's to you.

I've been talking to the Great Lakes Loons.

They're the local minor league baseball team.

- Look. - What's that?

They have 4H night coming up,

so I think I have a little surprise in store for my dad.

Oh, my gosh!

They've invited you to throw out the first pitch.

That is cool!

The last time my dad's thrown a baseball

was about 25 years ago.

Charles, I can hit you again.

Yes!

He threw a fastball,

and I couldn't handle it at my age,

and it beaned me right in the head, knocking me unconscious,

so it was a pretty memorable last pitch.

Charles was not a good catcher. He's left-handed.

To throw out the first pitch, to me, is quite an honor,

so definitely I will do that.

That is really cool.

The tone in the clinic's parking lot

is much more serious.

Martin Loudenslager awoke this morning to bad news:

A fire destroyed his family's goat barn.

There was but one survivor, Annie.

Annie was running around the yard and scared,

and we knew that she was the only one that was left.

They were my niece's 4H goats.

She lost 13 total.

Annie shakes uncontrollably,

her fur is singed and her eye is swollen shut.

They meant the world to my niece.

This is her last goat,

and we want to make sure that it's going to be alright.

Hey, Marty. How are things today?

- Could be better. - Could be better?

Thankfully we have very few burn victims.

I have dealt with a cow many years ago that was a burn victim.

Obviously, the barn fire can be very traumatic to the animals,

very damaging to them.

Got some spots, you can see it got awful hot.

Yeah.

Her eye is the biggest thing.

She's got a very swollen eye on one side.

That can be related to the heat and the fire.

It can be the fact that she was frantic

trying to get away from the fire.

The eyeball looks okay.

She may have banged it on something.

I mean, that would be my thought, just the way...

She was running around, she was just...

I would be running around, too. The hair is terrible.

You know, she's got it sizzled in spots,

but you can almost see sunburn underneath.

Annie's skin right now is very red,

it's very sensitive to the touch.

Hang on, sweetie.

Overall, we don't have a burn through the skin,

so that's good for her.

That means the healing process will be much shorter

and much less painful.

Treating an animal for burns

is similar to treating a human.

Antibiotics are precautionary

so we don't end up with infection,

because not only has her skin been damaged,

but of course the inside of her lungs

have been damaged with the smoke.

We're gonna put her on spray,

so it can get down through her hair coat to get to the skin.

But I think that she's up, she's breathing, and she looks okay.

We're just worried about trying to prevent infection

and give them a way to help get the skin in better shape

and get her healthier quicker.

Hope that makes you feel better.

Medicine will take care of her physical injuries,

but only time can heal her psychological trauma.

She's been through a huge, terrifying event this morning.

She has no trust of anything today.

Some of the cattle that have been through fires like this,

they're on flight mode for protection.

For a lot of the animals, the barn is a safety zone,

so I think that we get her in a more stable area,

get her back into a barn so she can reestablish,

you know, the new safe area for her, and things will go better.

This goes with you guys.

Other than the Vetericyn spray,

there's nothing for you to do for her.

Time, TLC and just, that's about it.

There was a big sense of relief

that there's nothing serious or major

that we're really going to have to be concerned about.

Get her home, put Annie back in her new stall

that we have for her.

It'll make my niece feel a whole lot better

to know that the goat that she has left is gonna be alright.

Hello, this is Dr. Pol.

John Stern calls, and he has a cow with a prolapse.

The cow gave birth hours earlier.

The strenuous labor caused her to push so hard,