Mountain Vets

A pregnant sheep must undergo an emergency caesarean; Flame the dachshund and Monty the fell pony present worrying symptoms that put the vets' knowledge to the test.

Warmer weather finally arrives in the Mournes; the racing season is getting underway and the vets face a rush of emergency operations; vet Maurice King and his son Cahir King are called out to a colt recently bought at the horse sales.

Maurice delivers a valuable litter of 11 sniffer dogs; Rachel operates on a therapy dog with possible cancerous skin growths; a woman with Asperger's adopts a wild bird.

A calf born with an extraordinarily rare condition is brought in to see vet Martin Fitzpatrick; head nurse Julie Hurst has an appointment with seven-year-old cat Paws, whose weight has been steadily increasing over the last few years.

As sunny weather arrives in the Mournes, the vets have time to enjoy the rewards of the job. For vet Maurice King, it's a less pressured time of year and a chance to relish the benefits of the work.

It is autumn in the Mourne Mountains, a rural area in the east of Northern Ireland where animals outnumber people. A local pedigree sheep breeder has called in with an emergency as one of his prize ewes is having difficulty in labour.