Back then,
We removed lumps from shark's fins
and made prosthetic eye for an eyeless crocodile
A Kritter Klub Original Series
Animal Hospital for Tiny Animals
Animal Hospital For Tiny Animals Choi Young-Min, Vet
What's he drawing?
Can you guess?
Hello. I'm Choi Young-Min, the vet
Today I'll perform a surgery
It's the surgery I've performed in 2005
It is..
Drum roll please
Turtle surgery!
Even 16 years ago
The vet treated tiny animals
PD: What's this? Vet: I'm planning for the turtle surgery
So today's patient
Baebook, 10 year old
Vet: This turtle here
came to the hospital as he's feeling spiritless
Usually for turtles, we take an X-Ray(because of the shell) to have a close look
As soon as we took the X-Ray , we found out...
Baebook's X-Ray result
H U G E
Vet: It's urolith
When turtles eat food
They gain protein
And when this protein gets digested and absorbed in the body
what we call a 'final metabolic product'
turic acid is formulated
Usually uric acid is soft like a water balloon
If it's not emitted due to whatever reason (Bad condition, living environment)
It gets hardened and becomes a urolith
Choi Young-Min, Vet: This big rock blocking the way
Baebook surely cannot eat anything. He'd become anorexic
It's not just loss of appetite, but an anorexia
Can't eat at all
Getting nutritional supplements
Vet: If we don't emit it artificially
Turtle will starve for more and
be parted with us forever
So to stop the parting
we are going to have the surgery today
An important surgery
Baebook lies on the operation table...
How will this surgery go
(*Sorry for his bubbliness, it's filmed after the surgery)
Vet: Like this! I'll make a hole
I'll make a hole and take out the rocks in it
Can I just open it? I sure can't
So I'll open it with a high-speed drill
(Drill: I'm here to help!)
Drill is ready
*Proceeded after sterilization
Mark the cutting part
and cover with OP drape
SURGERY BEGINS
Opening up a hard stomach
It takes more than 2 hours
Vet: We shouldn't damage intestines whilst drilling by accident
So we will use high-speed drill in the beginning
and once it's cut about half the shell
The rest shall be cut manually
Using a tool with a rounded end
scratches the rest to take it off
And finally
(Heart thumping)
Vet: You're watching a live turtle's stomach
Rock is somewhere in the stomach
It takes some time to find it
Baebook hang in there
And at last
It's huge..
Suturing the cut part
covers it up
Vet: The final touch
This surgery ends
When it's completely waterproofed
so that not even a drop of water gets in
Attaching lid with a bone wax
Vet: This blank part here
Resin will be applied here. Resin is used to attach teeth
Blocking the crack with resin
Fiberglass + Urethane.. Now it's completely waterproof!
Thank you all
Choi Young-Min, Vet: For now, I think it will stick well together
But the problem is...
Usually when we do the surgery or suture human skin
It sticks within 10~14 days
But do you know how long it takes for a turtle to reattach its shell?
PD: How long?
Vet: A year
PD: So they can't get into the water for a year?
Vet: No, until the waterproof liquid all dries
For a week or two
They can't get into the water during that period
After that, they can get into the water
Baebook: Gee, that was hard
You've been through a lot Baebook♥
Choi Young-Min, Vet: It will be nice when
Baebook recovers well and lives a healthy life
And I took this out of Baebook's stomach
Look, doesn't it look like a lovely heart?
Thank you all for loving our Animal Hospital For Tiny Animals
We'll give you this heart with all our love
(Lovely heart for you subscribers!)