Dr. Uri Burstyn, also known as the Helpful Vancouver Vet makes educational videos about cats with the help of his feline assistant, Mr. Pirate.
His videos cover topics like how to give a cat a pill, how to trim a cat’s nails, and whether it is okay to carry a cat like a baby.
And as can be clearly seen in the videos, Mr.Pirate is a dutiful assistant!
It must be said that his tolerance for taking medication and having his nails cut are probably unique to Mr. Pirate’s own personality and how he was raised, but the videos still offer a lot of good information for cat lovers and owners everywhere.
Every student vet should have a kitten
Dr. Uri Burstyn went to veterinary school in Sydney, Australia, and while he was there doing his placement at a clinic to gain first-hand experience, a woman came into the clinic with a box containing two neonatal kittens.
The woman had found the two brown tabby kittens abandoned at a nearby train station. She explained that she wanted to raise one of the kittens herself, but couldn’t handle the two, and was wondering if anyone at the clinic wanted to raise the other.
These kittens would need constant care as their eyes hadn’t even opened yet, so they couldn’t have been more than one-week-old.
Everyone at the clinic insisted Dr. Uri take one of the kittens, arguing that every vet student should experience raising a kitten.
Dr. Uri was hesitant because, being from Canada, he had plans to leave Australia in the coming years to move back home.
But he took the kitten anyway, thinking he could foster it for a while at least.
Dr. Uri ended up taking Mr. Pirate back to Canada with him, where he joined him in work and life from then on.
More cats, less problems
Dr. Uri has a couple of other special feline assistants that help him out when Mr. Pirate isn’t feeling the limelight.
There’s Clawdia, a black and white short haired sweetie.
And Lancelot, the handsome black and white domestic long hair.
Both of these beauties regularly help out Dr. Uri, and sometimes a mix of Mr. Pirate, Clawdia, and/or Lancelot are there to offer a helping paw.
But Mr. Pirate remains the original, although Dr. Uri’s family had animals before, Mr. Pirate is Dr. Uri’s alone.
He certainly reaps the benefits of this status, and enjoys nothing more than being in his rightful place; on Dr. Uri’s shoulder.