Small Town Vets Bring Some Heart and Humor to ‘Critter Fixers’

National Geographic/Stewart Volland

Dr. Terrence Ferguson and Dr. Vernard L. Hodges have been friends for 30 years now, so they’ve shared a lot of firsts in their lives. Heading to Los Angeles from their rural Georgia community for the Television Critics Association’s press tour was one of them. Having Reese Witherspoon, Kerry Washington, Hillary Clinton — all at the same event — was another. Welcome to Hollywood, docs.

The vets were there to discuss their fun new Nat Geo Wild series Critter Fixers: Country Vets (airing Saturdays at 10pmET, beginning March 7).

The down-to-earth vets originally met during their undergraduate studies at Fort Valley State University and went on to the same veterinary school, before ultimately partnering to open their own animal clinic in 1999, named Critter Fixer. The two are role models in their industry, as only about 3% of vets are African American.

“We’ve been together so long, he knows what I’m thinking before I say it and vice versa,” Ferguson says. “And same with our employees — they know what we want, when we want it, how we want it and where to put it. And that makes things so much more efficient in the hospital. We’ve seen their kids grow, they’ve seen our kids grow, most of them grown together. So it’s just a family atmosphere.”

But when cameras rolled into town, word got out fast in their small community and all sorts of interesting creatures started dropping by.

“When you think about Georgia, you think about Atlanta. But we live south, so we’re the only thing really going on. I mean, down there it’s like, ‘Whoa,’” Hodges says. “I mean, it’s the talk, not just of our town, it’s the talk of middle Georgia.”

That means the docs are treating everything from the traditional dogs, cats, cows and horses, to turtles (oh, that’s a gross episode!), snakes and recently a sugar glider. And what exactly is a sugar glider, you ask?

“In my 20 years of being a veterinarian, I’d never seen a sugar glider,” Hodges admits. “The best way to sum it up is it’s almost like a squirrel.”

Whatever the animal, there’s no denying the bonds and love we develop for animals and our beloved pets, and that’s what makes these types of shows so endearing.

“You get that unconditional love,” Hodges says. “When the whole world seems like it’s turning its back against you, you come home and, in your house, you get this pet that is just waiting to see you.”

“The human-animal bond is just something that you can’t really put a finger on,” Ferguson concludes. “That bond that you have with them, it’s just love.”

Critter Fixers: Country Vets airs Saturdays at 10pmET on Nat Geo Wild