# Limping/Kneeling Ewe



## 4.16Acres (Jul 31, 2017)

I have an old ewe that was limping for a little over a day.  She's almost blind (cataracts) and sometimes trips on foliage in the pasture and has hurt her foot before.  Plus she's on meds for arthritis.  Then she started kneeling.  We roped her and I checked her feet and one of her hooves had grown under and was pushing on her foot.   We plopped her on her butt and trimmed all of her hooves.  She stayed up longer last night eating but still kneeled and laid down.  Today it rained all morning and in the afternoon I got her up to see her moving.  She's walking stronger and limping a bit less.  But still kneeling like her foot still hurt.  I checked her hoof again and it's not hot, the soft part isn't looking bad, no bad smell.  I did some koppertox just to be on the safe side.

Question:  How long after this trim should her foot hurt and cause kneeling?


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## Latestarter (Jul 31, 2017)

Just a guess, but how long for you to walk comfortably after popping a blister?   I imagine it will take several days or more for her hoof to "toughen up" after the trimming. I don't have sheep and haven't experienced this with my goats. Maybe some of the Sheeple here might have some idea? @Sheepshape @mysunwolf @purplequeenvt @SheepGirl or any of the many others... Hope your old gal heals up quickly.


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## Sheepshape (Aug 1, 2017)

Hi 4.16....glad to hear you are keeping your old girl.

Any time a sheep has a sore front hoof they will kneel to eat....that persists until the hoof no longer hurts too bad. 

It sounds as though she may have just injured the hoof (turned it under).....it will take several days for the pain to settle, but should be helped by her arthritis meds (?metacam or similar). Just check at the junction between where the hoof joins the leg to ensure there isn't heat/swelling/redness here which could indicate contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD) which responds very well to high does penicillins.

Current advice from over here is that trimming should almost never take place. The 'nails' grow long on the hoof which is painful as the ewe is not putting her full weight onto it and wearing it down.The overgrown 'nail' is protecting the sore bit on many occasions and cutting it back will mean the sore part is in direct contact with the ground and may make the ewe even more lame. When the ewe is putting her full weight on the hoof, the nail will soon wear back down again. So our up-to-date advice is...treat scald with local iodine etc and take sheep off long pasture. Treat foot rot with a long acting tetracycline injection plus antibiotic spray to foot. Footvax as a preventative if wished, cull ewes who get recurrent foot rot.Isolate ewes with footrot as it is very infectious.Ideally keep ewes with foot rot on a hard surface and lime the area after they move off. No trimming of hooves at all to anyone.(This is central advice)

Personally I trim back a very overgrown hoof which is allowing stones to collect under the nail, as they will certainly limp with a stone/staple etc caught under there.

As for your 'old girl' 4.16, then 4-5 days is my best guess....but essentially as soon as the hoof is no longer very painful, she'll walk and eat normally.


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## 4.16Acres (Aug 1, 2017)

Latestarter said:


> Just a guess, but how long for you to walk comfortably after popping a blister?   I imagine it will take several days or more for her hoof to "toughen up" after the trimming. I don't have sheep and haven't experienced this with my goats. Maybe some of the Sheeple here might have some idea? @Sheepshape @mysunwolf @purplequeenvt @SheepGirl or any of the many others... Hope your old gal heals up quickly.



Thanks.  I hope so too.


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## 4.16Acres (Aug 1, 2017)

Sheepshape said:


> Hi 4.16....glad to hear you are keeping your old girl.
> 
> Any time a sheep has a sore front hoof they will kneel to eat....that persists until the hoof no longer hurts too bad.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the advice.  I don't understand why folks say not to trim sheep hooves.  They grow and need occasional trims.  Oh and she's on meloxicam and gabapentin for her arthritis.  We've upped her gabapentin (per vet direction) for pain.  I'm hoping it's just a sore hoof, too.  I've got a real soft spot for this grumpy, old ewe.


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## Sheepshape (Aug 1, 2017)

4.16Acres said:


> I've got a real soft spot for this grumpy, old ewe.


 Just wondered how old she is? My oldest lady just went aged 14.


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## 4.16Acres (Aug 1, 2017)

Sheepshape said:


> Just wondered how old she is? My oldest lady just went aged 14.


In a few moths she'll be 13.


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## 4.16Acres (Aug 1, 2017)

This evening my old ewe was standing up and eating/grazing this evening.  She laid down for a bit but then got back up.  She's still limping but she didn't kneel today.  So relieved that she's feeling better.


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