# A trip to the vets



## Cornish Heritage (Mar 22, 2012)

Yesterday was a very long day for us & Cybele, the 5 1/2 year old ewe that we have been waiting to lamb for ages. (Now we know why!)

In the morning, Cybele was very distraught, running around being very vocal. By mid-morning she had started to pass the water bag. It did not look normal but I have learned not to panic too early. At 1:20pm the bag burst which of course is normal. By 2:10pm there was still no sign of any lambs so we were becoming very concerned. Cybele was still distraught. It was time to investigate. Michelle, our daughter, has the smallest hands so she got disinfected & gloved & did some exploration. Could feed something WAY back but could not get a hold of anything. 

Time to call the vet. They told us to come in straight away. Our vet is 30 miles away but is excellent. We normally only use them for getting travel papers for taking animals across state lines (our animals rarely get sick, thankfully) but due to that, have got to know them pretty well. Once we got there & had Cybele out of the trailer, one of the vet techs started "working" on her. 25 mins later & with Cybele having lost a LOT of blood, out came 2 very dead twins. They were stuck, both trying to get out together & had been dead for at least a few days although they were full size. 

What happened? Who knows but the vet told us not to expect Cybele to live due to all the blood loss. They thought she may have ruptured inside but of course could not tell. She is an older ewe but we do have some here that are older than her, still producing well. 

Vet told us to give her Agrimycin AKA LA200 - (we had already given her Pennicillin when we went in the first time) & we did that as well as giving her a Nutri-Drench as she was anemic. Vet also told us to put her by herself but we did not do that as we knew she would be totally stressed out so we let her go back with her friends. Honestly expected to find her dead this morning but she was/is very much alive. She has been up some & eating but has also rested alot. She is obviously very sore. We repeated the Agrimycin & Drench this evening so we will see what tomorrow brings.

Why am I sharing all this? Someone else may find themselves in the same situation one day. I am a great believer in not panicking & letting nature take its course and only intervening if absolutely necessary. I am also not a believer in giving antibiotics just because.....     BUT in situations like this it is not only imperative to have a good vet you can turn too but also the correct medications. There is NO way we could have pulled those twins yesterday & if we had not taken Cybele to the vets she would have died. She may still die as it is early days BUT at least we know that we have done the best we could.

Liz


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## Remuda1 (Mar 22, 2012)

So sorry to hear about losing the twins. I'll keep my fingers crossed for your ewe. Keep us posted!


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## aggieterpkatie (Mar 23, 2012)

I'm crossing my fingers for you that she pulls through!  Thank goodness for good vets.


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## Cornish Heritage (Mar 23, 2012)

She's still alive this morning although still feeling fragile. Must be a "tough old bird!" We will give her another dose of medicine this afternoon & then that will be it.

Liz


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## SheepGirl (Mar 23, 2012)

Good to hear your ewe is still kickin'.


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## bonbean01 (Mar 23, 2012)

So sorry about the lambs and hope the ewe makes a good recovery!!!  Wonderful that you have a good vet there...no vets here do sheep or goats and I'm not sure why....there are enough of them in this area.  I should give one vet here credit for looking up the dosage for a med for sheep, but around here the vets care for dogs, cats, horses, and cows.

Keep us posted on your ewe and hope she pulls through!


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## Cornish Heritage (Mar 23, 2012)

We are kind of a novelty to the vets here! This area used to be a huge pig area but most are gone now. I think the vet used to process/vet check 5,000 pigs a week! So when we moved here & started taking pigs for travel papers he was quite excited & I think he enjoys seeing us. Sheep & goats are popular here now but I'm sure they don't see very many. The reason most vets have moved to the smaller animals is that there is more money in it! 

As for Cybele, she got her last shot of Agrimycin this evening along with another Nutri-Drench. Richard (hubby) made a very good observation tonight in that we need to start her on Probiotics tomorrow as the meds will have stripped the good bacteria from her gut. We keep Probios here so she sill be getting her first dose of that tomorrow. 

I honestly did not expect her to survive but the fact that she has come this far, I think she is going to make it. Poor thing is still walking very slowly & resting alot but she will heal.

Liz


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## Southdown (Apr 1, 2012)

Thanks for sharing.  It makes me want to be prepared for anything. I wish we had a good vet out here.  I want to get some probiotics to try also.  I think your ewe is going to make it!


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## Bridgemoof (Apr 1, 2012)

I'm so glad she seems like she is pulling through! That's sad about the twins. I had a stillborn twin this week and that's not easy to take. It makes you wonder if there was something you did wrong, but I guess that's just nature taking its course.

Thank you so much for sharing this info, it's very helpful especially for someone in the same situation.  Also glad you have a vet you can trust and go to in an event like this.

Hope your ewe is feeling better in no time!


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## Cornish Heritage (Apr 1, 2012)

Thanks  Cybele is still looking a little fragile & she is definitely no longer friendly towards us! She used to come up to us every day but I guess she will take a while to forgive us after what she thinks we put her through! BUT she is very much alive. We are giving her time to fully recover before putting her back in with a ram. We will try to breed her again to see how she does.

Liz


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