Bottle jaw and worming questions

[sunnyside]

Hello all!

Have a 5 month old Finn ram lamb who currently has bottle jaw. He is 56 pounds so the dosage was easy to do. Womed with Ivermectin two days ago according tot he label. Bottle jaw went down yesterday as if he never had it. Went out to check on him today and he has it bigger than ever!!! Why is this and what can I do?? His appetite is great and he is acting normally. We are currently trying to find a vet to run a fecal to see what we are dealing with but our regualr vet (for the horses) will not do sheep at all. Willnot even run a fecal for me!!

Would appreciate any advice. Thanks in advance!

 

[sunnyside]

Wanted to add...We started off using Prohibit as a wormer only when needed when they first got here three months ago. Everyone else is healthy and no signs of bottle jaw.

 

[Bossroo]

If your regular Vet wouldn't even run a simple fecal sample for you as a service to you as you being his/her client, then I would VERY seriously consider getting another Vet. and FIRE the s o _ . Very poor business practice.

 

[sunnyside]

Boss,

Isn't that crappy?!?!?!!? I called a few other farm vets and all said the same thing... no sheep! I actually just put a call in to my small animal vet that cares for our Yorkie and asked if they could just run it. Waiting for a call back. Not sure if I should try a different womer or up the doseage?

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I would go ahead and deworm with Prohibit until you get a fecal in to a vet. The Ivomec probably isn't going to cut it.

 

[20kidsonhill]

Bottle jaw is a result of anemia, Anemia take time to improve on. May need more than one worming. may need some supplemental iron and protein to help the lamb build up on the iron in the system. Bottle jaw can look better certain times a day, after the animal grazes the bottle jaw will look worse, if you take the lamb off pasture and put in a pen with a raised hay feeder the bottle jaw will appear to go away, but if you put the lamb back on pasture it will come back sooner. It is really an indication of the animal being anemic and that needs to be fixed to get rid of the bottle jaw.

More worming, different family of wormer
Red cell for horses.
Iron shots that are used on pigs
Higher protein diet to increase red blood cells.

if it is a young lamb, don't over look coccidiosis or tapeworms as part of the problem

 

[sunnyside]

Aggie, our Yorkie vet has agreed to do a fecal for us! Results will be back in the morning. Should we wait to use the Prohibit until we hear back?

20kids, thanks for the explaination. That is exactly what happened. They started grazing first thing this morning and it seemed to pop right back up! I did look at the symptoms for coccidiosis or tapeworms. No diarreah (sp), appetite is great, no weight loss, not listless, etc...Should I still treat for anemia, etc...?

Would I be able to see the tapes in his feces?

Also, I thought Finns were more parasite resistant than a lot of the other breeds. We also have Shetlands and they are the easiest keepers ever. We picked Finns because we had read they were also a more hardy breed of sheep.

Sorry to bug you all! It really stinks not having a farm vet that will do sheep!!!

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Glad you found a vet to help! Yes, if they're going to get the results this morning I'd wait. Probably too late for me to tell you that since it is already "this morning."

 

[20kidsonhill]

tapes only show up in the poop with real heavy loads, you may not beable to tell.

As far as that specific breed being more parasite resistant, I am sure like everything there is a range with in the breed and a range with each individual animal. She may just not be that as resistnant as others in the breed or It may be an indication that she is in need of certain vitamins and minerals.

With goats it is copper, I know sheep can't have a lot of copper, but their is some research out their indicating although they don't need a lot of copper, if they don't have enough copper they are more acceptable to worm loads.

We didn't used to treat the anemia with our animals, just the worm load and let them recover on their own. but since we have been directly treating the anemia we have seen an improvement with that specific animal's ability to fight off future worm loads. Otherwise you may continue to see that same animal become wormer again in a few weeks. And the cycle will start over. Worms causing more anemia, and an anemic animal with a lower immune system more acceptable to worms.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

20kids, I just read an article by Susan Shoenian stating tapes rarely cause any issues with sheep/goats. I'm not sure tapes would be causing these problems.