Lame ram lamb

[Hawaiianhighlandsfarm]

Hey everyone,
I swear Everytime I turn around there is something wrong with this ram. I'm starting to wonder if I didn't end up with the cast offs from this person that I got them from. That's what I get for not educating myself before purchasing. Anyways, anyone ever dealt with an ear infection as the cause of lameness? He's got his head cocked hard to the right and just threw up after eating the slightest bit of grain. Been giving him cuttings for the last day, cuz we thought he had the FLU. He drank a ton of water yesterday but not so much today. Got a call into the vet but no after hours services so have to wait to hear from her tomorrow. Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated. Mahalo

 

[Latestarter]

@Sheepshape @mysunwolf @purplequeenvt @SheepGirl @Roving Jacobs There are quite a few other sheeple, but these are the first that came to mind. Hopefully someone will come along to offer help/suggestions. I've never personally heard or any tie between an ear infection and lameness. And the throwing up doesn't really mesh with either of the other 2. I think you have several issues going on here and having a knowledgeable vet involved can't hurt! Perhaps it's time to cut your losses on this ram and replace him. Good luck!

 

[Sheepshape]

SO sorry to hear you are having all of these problems.
I think, like Latestarter that you are probably dealing with a number of different issues.
Ear infections often cause a sheep to be really ill, there may be ear discharge, meningitis-type symptoms (confusion, staggering etc). If he has an ear infection he will need strong antibiotics and painkillers/anti-inflammatories (e.g metacam). I can't see that it would cause lameness, though lameness in sheep due to scald, injury, footnote etc. is very common, so could occur coincidentally. Injury is especially likely if he is staggering about.
'Throwing up' is a normal part of ruminant digestion. Food enters a chamber of the stomach and after a while is regurgitated , often accompanied by rumbling sounds and burping up methane, where it undergoes a second chewing (cud) and then swallowing to another part of the stomach before onward digestion. Some sheep are 'clean' about this, others drip stinky stuff out of their mouths which may be green, brown or any other colour depending on what they have been eating. I've never known a sheep to really vomit. If an animal is unwell from other causes their digestive processes are disturbed and he may be regurgitation but failing to chew his cud.
The services of a knowledgeable vet will be a great boon.
Hopefully with a few shots he will be 'good as new'.
It sounds as though your are willing to do a lot more for him than his previous owner. It's very sad and SO maddening if folk sell their problem animals. I'd never do it, but, around here (small population,high gossip ratio) if you did, then you wouldn't sell anything much afterwards as your name would be forever MUD (well something similar, but stinkier).

 

[Hawaiianhighlandsfarm]

I took his temp right after starting this thread and it was 100.1. After a little online research and paying close attention to his other symptoms we realized he was staying to go hyperthermic. The lameness started yesterday morning after an incredibly cold night. My husband and I had a ton of errands to take care of in town so we put him in the back of our van so we could keep an eye on him. Little did we realize we had him on the mend until today when I thought the lameness was due to foot rot so I gave him a foot bath (in not so warm water). After that was when the head arching started and I realized he hadn't been ruminating. So that's when I took his temp and realized he was just cold. So we put him back in the van and cranked up the hear and drove into town for a late night snack. And guess what? He perked up and is ruminating and trying to move around. Still gonna have him checked out by vet tomorrow but praying as l keep him warm he should be ok. The irony of this is that I have a disabled husband and a child with cerebral palsy. We have it in our mission statement that we are a special needs farm, but that was meant for the human populous, not the animals, lol. Oh well, we will keep on keeping on.

 

[norseofcourse]

Glad he's improving - do you have any Nutri-drench you can give him?

 

[Hawaiianhighlandsfarm]

Update: all symptoms have subsided except for the lameness. I think the other symptoms were all related to hypothermia. Once I got him in the van and kept him warm, he perked right up. He keeps trying to get up but can't. No other problems. No scours, eats normally, drinks water. No odor coming from his hoofs.

And worse of all no vet! They either don't treat sheep or can't see him until the end of November. I am going to treat him for scald unless someone has any other ideas for me.

 

[Hawaiianhighlandsfarm]

Just to update anyone on this thread that wasn't on the Shelly Hoof post, he passed away tonight. I am certain it was WMD. It's the only thing that makes sense. He has definitely given me the learning lesson I needed to put me on the right path with this farm.

 

[Latestarter]

Wow... so sorry that you lost him.

 

[luvmypets]

Im so sorry you lost him

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Sorry to hear