Stress incontinent lamb question

[Natisha]

I have a lamb about 7 months old. She has had her whole tail removed by the breeder. When I first got her I had concerns about rectal prolapse but that seems to be OK.
However, I have noticed her hind quarters are now always wet to about 1/2 way down her legs. I assume she is leaking urine when laying down. She does urinate normally too.
I know this can't be normal & seeing as she is only a pet I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on what to do about it? I worry about skin infections plus it's not too fun to pet her or have her bump into me (instant wet spot on my clothes).
Do I keep this area shaved short, ignore it or ?? Will it eventually stop?
I will be keeping her no matter what, I just wish she hadn't been mutilated.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Hmm...I haven't heard urination issues stem from short docking, but maybe it is. Have you seen her dribbling urine? I don't know why else she'd be wet. I hate to say it but it will likely get worse and cause problems. I would imagine she'd eventually get burns from all the nitrogen in urine. I almost think it would be worse if her wool is short (more urine in contact with skin) but it's going to get nasty if her wool is long as well. I don't really know if there's any good outcome to this. :/

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Well I just read urinary incontinence can be caused by docked tails in dogs, so I imagine it could be the same for sheep.

 

[Natisha]

Hmm...I haven't heard urination issues stem from short docking, but maybe it is. Have you seen her dribbling urine? I don't know why else she'd be wet. I hate to say it but it will likely get worse and cause problems. I would imagine she'd eventually get burns from all the nitrogen in urine. I almost think it would be worse if her wool is short (more urine in contact with skin) but it's going to get nasty if her wool is long as well. I don't really know if there's any good outcome to this. :/

Thank you. Now that you mentioned it I haven't seen any dribbling. It's hard to get a good look when she's laying down as she always jumps up to play or get cookies (kind of spoiled).
But you've got me thinking. She is free roaming & often rubs on the water buckets in the horse stalls, often spilling some. How long would the wool be wet if this were the case? This didn't happen when she was too short to reach the buckets. Now I feel really stupid. I'm going to sit out there until she is bored so hopefully I can see if she is dribbling.
Thank you so much for your help. I'll let you know what I discover.

 

[SheepGirl]

I have seen ewes with tail lengths about three to four inches long that have dirty hindquarters. Usually dirty hindquarters are be a sign of an internal parasite infestation. Check her eyelids to see what color they are. Red=great, bright pink=good, pink=okay, light pink=not so good/needs to be dewormed, white=anemic/needs to be dewormed asap.

 

[Natisha]

I have seen ewes with tail lengths about three to four inches long that have dirty hindquarters. Usually dirty hindquarters are be a sign of an internal parasite infestation. Check her eyelids to see what color they are. Red=great, bright pink=good, pink=okay, light pink=not so good/needs to be dewormed, white=anemic/needs to be dewormed asap.

I had a fecal done on her & it was positive for worms. She was then dewormed with an injectable by a vet. A follow up test 4 weeks after deworming showed no worms. That was 2 weeks ago. Could she still have some? How accurate are fecals in determining worm load?
My other sheep has had only negative fecals.
Is there a trick to checking eyelids? I'm having a heck of a time. Do you mean lower lids?
Sorry for all the questions. I appreciate you taking the time to help me.

 

[Ms. Research]

I have seen ewes with tail lengths about three to four inches long that have dirty hindquarters. Usually dirty hindquarters are be a sign of an internal parasite infestation. Check her eyelids to see what color they are. Red=great, bright pink=good, pink=okay, light pink=not so good/needs to be dewormed, white=anemic/needs to be dewormed asap.

I had a fecal done on her & it was positive for worms. She was then dewormed with an injectable by a vet. A follow up test 4 weeks after deworming showed no worms. That was 2 weeks ago. Could she still have some? How accurate are fecals in determining worm load?
My other sheep has had only negative fecals.
Is there a trick to checking eyelids? I'm having a heck of a time. Do you mean lower lids?
Sorry for all the questions. I appreciate you taking the time to help me.

Sorry don't have sheep, but remember reading this on a thread. It's on SheepGirl's BYH page. She has a lot of really good information for people who like Sheep.

Here's something that was there

DE-WORMING: Most people de-worm their sheep once per year during shearing or lambing time. Some sheep may require more frequent de-worming than this, others less frequently. One sure-fire way to tell if your sheep needs to be de-wormed is if they're anemic. Anemic sheep will have pale eye lids, usually white or pink in color (do not get the eye lids confused with the whites of the sheeps eye!), and healthy sheep (not in need of de-worming) will have bright red eye lids.

 

[Natisha]

I have seen ewes with tail lengths about three to four inches long that have dirty hindquarters. Usually dirty hindquarters are be a sign of an internal parasite infestation. Check her eyelids to see what color they are. Red=great, bright pink=good, pink=okay, light pink=not so good/needs to be dewormed, white=anemic/needs to be dewormed asap.

I had a fecal done on her & it was positive for worms. She was then dewormed with an injectable by a vet. A follow up test 4 weeks after deworming showed no worms. That was 2 weeks ago. Could she still have some? How accurate are fecals in determining worm load?
My other sheep has had only negative fecals.
Is there a trick to checking eyelids? I'm having a heck of a time. Do you mean lower lids?
Sorry for all the questions. I appreciate you taking the time to help me.

Sorry don't have sheep, but remember reading this on a thread. It's on SheepGirl's BYH page. She has a lot of really good information for people who like Sheep.

Here's something that was there

DE-WORMING: Most people de-worm their sheep once per year during shearing or lambing time. Some sheep may require more frequent de-worming than this, others less frequently. One sure-fire way to tell if your sheep needs to be de-wormed is if they're anemic. Anemic sheep will have pale eye lids, usually white or pink in color (do not get the eye lids confused with the whites of the sheeps eye!), and healthy sheep (not in need of de-worming) will have bright red eye lids.

Yes, thank you. It was very informative.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Hmm...I haven't heard urination issues stem from short docking, but maybe it is. Have you seen her dribbling urine? I don't know why else she'd be wet. I hate to say it but it will likely get worse and cause problems. I would imagine she'd eventually get burns from all the nitrogen in urine. I almost think it would be worse if her wool is short (more urine in contact with skin) but it's going to get nasty if her wool is long as well. I don't really know if there's any good outcome to this. :/

Thank you. Now that you mentioned it I haven't seen any dribbling. It's hard to get a good look when she's laying down as she always jumps up to play or get cookies (kind of spoiled).
But you've got me thinking. She is free roaming & often rubs on the water buckets in the horse stalls, often spilling some. How long would the wool be wet if this were the case? This didn't happen when she was too short to reach the buckets. Now I feel really stupid. I'm going to sit out there until she is bored so hopefully I can see if she is dribbling.
Thank you so much for your help. I'll let you know what I discover.

Hopefully that is what she's doing! Next time you see her wool wet, can you smell it? She may just be getting a good butt scratching from the water buckets!

 

[Natisha]

Hmm...I haven't heard urination issues stem from short docking, but maybe it is. Have you seen her dribbling urine? I don't know why else she'd be wet. I hate to say it but it will likely get worse and cause problems. I would imagine she'd eventually get burns from all the nitrogen in urine. I almost think it would be worse if her wool is short (more urine in contact with skin) but it's going to get nasty if her wool is long as well. I don't really know if there's any good outcome to this. :/

Thank you. Now that you mentioned it I haven't seen any dribbling. It's hard to get a good look when she's laying down as she always jumps up to play or get cookies (kind of spoiled).
But you've got me thinking. She is free roaming & often rubs on the water buckets in the horse stalls, often spilling some. How long would the wool be wet if this were the case? This didn't happen when she was too short to reach the buckets. Now I feel really stupid. I'm going to sit out there until she is bored so hopefully I can see if she is dribbling.
Thank you so much for your help. I'll let you know what I discover.

Hopefully that is what she's doing! Next time you see her wool wet, can you smell it? She may just be getting a good butt scratching from the water buckets!

I'll go out shortly, smell her butt & hope no one sees me.
I did manage to check her eyelids & they are red, not blood red but red.
Thanks