Update on Dolly Lamba with wet butt

[Beekissed]

I'm sorry if I insulted anyone, that was not my intent.

YOU didn't insult me, Natisha. I understand your attachment to your sheep....mine was just as strong. Sheep just have that way of stealing your heart, I have found, above all other types of animals I've kept as livestock.

But, as Aggie states, the urine can become a source of pain and infection for your sheep and, if it is caused by a neuroligical deficit due to short docking, this is likely something that cannot be fixed. Then one has to face the harsh reality of giving one's animal, pet or not, a quality life and a merciful end.

But you are learning, which is all anyone can hope to do with animal husbandry. Learning that short docked sheep have been mutilated merely for show purposes and for no other earthly reason and those sheep suffer from genitourinary difficulties, particularly as they gain weight in maturity or become pregnant.

 

[carolinagirl]

we were just at the fair the weekend and were shocked by how short the sheep's tails were. Tails were non-existant. How sad for them. Just for the sake of showing! I do hope Dolly's problem is correctable. Or at least managable. If her hair was kept short in that area and her skin kept protected (maybe petrolium jelly or something) then maybe she could live a good quality life.

 

[Natisha]

I'm sorry if I insulted anyone, that was not my intent.

YOU didn't insult me, Natisha. I understand your attachment to your sheep....mine was just as strong. Sheep just have that way of stealing your heart, I have found, above all other types of animals I've kept as livestock.

But, as Aggie states, the urine can become a source of pain and infection for your sheep and, if it is caused by a neuroligical deficit due to short docking, this is likely something that cannot be fixed. Then one has to face the harsh reality of giving one's animal, pet or not, a quality life and a merciful end.

But you are learning, which is all anyone can hope to do with animal husbandry. Learning that short docked sheep have been mutilated merely for show purposes and for no other earthly reason and those sheep suffer from genitourinary difficulties, particularly as they gain weight in maturity or become pregnant.

I'm learning, that's for sure. Learning not to trust. I lost my beloved Lambo due to urinary calculi as he got older-1 year, also due to a docked tail. We tried surgery & for some reason it didn't work. I could have tried another but chose to let him go.
I then bought a female from my sheep shearer. He knew my concerns about the tail. He assured me there would be no problem. I paid him over $100 just to shear 1 sheep because he didn't leave cuts. He knew how I felt about my animals.
I had 2 vets check Dolly for rectal prolapse & they said she's OK that way. Now this.
Sorry, I'm just venting.
If I had known about this site before I bought any sheep.....well, too late now.

 

[Natisha]

we were just at the fair the weekend and were shocked by how short the sheep's tails were. Tails were non-existant. How sad for them. Just for the sake of showing! I do hope Dolly's problem is correctable. Or at least managable. If her hair was kept short in that area and her skin kept protected (maybe petrolium jelly or something) then maybe she could live a good quality life.

It is sickening but I'm sure most of those lambs weren't meant to live long.
Dolly urinates normally when standing so maybe she isn't too bad. I'm not giving up on her yet.
Thanks

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I'm learning, that's for sure. Learning not to trust. I lost my beloved Lambo due to urinary calculi as he got older-1 year, also due to a docked tail. We tried surgery & for some reason it didn't work.

Urinary calculi isn't from docked tails. Who told you that? UC is caused by impropery Ca ratio in the diet. Sheep don't get it as often as male goats, but it can be a problem. :/

 

[Natisha]

I'm learning, that's for sure. Learning not to trust. I lost my beloved Lambo due to urinary calculi as he got older-1 year, also due to a docked tail. We tried surgery & for some reason it didn't work.

Urinary calculi isn't from docked tails. Who told you that? UC is caused by impropery Ca ratio in the diet. Sheep don't get it as often as male goats, but it can be a problem. :/

You're right, I got it mixed up with the Dolly problem. I was feeding him a feed with the wrong ratio, it was way off. It was also sold as a sheep feed exclusively. That combined with very early castration, which the vet said left his GU tract very small, relatively, was a deadly combination. It didn't effect my old wether but he was intact until after 1 year old.

 

[Queen Mum]

Natisha,

Just hang in there. Your lamb is still young. I'm not an expert on sheep, but I do have a LOT of experience with incontinence. There are a LOT of ways to work around this problem. This can be a permanent or a temporary problem. Growth could change things. Sometimes it's just a matter of muscle development. Since you don't plan on breeding her, you don't have to worry about lambing concerns impairing bladder function.

Either way, cleanliness is one way to control the problem. You can keep her clean and avoid some of the side effects. Clipping her butt wool can possibly help manage it. You might call a veterinary school to see if they have any specialists who can suggest solutions.

 

[bonbean01]

Where I'm coming from...I have to agree with Beekissed too...I wish you good luck with this! We get very attached to each and every sheep here and with the joy, there is sometimes some heart break in it too. Vet bills are not in our budget, so we have to be practical. So far we have been lucky except for our mistake with our first ram who became dangerous

 

[Ms. Research]

I'm sorry to hear about Dolly's plight. Hoping you find some way to help her and make this sweetie comfortable.

As a newbie, with sheep in my future, I was not aware of the "docking" of tails and the problems that may occur. A lot of little things that I'm not aware of that others know like the back of their hands. This is what I need to concentrate on. Thanks for the info.

Hoping Dolly feels better.

 

[Bossroo]

Docking sheep tails has been done by shephers that relied on their flocks for their very livelyhood for centuries and for a good reason... called fly strike for one. Usually occurs in the spring when the grass is green and lush and the sheep gets loose, runny poop. It then starts to occumulate on the anal regeon, under the tail and then spreads over the entire undocked tail and over the hind quarter. Spring brings out the fly populations that then lay their eggs in the moist fecal matter on the sheep's behind. Soon the eggs hatch and the fly maggots are HUNGRY and start to eat the sheep' flesh... talk about being eaten alive and the severe pain that the sheep has to endure. If you have ever seen this cruel canibalistic episode in person, you will always dock the tails. I have seen many in person when someone brings in a sheep with fly strike to the Vet. school, with very RAW half eaten long tails and/or hind quarters. I have docked many hundreds of sheep with no problems. Where one runs into difficulties is when someone botches up the proceedure in some instances, but more of a problem when someone that is uninformed of the true facts of life doesn't dock a sheep's tail in the first place because they think that it may be cruelor unnatural.