I'm asking for my cousin as she doesn't have a computer and does not know where to turn. The vets in this area know dogs and cats and thats about all. May be too late for Midnight but I thought I'd give it a shot.

The sheep is overweight even though shes been on a diet. My cousin Jeannine came home to find her ON HER BACK on the far side of a small ditch. Evidently she was upside down for a while. Now she cannot stand, will not eat or drink, breathing is heavy, eyes are not clear. My cousin and her friend believe the digestive juices got to the wrong place and caused a bacteria infection.

Anything we can do?

Any other possibilities what could be wrong?

-- Ron Ricketson (rjr@ulster.net), November 25, 2000

Answers

Ron, unfortunately, when a sheep goes down, it's not a good sign at all. However, I have rescued cast sheep several times, so it's worth a try. Veterinarians might know small animals, particularly, but they learn all the basics in vet school. I would contact one right away and tell them to go look up the symptoms in their reference material. Anyway...

Isolate her, and leave her with some warm water (like in a grain pan...enough that she can get to it without lifting her head much, but not enough that she could drown in. You could add a hint of mollasses to see if she will drink that. Your judgment call, but you could also try putting water in a syringe and gently putting it in her mouth. She might be dehydrated. I'm sure you are trying to hand feed her, as this is the only way I could get mine to eat. I hand fed a little wet cobb (very little) plus a little grass hay, and kept an eye out for a day or so. My old ewe didn't make it, but I saved a couple of young ones. Sometimes they go down because they are already sick, and not that they get sick because they are cast.

Sheep respond well to penicillin if there is a bacterial infection, but I don't know a dosage off hand.

Anyone else here that can help? Once again, can anyone remember the URL for the online vet?

Best of luck to you, your cousin, and the ewe. Let us know how it turns out.

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), November 25, 2000.

I hate to be a dark cloud but the ruile of thumb that I have found to be true too often is...A sick sheep is a dead sheep. I buried so many sheep this past year that I was running out of room to dig holes. I am not telling you to give up, but my head is still sore from banging it against the wall trying to figure out what went wrong. I even had our county agent helping me and he is a sheep man, and on top of that I brought the sheep off of him. Good luck Grant

-- grant (organicgrange@yahoo.com), November 25, 2000.

One vet on the web is tim@vetontheweb. He is in England, but responds quickly. You might try giving some Nutri-drench, kind of like a geritol for sheep. Made all the difference in my ewe when she was almost comotose. Good luck, and let us know how she does. Jan

-- Jan in Colorado (Janice12@aol.com), November 25, 2000.

Sounds like she got bloated from bieng in that position...can happen to sheep outside if the get off balance on a hill or caught between rocks, etc. But to save her you must work fast or she will be beyond help. Make her walk around as much as possible. Tie a small stick or piece of rope between her teeth, like a bit on a horse, this will keep her chewing and help to expel the gas from her rumen. If you can, get Bloat guard from your vet to drench her with. I've used baking soda, a couple of teaspoons to about a pint and drench her with it. Also I have massaged vigourously the left side of her stomach. If she truly is bloated you will notice a definite distension of the left side. With all this treatment you should start to hear her belching .We have saved a few, but it takes time on your part and early intervention. Good luck!

-- kate henderson. (kate@sheepyvalley.com), November 26, 2000.

Old saying: "Sheep are born looking for a place to die."

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), November 27, 2000.

I agree that it may be the bloat and baking soda will work for non foaming bloat and can be given every 1/2 hour ( 2 or 3 doses should do the trick)but if the bloat is foamy you should give 1/2 cup of oil (peanut, veg. or cod liver)every 1/2 hour and again 2-3 doses should do the trick. I know my post is really late ( just found this site ) but maybe it will help someone else.

-- Tonya (dudley@tcenet.net), December 01, 2000.

When we found a calf down, with bloat,turned out it was riddled with cancer.Same happen to our old dog.Died within the hour.As the vet said, when cancer hits the stomach it metacizes quickly.This is also a possibility, esp if your sheep's been a little off, lately.

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), December 01, 2000.

Sorry for the late update, I've been tied up working on a new web site.

Sad to say, but her sheep died about four days later. They had put her on penicillin recommend by a sheep rancher about 40 miles away. She was also drinking/swallowing molasses water from a syringe as recommended by Sheepish. I'm afraid it was just to late for her.

I wasn't kidding about the vets around here. She finally got a hold of a vet about 30 miles away that attempted to answer the problem. The best she could suggest was that the sheep probably had rabies.

A friend of my cousins felt so bad about it that she went out and bought Jeannine a new sheep a few days later.

Anyway, just wanted to thank you all for the very quick responses!!

-- Ron Ricketson (rjr@ulster.net), December 13, 2000.

Ron, sorry to hear about the ewe. Thank you for the update. Realistically, I think vets think about sheep about the same way they think about protozoans, but I know one or two who have been knowledgeable and caring.

Hope your cousin has good luck with this new one.

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), December 13, 2000.