Just Not Right...

We have a Merino ewe who has been a little "off" for the last two nights.  She has just been moving a little slower and eating with a little less enthusiasm.  She kind of acts like I do the day after I have had a little too much Merlot... (or more likely a LOT too much)

When you have animals, you get to know them well enough to sense when they aren't feeling themselves and in the case of a ewe who is 5-8 weeks away from lambing, you need to be on your toes.

Sheep are prey animals and their survival instincts program them not to show weakness...  This can mean that when they finally DO show signs that they don't feel good, you don't want to take the "wait and see" approach because they REALLY don't feel good.

Our Process of determining treatment:

Ewe's Temperature is 102.2 (normal for a sheep)

Pregnancy Toxemia is not likely - this is an illness that effects overfat or overthin ewes in late pregnancy carrying multiple lambs.  Essentially the ewe does not have enough room in her stomach for feed so she starts burning fat reserves at a really high rate.  This releases Ketones into her system which the liver can not filter out.  Usually leads to death.  This ewe is neither thin nor overfat and it is a little too soon in the pregnancy for this to be an issue.  As a preventive, we have put molases based sheep mineral tubs out for the ewes.

Pneumonia - Our temperatures have been all over the board this week and we have had some wet weather, and the ewe's immune system is taxed right now because of pregnancy.  She is not running a temperature though...

Parasites - This ewe was on pasture late into the fall and although we worm regularly, parasites are always a consideration with sheep.  Plus, I just read on my Clun Forest Mail Group about a vet who had a ewe who had the same symptoms and turned out being heavily infested with the barber pole worm with no signs of anemia.

So this evening we decided to administer a shot of antibiotics as well as a dose of wormer (injectable ivermectin).  Neither one of these could hurt and one (or both) will likely solve the problem.  If not, we'll go back to the drawing board tomorrow morning...

I guess my motto is that it is better to be safe than sorry.  If we don't do what we can for an animal in our care who is "just not right" then I will be awake half of the night contemplating my failure and I already have enough to worry about!

Stay warm and sleep well!