[Womble]

So on Saturday I thought one of our ewes had been stung by a wasp (or eaten one!), as her cheek was looking really puffy. I thought it looked a bit better on Monday and Tuesday, but by this morning it was looking really bad again (see photos).


The vet came out, and to my surprise drained rather a lot of what looked like muddy puddle water out of an abscess on her upper jaw. The smell was horrific, and despite a shower and change of clothes, still somehow lingers. Actually that was only three hours ago and her cheek is already blowing up again so it looks as though I'm going to have to drain it and flush it again tonight and for the next few days at least.


Oh joy! 


Still, it could be worse - I could have just been made Secretary for Implementing Brexit  .

[silkwoodzwartbles]

Oh bless her, I've never seen anything like that before, hope she makes a speedy recovery. Aren't you glad she's a Zwartbles so nice and easy to handle, imagine if she'd been a Welsh!

[Rosemary]

Oh bless her, I've never seen anything like that before, hope she makes a speedy recovery. Aren't you glad she's a Zwartbles so nice and easy to handle, imagine if she'd been a Welsh!

Or a Manx 

[Womble]

Yes, the vet took blood samples from all the adults today and commented on how calm they all were.

She's looking a bit better now. That has to be the most disgusting thing I have ever done in my life.


Now chilling with an extra large Laphroaig!

[Buttermilk]

I would drink the single malt myself instead of giving it to the sheep.

[Womble]

Smallholding mistakes you only make once, number 872:

Face all puffed up again this morning, so I carefully, oh so carefully opened up the wound again using a sterile razor blade....... only to be hit full in the face by a pressurised squirt of unmentionable disgust. Didn't lose my breakfast though, much to Mrs Womble's surprise.


Between us, Bonnie Zwartble and I have now polished off the rest of the Laphroaig. Honestly guys, I was on this forum for a couple of years before we bought a smallholding. Why on earth didn't somebody warn me about stuff like this?!?!   

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Well it is a learning curve for all of us too reading about it Sorry you have to go through all this, I can only imagine what it must be like I hope she gets better soon!
All the best
WBF

[Anke]

She is on AB's too?

[Womble]

Hi Anke,  No she isn't actually. The vet gave her some metacam, but didn't offer antibiotics.


I did wonder later if she should have had a shot of something, but at the time the vet seemed pretty sure that it would clear up as long as we kept draining and flushing.

[Anke]

Hi Anke,  No she isn't actually. The vet gave her some metacam, but didn't offer antibiotics.


I did wonder later if she should have had a shot of something, but at the time the vet seemed pretty sure that it would clear up as long as we kept draining and flushing.

For open wounds my vet always suggests a shoot of a longacting AB, but maybe Terramycin spray will do the trick?

[Womble]

Maybe, but actually I'm not worried about the external wound here - it's the internal infection that's causing the problem. She seems a bit less puffy this morning though, so hopefully we're starting to get somewhere.

[fsmnutter]

Antibiotics can tend to encourage the body to wall off the abscess further so often draining and flushing is sufficient, with blue spray to give local antibiotic action killing bacteria, and helping to deter flies. Hope she feels better soon!

[Marches Farmer]

Smallholding mistakes you only make once, number 872:

Face all puffed up again this morning, so I carefully, oh so carefully opened up the wound again using a sterile razor blade....... only to be hit full in the face by a pressurised squirt of unmentionable disgust. Didn't lose my breakfast though, much to Mrs Womble's surprise.:

I have a bag labelled "Scrap Cloth" which is full of 60cm squares of old towels that've been boiled, dried, then sealed into plastic bags for just such a situation.  Lance with the cloth above the scalpel.

The other thing to remember is that if you're pulling a long-dead lamb to wear full waterproofs, elbow length disposable gloves and throw yourself sideways as the lamb comes out .....

[doganjo]

Goodness, poor Bonnie, didn't look anything like as bad as that when I was over for tea on Tuesday, traumatic week for both of you (and Mrs W)  Glad it's only an abscess, could have been worse I think.  (vet thought Freckles lump was an abscess at first)

Hope you get it cleared soon.  Not nice for her in the heatwave we're getting from tomorrow - flies galore no doubt.

[Womble]

Well, the saga continues! (caution anybody who's eating breakfast):

Despite flushing and draining for four days, and then draining for the next three (the wound had healed up too much to get in there to flush), the yuk just kept on coming!

So, we had the vet out again this morning. He made a new incision further down her jaw (no joy), then joined it up with the original (still no joy). Finally he stuck the blade in deeper at the site of the original incision, which resulted in a rather dramatic spurt of blood and yuk (I have learned to keep my face clear by now at least). I actually think we've been diligently draining surface gunk for the past few days, but leaving the actual abscess untouched (very hard to tell what's abscess and what's inflammation).

'Bonnie' has now been re-christened 'Scarface', but hopefully she'll turn the corner now. She's also had a decent jab of Betamox this time, which we're to continue with for the next few days. I'll call them again on Monday to report progress and decide what to do next.

Quite a learning experience this one......