The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Michelle.L. on February 11, 2026, 09:49:38 am
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Hi all. I'm really hoping for a hive mind miracle here. The vet is at her wit's end, no one has a clue what's going on. Maybe someone here has seen a sheep with similar symptoms and has some advice?
5 year old pet wether, Cheviot, clearly in pain, gnashing teeth, ears down and back, very tense face, chin tucked to the chest, head turned slightly to the right. Pawing at the ground, slowly walking backwards until his bum is against something. Stiff movements. Not eating much. Heavy, rapid breathing, lost quite some body condition in a short period of time.
No temperature, good teeth, FEC clear, nothing in bloods so far, lungs sound good, feet look good, gums and eyes look good.
He's had antibiotics, antiinflammatory and steroids, but just keeps getting worse. Gave him paracetamol last night when the pain seemed to get so bad he couldn't lie down anymore, seemed to help a tiny bit and he had some hay, but still far from good.
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.
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On the information given, I'd be checking his urethra. Can he pee?
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If not stones in the urethra, ask the vet if she'd be happy to prescribe a hefty dose of B-vits, which is the only thing missing from the list of meds he's had already. (Combinations of B-vits/thiamine, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and steroids cover a lot of possibles, including listeria and CCN.)
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Yes, he can pee no problem, and he has had a Vitamin b, e and selenium injection today. So far no change to the better (has been about 7 hours).
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The only other things I can think of that aren't covered by the treatments already given are tetanus, tenuicious cyst, ingested a wire/foreign body, poison/eaten something toxic.
I might think about giving a restorative drench and bloat remedy, to help his digestion get back to normal. (The meds may address the original problem but now he's not been eating much for a while so his rumen will be out of kilter.)
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He's had twin lamb drench and I've ordered Alfalfa-A, our local shop didn't have it in stock unfortunately. He seems less tense, which I'm hoping is a sign the pain is easing up a bit. But after not eating well for over two weeks now he's just anything but fit, lying down most of the time. He has unlimited access to good hay, a bit of forage, birch twigs, I've offered him grass pellets and a small amount of oats. He isn't keen on most of it, will have a bite of the oats but then stop, hay and birch are best but he doesn't eat much of that either. I have high hopes for the Alfalfa-A, which will arrive tomorrow, but in case that doesn't do the trick either, any other ideas what else I could offer him?
When I asked the vet about something to stimulate the rumen she just suggested grass (hard to find in February) and rough hay/forage.
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I'd give a bloat remedy, the rumen will need a kick start and he won't feel like eating until his rumen is working. Thread about home-made bloat remedies here (https://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=111187.msg750650#msg750650)
If you don't fancy that, you could try PSF (now called Elanco Scour Formula Extra, apparently) for 24 hours, which should have a similar effect and will give him electrolytes. (It's designed for calves but works fine with sheep.)
As to what else to try, there are sheep keepers on here swear by digestive biscuits when the appetite needs tempting. (But get the rumen going first.)
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Okay, will try the home made remedy, thank you! Would Soy yoghurt work if it's got live cultures?
He does bring up cud however, so his rumen seems to be doing a bit at least, but I guess a bit of help can't hurt, right?
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Yes, any live yoghurt will be fine.
And yes, there's nothing in the mix will do any harm, so it's probably worth a try, even though he is cudding (which is very good to hear.) Obvs don't go mad on the quantity of bicarb until you see how he responds to the first dose. (It should make him belch / fart.)
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Just fed him the yoghurt mix but didn't get any belching or farting... Went in with a bit more bicarb and water but still nothing. How long does it usually take to see a reaction?
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Got a few belches now.
I just really don't know what to do anymore. He's not getting better, clearly uncomfortable, we still have absolutely no clue what's going on. I don't know if it wouldn't be kinder to let him go. But on the other hand it feels wrong to end his life when he is still trying to eat, still showing that will to live. I just feel so helpless.
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Not sure if it's already been mentioned, but animals often like a bit of ivy when their digestion is under the weather. (Yes, it's toxic, but they seem to know when they need a little bit of it, and it does seem to help then. So don't force it, of course.)
On greenstuff he could have in the absence of grass, a few things you might be able to try. Cleavers (sticky willy) is growing here now, that's usually very tasty for them. Alexanders (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smyrnium_olusatrum) ditto. Any twigs with leaves on (that aren't toxic of course), eg., hawthorn, willow (he might like the willow bark too, it contains aspirin.) And grass replacements eg., soaked grass pellets (Dengie do them, amongst others), meadow chaff or bagged meadow grass (again, Dengie do these, as do others; mainly aimed at horses but - unless they have copper added - should be fine for sheep), even a haylage (Equine-H Meadow Haylage is very palatable and nutritious)
I'm sure we are all empathising with you right now, I certainly am. :hug:
He's fighting to live so if you're able to get enough into him and there is still hope, you feel you want to keep trying for him. Equally, he's miserable and you know you could end that. A regular dilemma for anyone with animals.
:fc: between the meds and the drenches, and maybe some ivy if he wants that, he will turn a corner very soon - and maybe find he likes digestive biscuits, as an easy way to get proper food into him, and/or you'll find a forage that tempts him. But if you feel that hope has waned and he's better off put out of his misery... Trust your own judgement, you will know when it's kinder to let him go :hug:
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I've offered him everything I can think of and find. He takes a bite of almost everything I hold in front of his nose, but literally only one bite. Then he stops. I've spend a lot of time with him today and yesterday and am pretty sure there is something going on in his intestine.
If he's taking a bit more than one bite (mostly hay) he'll still stop after a few bites, will tuck his chin, shuffle backwards a few steps and breathing faster. Sometimes after a few minutes of that he'll come forward again and have more hay, more often he won't. To me that looks as if something is hurting him when the food reaches a certain point going in. Could that point to anything?
Vet suggested paraffin in case of a partial blockage - he is passing faeces, but not a lot (not a lot going in though, either) and the last couple of days the droppings were clumped together.
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If there's a partial blockage of some sort, you probably wouldn't consider surgery anyway, so why not try paraffin. I don't think it'll do any harm.
(Speaking of paraffin and harm... It's probably always worth specifying that it's medical / laxative paraffin you'd use, not less refined oils such as kerosene / fuel paraffin.)
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just seen this, hope he's doing OK. do you know anyone who grows bamboo?
I grow it mainly for a bit of greenery for the goats in winter, sheep demolish it if they get to it.
If you can find some I'm sure he would eat it. (leaves)
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We made the difficult decision to let him go this morning. He couldn't stand anymore and was clearly in pain.
But thanks to anyone who tried to help.
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You really did try everything for him. It's so frustrating when even the vet can't diagnose the problem. :hug:
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Sorry to hear this. You couldn't have done any more for him :bouquet:
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So sorry Michelle, Its awful feeling helpless when we have something in pain, I always think while there's life there's hope, but pain changes that. :hug:
Did you get the vet to have a quick look see if she could see anything wrong?
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I had two different vets out several times while he was ill, neither of them could figure out what was wrong with him. The assumption was that "something catastrophic" must be going in somewhere inside for him to decline so quickly.