The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: moprabbit on April 20, 2015, 08:29:37 pm
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One of my ewes has been lamish on and off for some time now. It doesn't seem to cause her a major problem - she doesn't hold her leg up, she doesn't lay down. Some days she's only lame when she trots . Some days she's not really lame. I've checked her regularly and found nothing that causes any pain. So I spoke to my vet who suggested it could be arthritis and said I could try Rimadyl which although not licensed for sheep has been used. I just wondered if anyone else has used it? Thank you
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Never used it in sheep but I had a collie that was on it for years and it worked on him, :dog:
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Never used it in sheep but I had a collie that was on it for years and it worked on him, :dog:
Similar here. Pet collie cross with terribIe hips and arthritis in later life. I didn't give it to the dog every day, but would use it if I knew he would need it - the day before, the day of and the day after a long hike, for instance. It definitely helped him.
On the vet's suggestion I also gave him glucosamine every day and did think that this helped too.
One problem I had with the Rimadyl was the cat stole some of the tablets one night when my back was turned - they make them 'appetising' so the dog will eat them, and clearly this also made them appealing to my greedy puss! That dose was very dangerous for a cat, though, so it was a late night speed across the moors to the vet and a very expensive overnight stay and stomach pump :(
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If you do opt for rimadyl, as a vet I would recommend you ask your vet to get you in one of the cheaper generic versions such as carprieve (similar to buying the Tesco ibuprofen instead of Nurofen) as rimadyl is expensive and I would imagine needs a few for a sheep, so well worth getting.
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Thank you for your replies. Fsnutter my vet has already given me tablets. It says Rimadyl on them and the dose is 1 tablet per day. He says try them for 14 days. So I'll give them a go and hope to see an improvement. I was just interested if anyone had used them in sheep. If they seem to be good I'll ask for the cheaper version! Thank you!