[colliewoman]

I lost a strapping commercial x wether today to what the vet is sure one of the clostridial diseases 
I have never seen anything die so quickly! He was fine @ 3PM yesterday, was depressed hour and a half yesterday. I thought it was an upset stomach/bloat as there was green scour and he wouldn't eat so dosed accordingly. Checked at 7PM, 2AM and 6AM  no improvement but no decline either. I redosed and tubed him at 11AM and checked him again at 1PM when I thought he was looking a bit brighter.
At every check he was given fluids and walked around a little bit. Went home and asked the vet if I could take him in.
10 mins into the journey he began going limp. On arrival he started showing neuro signs, then fitting and spasms. The vet gave a shot of pain killer and by the time she had drawn up the ABX dose he had died
This was a cracking lamb would have been ready to go in a week and here is the real kicker...
He was fully vaccinated with a 2 dose program of heptavac P+ in May.
Please keep an eye out, the vet said there are loads of sheep and cows going down with it this year despite correct vaccinations.




If I was doing once a day checks, I may not have seen ANY symptoms
I am re vaccinating all of mine just to be on the safe side, as is the breeder from whom I purchased the sheep

[Anke]

Well I lost a vaccinated goat kid to entero toxaemia (pulpey kidney) a few weeks back... and it was less than 24 hours from looking off-colour and having the runs to him dying in the car on the way to the vets... (and he had been seen by the vet about 5 hours into me seeing the runs etc, given a dose of AB etc, and vet not being able to say ANYTHING specific was wrong...).

[Hazelwood Flock]

Sorry for the loss of your lamb  , but thanks for the heads up re vaccinations not being fully effective.

[jaykay]

How scary 
I'm sorry you've both lost animals 

[colliewoman]

Well I lost a vaccinated goat kid to entero toxaemia (pulpey kidney) a few weeks back... and it was less than 24 hours from looking off-colour and having the runs to him dying in the car on the way to the vets... (and he had been seen by the vet about 5 hours into me seeing the runs etc, given a dose of AB etc, and vet not being able to say ANYTHING specific was wrong...).

It's horrible isn't it?
The vet said there was nothing more we could have done, but that doesn't make the loss easier to bear
Poor little beasters

[ballingall]

I think it has been a bad year for this kind of disease. Personally, I have given our goat kids another booster of vaccination. I wouldn't normally do HeptavacP again now, but after I heard about Anke's kid I thought it might be better to be safer.


Sorry about your lamb   

[Anke]

I think it has been a bad year for this kind of disease. Personally, I have given our goat kids another booster of vaccination. I wouldn't normally do HeptavacP again now, but after I heard about Anke's kid I thought it might be better to be safer.


Sorry about your lamb   

Yes I have re-boostered my goat kids too.... and will be doing them with Ovipast next week too. It's pasteurella time, and I use Lambivac for the goats.

[in the hills]

   Sorry to you both.


My neighbour who helps us with our sheep said how important it was to vaccinate because there was no real warning with some of these diseases just a dead sheep in the morning and too late.


Didn't realise that they could still be affected so badly if they had been vaccinated 


 

[Rosemary]

  Sorry to hear about the lamb and the kid.

[funkyfish]

I lost 3 bottle fed, but very strong lambs in the spring- was very similar. Scour, off colour, neuro signs and death within 2 hours. All died whilst on way to vet.

[SteveHants]

It is worth noting that compromised animals don not always take up vaccines as well as healthy ones - vaccines are very fallable.


I tend to vaccinate my lambs at this time of year for that reason, I dont usually bother at weaning in the summer, however that might not be the pest policy this year, normally they are full of vim and vigour at the end of the summer...

[jaykay]

This is scary 

Ok, so I did the heptavac when they were 4-6 weeks old and then a booster whenever it says.

I do have some vaccine left - should I do them again? My lambs seem quite lively, though not as big as I'd like.

[Anke]

I have re-boostered the goat kids only, won't be doing the lambs. I think if you have done it in the summer the lambs should be fine, BUT there may be individuals that were compromised for whatever reason (unbeknown to you) and the vaccine may not have taken.
I have re-done the goat kids (with Lambivac) because goats do need 6 monthly boosters anyway and it felt on the safer side to do. Mine were originallly done at 10 weeks old and then 4-5weeks later with 2nd dose. They are now coming up for 8 months.
I would consider boostering your goats kids again with a single 2ml dose of either Heptavac/Lambivac.

[Foobar]

Ok, so I did the heptavac when they were 4-6 weeks old and then a booster whenever it says.

I do have some vaccine left ...

You have some left .. do you mean left as in an un-opened bottle or left as in already opened?
The vaccine is only valid for 10 hours after opening - any longer than that and you won't be able to guarantee the efficacy because air will have got into the bottle.

[jaykay]

Unopened, I got my sums wrong