[patrickr]

Hi all

We have 10 shetlands who are occasional limpers.  One had an abscess recently (cured by antibiotics) and one seems regularly unsure on her feet - but no sign of scald or footrot, and vet was puzzled.  My question is: can Golden Hoof be used as a regular preventative to keep all their feet in good shape?  I have the Golden Hoof and a tray for running them through and, based on prevention is better than cure, it would be nice to feel we are giving their feet the best chance.

Best

Patrick

[Womble]

There's no reason why you can't do that. Whether it will have any benefit in treating a cause that sounds like it has nothing to do with the usual causes seems less certain!

[SallyintNorth]

On the Cumrbian upland farm, we had occasional inexplicable lameness in a few lambs (out of hundreds) each year.  Sometimes there would be an abscess, often not.  One year we had two lambs literally unable to walk, but nothing to see.  Alamycin got one sorted but not the other.  We started treating the lambs prophylactically for ticks every year (even though we hadn't seen ticks on them), and we never had the problem again.  Might be worth introducing?

[patrickr]

Thanks for the advice.  Interesting about Alamycin and ticks - more research needed (note to self).  Vet said one interesting thing about the inexplicable limping case: repercussions of possible joint problems (joint ill) from when she was a lamb?

[SallyintNorth]

Thanks for the advice.  Interesting about Alamycin and ticks - more research needed (note to self).  Vet said one interesting thing about the inexplicable limping case: repercussions of possible joint problems (joint ill) from when she was a lamb?

Yeah, that was exactly what our vet was saying.  It was a fair sized upland farm, outdoor lambing, and we didn't dip umbilical cords unless the family was brought in for or shortly after birth.  The only thing we changed was the tick preventative.