Author Topic: Cats and sheep and toxoplasmosis (Read 19149 times)

ballingall · « **Reply #15 on:** February 15, 2009, 10:53:11 am »

You can vaccinate lambs any time from 8 weeks old. I woudn't vaccinate them as early as 3 weeks. The point is their immune system isn't properly developed until they are 8 weeks. Its the same for any animal, dogs and even human babies get their first vaccines at 8 weeks.

I haven't hear of heptavac causing abortion before- certainly we've never had any problems, but then its always low numbers of goats and sheep we ever did. Having lost goats kids at 4 weeks old to tetanus (which was awful), I always recommend vaccinating. These kids hadn't had their mothers vaccinated before kidding because the owner didn't do it the time. She vaccinated the following year though...

hexhammeasure · « **Reply #16 on:** February 17, 2009, 12:07:57 am »

I don't have any more information other than rumours. around here its a case of 50percent useing covexin8 and the rest using heptevac. as for aborting ewes there are so many different causes I sometimes wonder how any sheep survive!!

kershaw · « **Reply #17 on:** October 12, 2009, 08:41:08 pm »

We had some trouble with dogs chasing our sheep a last year (none killed) & then had severe losses from toxoplasmosis. Is there any relationship between stress in sheep and their suseptibility to toxoplasmosis, or is it just a matter that if they get the cysts, that's it?

ballingall · « **Reply #18 on:** October 12, 2009, 10:03:42 pm »

Stress in sheep can cause them to abort, but wouldn't necessarily cause toxoplasmosis. How soon after they were chased did they abort?

We once lost a goat after kidding, and our vet wanted us to sue our next door neighbours, as she had been stressed because they had been scrambling on their motorbikes all day the day before she kidded.

Beth