[omnipeasant]

When do you pull the plug on a poorly lamb?

I am like a terrier with a poorly lamb. I can bring them back from near death sometinmes and it amazes me how some will survive against all odds aand others just fade away.

I have a poorly one at the moment. I don't know what the initial problem was but I found her in the field, a bit lethargic and skinny. Mother nowhere to be seen. She had the runs so we wormed her and gave her a terramycin injection.  She seemed okay but wouldn't take a bottle. That didn't matter because she was eating the lamb pellets and must be at least 10 weeks old. Unfortunately she has gone down hill steadily. From standing and drinking lifeaid out of a dish to not being able to stand without assistance and not interested in food.  Trouble is I might be prolonging her suffering. Her breathing is laboured and she is not able to sit up without propping with straw. I hate to give up on her so I am keeping her comfortable as poss and giving fluids when she can take them. I wondered at what point others would put to sleep and how? We don't keep a gun.

Sometimes I have had remarkable recoveries, but I despair of this one because she will probably have lung damage if I can pull her through. Sleepless nights and hourly nursing until she either dies or I have to help her on her way.   

[omnipeasant]

What really no one is interested in this subject. Maybe you should all give it some thought before you have to confront the dilemma.

My lamb slipped away peacefully in the night. She sipped some lifeaid at 2 am, I moved her legs and rubbed themgently to help her circulation, made sure she was sitting in a comfortable position. At 6 am she had gone, lying just as I left her, not flat out  and no signs of stress so I guess she wasn't in pain at the end just too weak to carry on. So in this case I made the right decision.

[Bionic]

Very sad but as you say it does seem that you made the right decision.
sorry for your loss though.
 
Sally

[manian]

Hi
have only just seen the post
sorry the lamb died (but pleased its not suffering)
I agree its a hard choice and we have had one dying that i wanted to help on its way but couldn't, partly because we don't have gun. (just sat with it and cuddled- just as well i'm not a big farmer - i'd get nowt done)
often tho' the lambs are fine one minute and dead the next!   a bit like chickens

[doganjo]

What really no one is interested in this subject. Maybe you should all give it some thought before you have to confront the dilemma.

My lamb slipped away peacefully in the night. She sipped some lifeaid at 2 am, I moved her legs and rubbed themgently to help her circulation, made sure she was sitting in a comfortable position. At 6 am she had gone, lying just as I left her, not flat out  and no signs of stress so I guess she wasn't in pain at the end just too weak to carry on. So in this case I made the right decision.

Please don't be hard on us, (nor yourself)!


Many of us have gone to bed by the time you posted first, and not on our computers till now. 


Those who were probably didn't know anything about sheep, nor felt qualified to help.  I only just read this but had I read it last night I may not have answered with any meaningful words of help.  Each species is different and responds differently to treatments as you know. 


I'm so sorry you lost this one, but you have obviously saved others.  Perhaps mother nature knew something you didn't.

[plumseverywhere]

Agree with Anne and the others.  And I was in the land of nod when this was posted last night so apologies from me too for not replying.


I had to confront the dilemma, I had a young ram lamb PTS last year. I think with each case you take each situation on its merits, you do your research, you speak to the experts, you follow your instinct - a mix of all. We kept our lamb going through the day while he showed interest in feed and drink but it became clear that his quality of life would be dubious as he was a poorly bottle lamb with questionable background (?colostrum etc) We did what we felt was best for him.

[tizaala]

Sorry Lynda, saw it on AL before I spotted it here, Remember I can always get the humane killer from my neighbour next time

[suziequeue]

I read your post Omnipeasant but - to be honest I would find it very difficult to say to someone else - "oh yes - you should let him go" or " you should try this" - as these decisions are very contextual and can only be made by you.


Personally - I haven't really given a great deal of thought as to what I would do for a poorly lamb beyond seeking professional advice in the first instance. I may post up about it here but I would not be expecting chapter and verse about what to do unless it was very clear and straightforward.


I certainly wouldn't be castigating forum members for not responding. I think that's very rude.

[feldar]

Same here, so sorry for you but often if these lambs do pull through they are sickly or die later on from a complication.
I think there comes a point where they are just too sickly to ever make a complete recovery but at least you tried. It is a very hard call for humans to make when it comes to a sick animal.
Some would say i was hard but i try to make the decision before i am forced too,     but there is always the element of; what if i had tried this or that, may be it would have pulled through.
Top marks for trying

[Ladygrey]

Im sorry about your lamb 

I couldnt have seen this post due to me going to bed early and working with animals from waking up this morning 

I am replying because I had a lamb that sounds identical to what yours sounded like, except that it survived! I was so so sure it would die and didnt know what to do, in the end I used my cure-all (ground ginger and codliver oil), pumped it full, shoved a doggie fleece on it http://www.equafleece.co.uk/store/dog_jumpers.html and put him in the field to pass away.

The next morning he was slightly better, and he has steadily improved from that moment, right now he is fine but he is tiny! he weighs 17 kilo compared to the others of 30 kilo, but he isnt thin, just tiny.

The only thing I could think of, was when lambing one year had the same but the lamb died, and we cut him open (sorry guys) and he had a deformed Epiglottis, which as far as we could make out, when he was young it didnt bother him so much because of the food being mainly milk (liquids) but as he got older (around 8 weeks) food he swallowed must have gone into his airways gradually and although not enough to hamper his breathing, it slowly became infected and he got thinner and weaker over 2 days, until he could no longer stand and he died.

I have no idea if your lamb could be this, but I know it can happen and I am sure my one little lamb has a similair problem as when he eats long grass sometimes, it causes him to cough and splutter it up again. But I think his is no where near like what the lamb that passed away's deformation was like.

[in the hills]

So sorry  .


Read your post this morning but lack any experience with sick lambs so do not know how easily they can pull back from being very ill and hence not qualified to give any sound advice. Sorry.

[omnipeasant]

Thanks everyone. Hadn't realised with being preoccupied with the lamb that it would be out of hours for most people.

It is true, sometimes I have thought it would be kinder to put to sleep only to come back later to find the 'at deaths door lamb' standing up and bleating for milk.  In this case her lungs must have been too damaged. Even if she had survived she would have been at risk of infections again.

[jaykay]

It does sound as though she had a lung infection, poor love.

Sorry you lost her 

[Remy]

It can be difficult to comment in cases like this, because the cause could be so many things and when it seems to be a case of life and death perhaps members are hesitant in giving the wrong advise; the only person who would be likely to correctly diagnose would be your vet.  I've had lambs at death's door who have survived against all odds, and others who haven't.  One my lambs last year presented symptoms very similar to yours, I found it lying under my roller and it couldn't stand up, had laboured breathing, mum nowhere to be seen.  I took it to the vets and they diagnosed a heart defect and said it would have died anyway  .


Sorry for your loss btw 

[Bramblecot]

Sorry about the lamb especially as you worked so hard for her .  I did see your post as I am a bit of a night owl, but have no experience of one sick like that.  Nature's way maybe, but you made her comfortable - which was thoughtful and kind