Have you noticed how if you need to have an animal seen by the vet, you get an appointment the same day, whereas for a human you can wait for weeks to be seen at the hospital? This must have something to do with the fact that with animals
speed is often vital in dealing with their health problems.
Here is what happened with a three year old breeding tup here: on the first sheep check in the morning my OH noticed this tup standing apart from the rest of his chums, leaning against the fence, head and ears down, a bit of foam at the mouth and with laboured breathing. Listeriosis sprang immediately to mind as there is some disturbed soil in their paddock, so first off we gave him a hefty dose of antibiotics.
Now I know that antibiotics should not always be the first port of call in an emergency, but with a sheep showing respiratory distress, as this tup was, there is every reason to dose as quickly as possible. We then took the sheep down to the vet in the trailer, having called first. Normally we would stick a sheep in the back of a Landrover, but this lad is too heavy to lift that high, and he was too sick.
The vet diagnosed listeriosis and gave the poor lad a huge dose of more antiBs, steroids and Vit B, and told us to get going with rehydration mixture - this is made up from one litre of warm water, one teaspoon of salt, and one tablespoon of glucose. The glucose can be increased where the animal needs more. We were also to repeat his long acting antibiotics, at a greater dose than normal, twice a day initially (ie a pretty massive dose), and repeat the steroid and Vit B injections. As I was just out of hospital myself, this all fell to my OH to do, and he has proved a good nurse
.
We decided to leave the tup in the trailer as we had no isolation area prepared, but we left the ramp down for air. The trailer was parked in the orchard, where we also have four ancient unbred biddies. I went to check after a couple of hours and found the tup standing outside the trailer, looking a bit pleased with himself.
Over the following days, he was given plenty more meds, frequent doses of rehydration mix and we made sure he didn't 'go down' - but he didn't. Each day he pottered around a bit and showed a definite interest in the ancient ewes (who could run away from him easily enough). He started licking a 'sugar corn' bucket with liquid treacle on top, and drank plenty of water so the rehydration mix was no longer needed. He has grazed some grass and the foam at his mouth has just about disappeared. He will take 'tup and lamb' coarse mix now, in small quantities. Overall, the picture is looking hopeful and we are wondering at what point we should re-introduce him back with his pals - obviously he has to be strong enough to stand up to the initial jostling.
The vet is completely delighted at his good progress and has confided that she really didn't think he would survive, so all the meds she gave were a last-ditch attempt to save an animals life. That attempt appears to have been successful.
The point of this tale is to demonstrate that when it comes to treating animals, especially sheep, you really must get straight in there and do something or you could have a dead animal to dispose of. You don't have the luxury of spending a few days wondering what you should do. It's a good idea to have a book with the most obvious ailments described so you have some idea of what is significant and what is not.
Please remember - speed is of the essence 
Topic: The Need for Speed (Read 4796 times)
