[Abigail]

Hi, On Sunday night the ram arrived on our farm and was extremely nervous and panicked. On Monday he was a lot calmer and eating and drinking normally, we tempting him to bed using grain. On Tuesday he was looking very poorly. He was walking funny, not eating, lying down most of the day, very heavy breathing, fast heart rate and looking sad and depressed. The vet came out to look at him and took his temperature and it was normal. He is still drinking and getting up on his own , but is no better today. We think it might be bloat caused from grain poisoning (even though he only had a small amount), as today his stomach on the left hand side was very large and quite hard. We gave him a drench of bicarbonate soda, water and veg oil, and gently massaged his stomach, but are not sure what else to do and are very worried about him.

Does this sound like bloat to you? Do you have any experience treating this. We are willing to do whatever it takes and want any advice on the best step to take next.

Thank you so much for all you help!

[Anke]

Pasteurella? He has been under a lot of stress?

[Abigail]

Yes he has been under a lot of stress. He traveled 1 hour 30 mins to get here and the new environment and everything is a shock for him, plus he has been handled very aggressively by previous owners. I don't think it is pasteurella but can't say for sure, it seems like he has all the symptoms of bloat and grain poisoning though.

[SallyintNorth]

Sooo.... apart from taking his temperature and pronouncing it normal, what did the vet say and do?

[EP90]

If it is bloat then this link will help
 http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=33806.msg337527#msg337527

[twizzel]

I lost one to bloat yesterday. He got in the corn feeder for the calves and had a guts full. We tried oil, bicarb drench and put a tube down into his stomach to get some of the gas out. The vet left me some antacid drench, a pro rumen drench, multi-vit jab and buscopan jab but he died before I could get it into him. Whether that would have made any difference I don't know but might be worth trying. He also had a jab of pen&strep. I thought I was lucky to have found him alive in the field yesterday morning and dragged him in and spent all day trying to make him pull through. One of those things Hope your ram improves soon,

[Alicenz]

My sheep for some reason often get bloat when put onto the spring grass,i have lost one old sheep from this.  Any farmers I speak to about it are surprised but it may be that they are not watching their sheep closely. They also apparently can get it from sheep nuts and grain as you say. But it sounds like you didnt give him much.  Is he on fresh green grass after being on poor quality feed or hay?

Last year my vet told me to give them a vit B12 injection to help their gut get the right bacteria going to process the lush green grass after being on the hay.  In the past ive been told to give them some red medication. which is for dairy cows with bloat, i dont know what this was called and not sure if it did alot, but may be worth finding out from a dairy farmer.  My vet last year told me to give any with bloat antibiotics, as it is an overgrowth of bacteria fermenting.   

I suggest you talk to a rural vet, they might agree and give you antibiotics, vit B inj etc.

Also I only feed them hay when they are bloated to give them some roughage in there, and walk them around if it is not too uncomfortable. But if it is too hard I tend to just leave them now. Keep him warm and dry.  If it is bloat his feet may be swollen and sore. And I reckon they generally are very sensitive to being touched when bloated

I am much more careful now about putting my sheep onto new grass, I do it for part of the day, and then take them off until they are used to it.  This also avoids runny rear end. 

Check that he has been innoculated against pulpy kidney and tetenus as well. That he didnt get knocked during transport what did the vet say?Good luck i hope it is passing now

[Abigail]

Hi everyone, the first time the vet came he said we should just wait and see how he develops because originally we didn't think it was bloat. After that he seemed to be showing all the symptoms of bloat so we gave the bicarb, oil and water mix etc.. The vet came back this morning and said that he does have trapped gas, but his stomach is not huge so he gave him an antibiotic injection, anti inflammatory, and painkiller. He also recommended he give him some anise and bicarb (anise mixed in half cup of boiling water and left to cool) to help. We are also going to worm him later today incase this is the possible cause. He is still not eating today and that is day three now, but he is drinking well. We are only giving him access to hay but he isn't interested. I think it is very uncomfortable for him as he doesn't like walking around much. Today when he is walking though it is really strange like on his heels but maybe this is because the bloat has caused an inflammation in his legs and feet. We are getting him up regularly and doing everything we can so I guess we will just hope that he improves now.