[goodlifer]

Hi all advice needed. We had a poorly Hebridean ewe, eventually diagnosed with fluke after the vet firstly telling us it was a form of lymphoma, and treated her accordingly. She started to pick up and the vet said it would take a while as she has liver damage, she was eating fine but not putting any weight on.


She then started scouring approx a month after and we gave her vit B and steroid injections prescribed by the vet and she again picked up eating well but no weight gain.


That was about 6 weeks ago and today started scouring again, is this a long term cycle until she starts to gain weight and each time do we just give her steroids and vit B ? Will the steroids leave any lasting damage as surely can't be good for her on a regular basis ?


Thanks guys
Fie

[JulieWall]

Presumably the vet told you to worm her and that the wormer is one which deals with liver fluke as well as worms? That should have been the first thing to do and after that get some good grub into her. If she has fluke, her gums will be white and anaemic looking.
If you have wet land and a fluke problem she will still be picking it up over and over if she is grazing there, along with any other sheep you have. If you can identify the problem area it might be a good plan to put it to alternative use for a few years and graze the sheep elsewhere.
This is a good link
http://www.goatbiology.com/animations/fasciola.html

[Dougal]

If she has liver fluke you must remember that the drug that kills the fluke has no residual effects so that she can re infect almost instantly having been dosed. I would advise re dosing with the fluke treatment again now and again in two weeks and perhaps a third time in February. Also give her a course of antibiotics as a cover as well as a vit and min boost. If she lives into the spring sell her when the prices are good in April because if her liver has been that badly damaged then she is unlikely to fully recover and will always be more prone to fluke infestation.
Unpleasant but the best you can really hope for if the fluke have damaged her as badly as it sounds.

[Foobar]

Yes ditto that, you will probably need to repeat the flukicide.  I think some products can be a bit brutal on the sheep's system though, so she would need TLC (I think I read somewhere that closantel might be better for treating a chronic fluke infestation). Perhaps get her indoors for winter, at least then she won't pick up anything further from the pasture then?


There is an excellent video from Janssen all about Fluke (in particular the closantel products):
Fluke: that's a fact (Part 1)
Fluke: that's a fact (Part 2)

[Marches Farmer]

Don't forget your land can be constantly reinfected by everything from rabbits to deer.