The head vet at the manufacturers of Footvax are discounting the vaccine as a cause - so I have to accept their far-superior knowledge. I got my vet to agree that, in the absence of a firm diagnosis (no symptoms apart from high fever and clearly very unwell), we change the anti-biotic to Penstrep and give a 5 day course. Although the lamb is not showing all the classic signs of listeriosis - it is a best guess. We extended their grazing a fortnight ago and the mole activity in this area is higher than their previous range. Moles can carry listeria - and there is something about the lamb's head carriage that makes me think it could be. After initial Penstrep, her temperature has dropped significantly - and although she still looks at death's door, maybe we are on the right track? This evening another lamb was looking sad and tucked up with a slight head-tilt - so maybe the listeriosis theory could be right. She has a fever so I have waded straight in with the Penstrep for her too.
If anyone has any experience of lambs with listeriosis I'd be grateful for any info they can give me. If we return the lambs and ewes to the smaller area of the field - are they then shedding listeria onto the grazing area? I kind of feel I can't ask the poor vet anymore questions so am looking for help. If they recover from this, will they have sufficient immunity to cope with the bacteria in the soil? Do I need to treat them all with Penstrep and move them somewhere else for a while?
Sorry to go on - but to watch these lambs ailing and not know what from has been heart-breaking for us.