[fiestyredhead331]

I have just been brought a lamb cheviot/boreray cross approx 2-3 months old. The mother and his twin are still out on the hill, they are pretty feral so we can't get near them, but anyway she had abandoned the lamb sometime last week and it was found by a neighbour who has now brought the lamb to me!!
Problem is he can't stand on his back legs at all, but I can't tell if his back legs are broken or dislocated or what's going on! he has strength in the front legs but no obvious signs of trauma other that not being able to use his back legs? he was well away from the road so i wouldn't have thought he'd been hit by a car unless he dragged himself up the hill?
I've put him in the wee shed with hay etc and the vet comes to Ullapool through the week so if he's still hanging on by then I'll take him down but not sure what else I can do 

[devonlad]

i'm sure the vets on here will be of more use than me, but doesn't sound unlike swayback, or copper deficiency. more than anything sounds like a vet job really.

[Marches Farmer]

Does he seem healthy otherwise but lacks the co-ordination in the back end to be able to stand, or does he more or less get his back end in the air then it waves about for a few seconds before it lurches over to one side?  If so that's swayback and the only option is to have him euthanased, as he won't be able to feed and it'll get markedly worse as he gets older and heavier.

[fiestyredhead331]

he can't stand on the back at all, seems healthy enough in other respects, he's weeing etc so must be eating something? anything i can give him now? claciject, copinox etc?

[fiestyredhead331]

after consulting my sheepy bible it looks like delayed swayback, he was running around fine 2 weeks ago as I was trying to catch them, to no avail! Looks like euthanasia is the option?....unless anyone can recommend anything else?

[fsmnutter]

Could also be spinal abscess, particularly common if not enough colostrum, think of it like a joint ill in the spine!
Worth a whacking dose of steroid and either a hefty dose of a penicillin or another antibiotic that gets into the neurological system.
Still a pretty poor prognosis, but nothing should die without having a shot of steroids just in case

[fiestyredhead331]

thanks for that fsmnutter, will see what I can get tomorrow. It won't have had any kind of dosing either.
Always worth giving it a shot of something rather than nothing 

[SallyintNorth]

Swayback can appear later, having been unnoticeable at birth.  As the lamb grows, there's more weight for the skeletal system to carry, and any weakness becomes more noticeable.

However, your description does not say 'swayback' to me.  If it's not been hit by a car, or another sheep, I'd be inclined to support the spinal abcess theory.  Often these do die, but not all.  If the lamb is otherwise happy, and eating, drinking, pooing and weeing, then yes, steroids, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, and see what the vet says. 

Just realised I'm pontificating when we've already had a vet on.     I'll shut up, I've nothing to add!  lol

[fiestyredhead331]

all replies gratefully received SallyintNorth. I hate to see animals suffer but I also want to do what I can to help if its viable 

[Garmoran]

Could also be spinal abscess, particularly common if not enough colostrum, think of it like a joint ill in the spine!

We used to have a lot of these - I can only remember one case where it recovered the use of its legs after a course of penicillin and that was an older animal, a ewe hogg if I remember correctly. I don't think I've had a single case since I started treating lamb navels with iodine, but the other day a neighbour showed me a definite case that had been brought to her, bright, perky and very much alive at the front end, but hind legs paralysed.

It's soul destroying, having to put down an otherwise healthy animal. I still have old photographs of one that my mother was particularly fond of. It spent several weeks happily living in a corner of the kitchen, but the longer they are off their legs, the less likely they are to recover, as the muscles just waste away.

[Me]

Careful what you wish for OP!

[farmvet]

I agree spinal abscess is most likely. May be secondary to tick pyaemia +/- tick bourne fever. They almost invariably die but may linger for weeks so are better dispatched.

[fiestyredhead331]

After taking advice on here and speaking to vet friend, the lamb was dispatched tonight :-(
he was covered in ticks and already signs of muscle wastage so would probably have never recovered, but sometimes you have to accept you can't fix everything 

[Brandi]

You have done all that you could and should take comfort from that

[Bramblecot]

He might have suffered a slow death out on the hill, you did the right thing for him .