[moprabbit]

One of my pet ewes has been lame on and off for a couple of weeks now. She''s had metacam and antibiotics and I've been in phone contact with the vet, but she hasn't really been getting much better, so today I had the vet in to see her. He thinks it could be arthritis in her ankle. So I'm going to be giving her Canidryl which is the same as Rimadyl which I  understand is used for arthritis in dogs,  but is OK for sheep. She''s only 6 and I want her for many more years to come. I just wondered if any one had any experience of this and any advice that would help. Thank you.

[Slimjim]

Well that's very interesting. I'm currently looking after a 10 year old Zwartble ewe for my neighbour and she is almost permanently lame on one foot. I have given her any amount of Alamycin but doesn't 't improve for long. Her foot looks normal, without much evidence of infection, so now I'm wondering...
She is carrying triplets ( don't ask! ) so am keeping her in the shed to feed her rather than leave her outside to trudge through the deep mud in pouring rain every day.

[kelly58]

Can young sheep get arthritis,  2 yr old ?  Are certain breeds  prone to it with their build etc ?

[SallyintNorth]

There's an arthritic-like condition young sheep can get from ticks.  Whether it's Lyme Disease or something else I'm not entirely sure.  It sometimes responds to antibiotics; we've found Alamycin best on this farm.  In our sheep, they become very reticent to move, but continue to graze and don't lose condition.  Sometimes they graze lying down.

Now that ticks are more prevalent here, we treat the lambs for ticks, which has helped.

[Scarlet.Dragon]

A bit off the wall, but you could also try a Bioflow collar on her.  They cost about 25 quid on eBay.

My father and I both use them for our own joint aches, and I've had success with them on a couple of arthritic old dogs.  I'm currently trialling one on a 'clicky' goat... and it does appear to have improved over the past few weeks.

[moprabbit]

Thanks for the idea Scarlet Dragon. I'm sorry if this seems a silly question, but would my sheep wear it on her neck or round her leg? I'm interested how you're getting on with your goat.

[Oopsiboughtasheep]

I have used bioflow collars with very positive effects on both my horses and my dogs. If I was going to try it on my pet sheep, I would put it round the neck but they are seriously woolly at the mo so might need to have a bit of a haircut first for it to sit a bit closer to the skin? There is the obvious risk of them getting caught of course but the collar should break before the sheep hurts itself...never the less, I would be very very vigilant about it (maybe only wear it during the day if you can be about to monitor the situation etc.?) Also, I never leave the Bioflow boots on the horses legs in the rain incase the skin underneath gets rubbed or sore. If my memory serves me correctly, they don't have to be worn all day for them to be effective, so if you are only about with her for a few hours during the day, maybe she could wear it then? Bioflow would answer any questions about this if you contacted them.

[Scarlet.Dragon]

Thanks for the idea Scarlet Dragon. I'm sorry if this seems a silly question, but would my sheep wear it on her neck or round her leg? I'm interested how you're getting on with your goat.

I'm using a standard bioflow dog collar which has plastic clips that would snap if she got caught up in anything.  I would recommend the same if you were using it on a sheep.  She's wearing it round her neck.  She has very long hair so every few days I check it's not getting caught up and pulling the hair.  So far there haven't been any down sides.

It's hard to say for sure if it's working as she was never lame, just had really clicky joints when she was walking.  I think its improved as I haven't noticed her clicking recently, whereas before it was very loud and obvious.  I've also made some dietary changes over the past few months though so that may also be a contributory factor to the improvement.

Good luck and let us know how you get on!

[moprabbit]

 Today I can report my ewe is a lot better. She's been on the Canidryl tablets for 3 days and I think they've really made a big difference. I'm keeping a daily watch on her and continuing with the tablets for a while,  but I shall certainly bear in mind the bioflow collar. Thank you for your help and ideas.