Suggestions Please

luvfarmin04 · #1 10/07/07, 05:13 PM

Hi everyone. I just took on a bottle baby that has an issue. She is a twin and must have been smooshed inside and her rear legs don't work very well. The guy I got her from has let her lay for 10 days this way. She was nursing off of her mom, she stands on her front two and stretches!! Her left rear keeps tucking itself under and the right follows. I have only had her here at my place for about an hour now and have been forcing her to stand on all of her legs by straightening out the rear and she bears weight on them for a little while. I also have been rubbing them to loosen up the muscles. I also put a small bucket under her middle and let her bear weight on her legs this way. Does anyone have any other ideas on how to get this little lamb to stand and use all of her legs? Is there any hope?? Thanks!

eieiomom · #2 10/07/07, 05:43 PM

Hi,

Can you get some BOSE and vitamins B and A&D ?
Is she taking a bottle ok and do you know if she got colostrum at birth ?
Physical therapy and a good surface to stand on.
If she is in the house,she will need carpet to stand on.
You can use disposable diapers in the house and not deal with the messes.
If you can come up with a sling type arrrangement, similar to your baby swings or jumpers/walkers. Don't leave her in the position too long.
Make sure she spends time lying on both sides,
If she is using one leg to get up on, encourage the use of the other as well.
You can wrap the other forward and take baby steps in using her leg by strapping it up with vet wrap.
Are her pasterns turned under or are they extended ?

This is a start, hope it makes sense.
I am not a vet, just some suggestions to offer......
Congrats on your new baby !

luvfarmin04 · #3 10/07/07, 05:56 PM

She had plenty of colostrum, she has been with her mother since birth. But she will take the bottle no problem. She is in my barn with the others I am bottle feeding so she has company. Thanks for your suggestions. It is hard to explain how her rear legs look and how she has adapted to dragging herself around. I've never seen one this drastic. I'll keep working with her and update you!!!

minnikin1 · #4 10/07/07, 07:26 PM

When I worked in a vet clinic and we had patients who needed to build up muscle tone in the rear, we would wrap a towel around the belly to hold them up and "walk" them that way. (A "sling" just like was mentioned previously)
You can slowly release the amount of assistance you give and monitor improvement day to day.

**Ross** · #5 10/07/07, 08:23 PM

Good ideas so far the lamb could also have asprin, to ease swellign and pain and its a blood thinner. You could talk to a vet about steriods etc. Can the lamb poop normally? It might need an enema.

eieiomom · #6 10/07/07, 08:54 PM

Forgot one other suggestion.
If you talk with a vet who treats horses they may be familiar with the use of high doses of Tetracycline to loosen up the soft tissue in the case of ligaments that have shortened due to atrophy.
This is something I have seen help here in the case of a lamb that had leg problems due to possible selenium or calcium deficiency in utero.

Great that she is eating well....one of the big challenges will be breaking her of the habit of the way she is currently getting around.

About where are you located in Illinois ?

luvfarmin04 · #7 10/08/07, 06:47 PM

She poops and pees, she just doesn't stand to do it. If I straighten up her back legs I can get her to stand for short periods of time. But then the back left pushes into the right and she goes down into a sitting position, just like a dog. She is able to move both legs, I held both rear legs in each hand and made her kick them. When I bottle feed her I put a small bucket under her middle to keep her up. It's very sad because she is a beautiful lamb! I am in Northern Illinois, about 2 hours south of Chicago.

eieiomom · #8 10/08/07, 08:27 PM

Have you gotten vitamin B and Bose ?
Do her hooves and the rest of the leg still all go in the right direction ?
I would think you need to concentrate on muscle tone.
If she is out in a stall you can make a sling and attach from raftors in the barn. You would need to be with her when she is in the sling so the other lambs don't get tangled. As Minnikin and I have mentioned, sling her legs up to her belly and in the right direction and slowly lower her so she is using those muscles, but in the correct direction. The sooner the better. My guess is that the muscles are getting lazier and she is getting into a habit of dragging around. I mentioned baby steps as you may need to work with one side at a time, if she is relying on that way to move around. I had a lamb with issues with his pastern and he also dragged his leg, we had to address one issue at a time so he could still move around. In a matter of a couple weeks you couldn't even point him out in a group. The thing is that the last 10 days have been time wasted and it is good now that she has you to maybe head her in the right direction