Post by marlana on Mar 16, 2012 14:34:54 GMT -5
Sorry, mods, if this does not qualify for 911-please move it appropriately...
7 year old Katadyn ewe, has always had twins except last year when she had a BIG ram single lamb. Bred mid-October last year, and I had her on the calendar as being due starting the 9th or 10th of this month. I have had her and the other two pregnant ewes separated from the rest since the first few days of this month, when they were starting to be huge and slow moving. They have free choice alfalfa/orchard, plain orchard, local grass hay, cob and/or sheep text, salt, minerals and water with and without molasses. During the day they can go into the "yard" and nibble on grass and lie in the sun, but we have had some wet and stormy days and they stayed under their shelter. The other two ewes are still eating grain and hay (just not much at a time) and are chewing their cud-the ewe this post is about is not now. I am giving one of the other ewes pg/the pink stuff too, because she is showing some ketosis on the test strips, but she is still doing well, acting normal and all that. The third ewe is still spry enough that I can't get behind her to test her urine-she is not as tame as the other two.
I lost a ewe last year, for the first time, to toxemia. Tried all the supportive stuff, but waited too long and her triplets were dead when we did the c-section. Don't want to make that same mistake with this ewe.
I have been supplementing the ewe in question for the past three days with pg, some liquid cmp, a little extra selenium, and it has kept her from going down, but she is weak and shaky and slow to move. She does eat a tiny bit, and does drink a little water. This morning she was the same, and I gave her the morning doses plus some plain water. I give all this with a big dosing syringe, and she does drink it down. She's a good girl.
I live on an island. My vet is away until the end of next week. DH is a vet, too, but is away until Wednesday. I could try to find a vet on the big island that will see large animals on the weekend (slim chance), make an appointment, put her in a trailer, haul her on the ferry and let them look at her, but I am honestly not sure she's strong enough to handle that much stress. I have been able to feel movement from her lamb(s) twice a day so far, but this morning was less, I think. That could also be because it/they are low in her belly now and harder to feel-she has all the indications of being ready/late to lamb-big, full udder-maybe not quite as loose under her tail as she should be, though.
So, I gave her a shot of dex this morning at around 9 am. My thinking was that I don't have a realistic way to do a c-section, and if I do nothing she and the lamb(s) likely are not going to make it. She is low on energy as it is, and I am afraid that if I wait longer she will not be able to have them. I am hoping that by inducing there is a chance that she and/or the lambs will have a chance.
I realize now I should have posted this before I left this morning, but....did I make the wrong choice? If so, let me know. If not, that would be good to know too.
Can anyone tell me what to expect? How long is usual-I have read 12-48 hours, which seems like a big window. Will the dex make the birth different than normal? I realize she will be weaker than normal...
Fingers crossed.....thanks for any help.
7 year old Katadyn ewe, has always had twins except last year when she had a BIG ram single lamb. Bred mid-October last year, and I had her on the calendar as being due starting the 9th or 10th of this month. I have had her and the other two pregnant ewes separated from the rest since the first few days of this month, when they were starting to be huge and slow moving. They have free choice alfalfa/orchard, plain orchard, local grass hay, cob and/or sheep text, salt, minerals and water with and without molasses. During the day they can go into the "yard" and nibble on grass and lie in the sun, but we have had some wet and stormy days and they stayed under their shelter. The other two ewes are still eating grain and hay (just not much at a time) and are chewing their cud-the ewe this post is about is not now. I am giving one of the other ewes pg/the pink stuff too, because she is showing some ketosis on the test strips, but she is still doing well, acting normal and all that. The third ewe is still spry enough that I can't get behind her to test her urine-she is not as tame as the other two.
I lost a ewe last year, for the first time, to toxemia. Tried all the supportive stuff, but waited too long and her triplets were dead when we did the c-section. Don't want to make that same mistake with this ewe.
I have been supplementing the ewe in question for the past three days with pg, some liquid cmp, a little extra selenium, and it has kept her from going down, but she is weak and shaky and slow to move. She does eat a tiny bit, and does drink a little water. This morning she was the same, and I gave her the morning doses plus some plain water. I give all this with a big dosing syringe, and she does drink it down. She's a good girl.
I live on an island. My vet is away until the end of next week. DH is a vet, too, but is away until Wednesday. I could try to find a vet on the big island that will see large animals on the weekend (slim chance), make an appointment, put her in a trailer, haul her on the ferry and let them look at her, but I am honestly not sure she's strong enough to handle that much stress. I have been able to feel movement from her lamb(s) twice a day so far, but this morning was less, I think. That could also be because it/they are low in her belly now and harder to feel-she has all the indications of being ready/late to lamb-big, full udder-maybe not quite as loose under her tail as she should be, though.
So, I gave her a shot of dex this morning at around 9 am. My thinking was that I don't have a realistic way to do a c-section, and if I do nothing she and the lamb(s) likely are not going to make it. She is low on energy as it is, and I am afraid that if I wait longer she will not be able to have them. I am hoping that by inducing there is a chance that she and/or the lambs will have a chance.
I realize now I should have posted this before I left this morning, but....did I make the wrong choice? If so, let me know. If not, that would be good to know too.
Can anyone tell me what to expect? How long is usual-I have read 12-48 hours, which seems like a big window. Will the dex make the birth different than normal? I realize she will be weaker than normal...
Fingers crossed.....thanks for any help.