[AT] Just another day at the office? (OT)

[CBear81438 at aol.com]

Just thought you all might be interested in a typical day here.  For  the 
tractor content, I use several antiques to bale hay for these sheep the  coyotes 
eat....  Anybody with sheep and has some suggestions, I am open to  anything.  
Still alive this morning, just no eating......
 
 
Well, the Saga continues as the old western used to say...   I  found my 
largest ewe (150 + lbs), Minnie, named because she has tiny mouse ears,  laying in 
the barn with the 2 new mamas yesterday afternoon about 3 pm.   Since we have 
had rain and drizzle the fields and pastures are mud.  The  poor girls grunt 
with every step making their way around.  I 
 
So I jujst figured she decided to rest.  She did not look like she was  
trying to lamb yet.  Not going to be long.  I was working getting some  stuff 
straightened around with the other two, and was stepping over her and  generally  
within 6 inches of her and she never moved.  Even petted  her and she did not 
move..  I just thought she was trusting me like a lot  of the others do..  
 
Well I thought I better check on the girls about 10pm.  When I stepped  into 
the barn, it smelled like acetone.  Minnie was panting like a dog and  having 
trouble breathing.  I could hear gurgling.  First thought was  Ketosis, as I 
hit myself in the back of the head, I should have seen this  coming.  Went thru 
this a year ago with the one who just had triplets, or  was it 2 years ago?  
Ok, looks like bloat too.  Head over to the shop  refrig to find the Propylene 
glycol.  No glycol.  RV  antifreeze????  Nope, it has rust inhibitors in it, 
Darn.  Drank a  coke just to keep me going, it was bedtime....  Head to the 
house for  reinforcements.  Ketosis is also called acidosis.  I knew the lining  
of her stomach is really sore from the acidosis, and she has to have 
something  for the bloat.  
SO her is the "cocktail" I concocted from household kitdchen  cabinets.
 
About 15 Lactinex tablets to aid digestion.
About another 15 acidophilis pills to also aid degestion.
Some digestive enzyme from an herbal store.  
About 1/8 teaspoon of GREEN Palmolive liquid.
 
I use a mortar and pestle to grind the tablets, then mix in about 1/2 cup  of 
water with the soap.  The soap causes it all to dissolve and it is a  great 
surfactant for the frothy bloat.  Put this in a pint bottle  that came in an 
e-bay buy of 50 irrigation syringe kits.  while I was in  the shop I got 2 of 
the kits out, nice and sterile....
 
Ok, that will take dcare of the bloat, now what for the ketosis.   Simple 
sugars is needed.  Perhaps Corn syrup??  None in the  cabinet.  Ahhhhhh!  
Griffins Waffle syrup...  Tastes good going  down and coming up too....  When you 
extract the stomach tube, if there is  anything that will burn on it, it burns 
all the way back.  Try Propylene  glycol sometime, it burns!.  It is also the 
sweetner for DR. Pepper.   If I would have had a bottle of it I would have used 
that... I poured about 1/2  cup of syrup in a coffee cup, added about 1/4 cup 
of water and nuked it for  about 30 sec.  Added some syrup to cool it a little 
and add some thickener  so I had about a cup of syrup water that was about 
body temp.  The old girl  did not need to drop her core temp due to a treatment.
 
Got the 3/8 in 6 ft  vinyl tube that I have had hanging from one end,  (to 
straighten it out) and measured from the nose to the flank.  Made a  mark on the 
hose with a sharpie marker,  This ensures I get it in the  stomach and not 
the lung, the end of the lung is about half this distance.   Since I had to do 
all this myself, I have to be prepared ( yeah right, I forgot  the water 
syringe, and had to hold the ewe, hose, and suck water from the  watering bucket 
into another syringe all at the same time).  Got Minnie  backed into a corner, 
wrapped my left arm( the one with the torn tendon, ulner  nerve damage, and the 
one that is going thru a nerve test tomorrow) around her  neck and held her 
mouth with my left hand.  Started the tube from the right  side of the mouth 
(passenger side, or curb side if you are an RVer) and headed  across the tongue 
to the left side.  If you feel down the left side of the  throat, you can feel 
the hose going down.  She had a bit of a cud in there  and after a couple of 
tries, that came out.  She had held this for a long  time.  Another indication 
of the bloat.   Started the hose down  as she is resisting and grinding her 
teeth.  But as she chews, she also  swallows.  BINGO! hit the Gut!   MAN Who Cut 
the Cheese???   That hose had some of the most foul smells eminating, worse 
than the trip  past the waste treatment we make every day....About 10  seconds 
after hitting the jackpot, I am holding a smaller ewe by at  least 6 inches.  
Now she really feels like resisting.  However,  with 325 lbs on my side, I am 
not easily moved.  Attach  the acidophilus etc syringe, empty, attach the 
syrup, empty, fill  another syrup, empty, fill another acidophilus, empty, refill 
a syringe with  water while holding, oh well I already told that one..  
empty.....
 
Inject a shot of B-12,  Wash out the syringes and tube.  Sit  down on a 5 
gallon redneck chair, and observe the patient.  Still alive,  breathing (though 
rapidly), moving.   What I did will take about 2 to  6 hours to detect any 
change.  She can rest without my help, and it is now  11:30pm  looks like I got a 
breakfast date!!  
 
Back in the house, the wife asks if I had any problems, "Nope, everything  
went according to plan".
 
This morning, she is breathing about 60/minute, and calm.  So, I made  a trip 
to my vet supply and got a gallon of Propylene and gave her 120cc 2 times  
today.  Got a new bottle of b-12 also.  
 
As of 6pm, she is moving around and has walked qute a bit around the lot,  
just has not ate anything yet.  She acts interested, just not  hungry...
 
In the morning we will know more.  The waiting is the worst  part.
 
I also got a sack of corn to feed all the pregnant ewes with to add some  
concentrated nutrition to prevent Ketosis....
 
Maybe this will be interesting to some of you..
 
Cecil
Piedmont, OK