Joint-Ill in Lambs and Natural Treatments

by Caroline
(Cornwall, England)

My pet 12 week old lamb has been living in the house since she was 5 weeks old. She had joint-ill and was not drinking properly.

We brought her into the house and she loves it. She is outside during the day in the garden and comes in the evening where she sits on the settee watching TV and having cuddles.

As she is quite stiff in her shoulders, she has had acupuncture and daily pain relief by my Vet.

She is very bright in herself. Her eyes are bright. She is growing and her legs are growing despite not being used. She had a coughing fit a few weeks back and the shock of it made her get up and walk.

I have seen her walk and know that she can do it but she won't and this is the problem. She bends her feet and throws temper tantrums. She doesn't want to go back with her Mum and sister. She was the smaller of the twin girls. Her sister is fine.

I am doing physio on a daily basis and helping her take the weight on her legs by putting a towel underneath her and just hope that one day she will decide to walk.

The problem is she loves sitting on the settee and having me wait on her, bring her a bottle 3 times a days, give her fresh grass and bramble leaves and water when she is hungry. I love her to bits so don't want to lose her. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

Many thanks

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Caroline, my mother-in-law used to say, "Why stand when I can sit, why sit when I can lie down?" Your little lamb doesn't have to walk because you are doing everything for her!

Lambs are not meant to be on the settee and watching television! LOL!

Having a lamb on your settee is one thing, having a 90 lb sheep on your settee is quite another!

One of my heroes is Juliette de Bairacli Levy. She was a wise old lady and suggests that paralysis in sheep should be treated with the following:

1) Feed your lamb lots of carrots. But cut the stringy root end off first as this can form balls in the stomach.

2) Feed your lamb some chopped garlic to combat the bacteria that caused the joint-ill in the first place.

3) Give your sheep compressed chlorophyll tablets for a short period of time. She doesn't mention for how long, but I would think until you can see some improvement. Probably no more than a fortnight.

4) You can also put some Sphagnum moss into her water and change that every 3 days.

5) Finally, drench the lamb 3 times a day with a mixture of powdered slippery elm, mixed with milk and molasses.

Average dosage is 1 tablespoon molasses to 1 pint of milk. When your lamb regains her strength, feed it some bran mashes with molasses, good non-dusty hay, pulped carrots and dry crushed oats.

She also recommends pea straw, yellow turnips and lucerne.

Within 3 days of the above treatment you should be seeing a major difference in your lamb.

Let us know how you get on!

Regards
Kathryn