I have a small flock of Shetland sheep, no longer breeding, they are aging quite well. The exception is a ewe, 8 years old, who walks with great difficulty. It appears to be an arthritic condition, her hooves are ok. What I am seeking is an anti inflammatory that sheep can tolerate. I believe there is a less toxic home preparation I could try before calling in the Vet. She still grazes and comes in for hay but is very thin yet a survivor. Hoping for an experienced shepherd to advise. thank you, Marian
Seeking a 'home remedy'
I am not an experienced shepherd--but is there a chance that glucosamine chondroitin would help? It does work well with dogs and people (my orthopedic surgeon strongly recommended it after knee surgery) and, I think, horses.
I googled "sheep and arthritis" and was suprised by how often this is caused by bacterial infection in sheep. Do you know if your sheep has developed it as it aged--or did it acquire it as a lamb? Being thin may be making it easier on her joints at least.
You might check fiascofarm ---there is a link under goats in the reference thread. That links to an herbal remedy site. (Molly's I think) I recall seeing something there and they may be a good reference...
I searched the archives of my Icelandic sheep list, and found a couple suggestions. One was a recommendation from The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable and it was to give a tablespoon of paprika. This makes sense as I believe capsaicin in peppers has been shown to have some anti-inflammatory effects. I don't know if the dose was per day, every day, or only when the sheep is having a particularly hard time? If you can get the book, it might say.
Another was to use enteric-coated aspirin. This person's vet said 7 aspirin twice a day if the sheep is having a bad day. (Probably wouldn't give this every day.) The dose seems high but the vet said it's because a lot of the aspirin is broken down and lost in the rumen. They recommended using fig newtons to give the aspirin - just push them into the figgy filling and the sheep munch them down. :-)
Hope that helps!