[Jacob-list] Question on Choking

[Robin Lynde]

I'm not sure that coughing and foaming always means choking. In fact that would not be my first thought. I had one a few years ago that was coughing and foamy. I can't remember the details but it was not choking. The foam was an indication of some other kind of problem. Just this summer I had a ram lamb who was coughing up hay and foam. He actually had a severe case of bluetongue and I'd been treating him to prevent pneumonia (secondary to the bluetongue).  The vet happened to be here that day because the UC Davis Vet School is working on a new test for bluetongue and they wanted to draw blood from some of my sheep to try it out. She told me that sheep with bluetongue can get lesions all the way down into the esophagus and that has something to do with the involuntary vomiting that we were seeing. I ended up with about half a dozen sheep who were sick with bluetongue. Lynette, that is something that I would suspect with that high fever, if you don't also have respiratory symptoms that would indicate pneumonia. Mine didn't have any respiratory symptoms--lethargic, lying down due to sore feet, not wanting to eat due to sore mouths. (Please do not confuse this with foot and mouth or soremouth--it has nothing to do with that.) None of my sheep died and it was interesting that it was only lambs, yearlings and a 2-year old that had it. I think the older sheep must have immunity. I may vaccinate next year if the test shows that the strain I had is one in the vaccine. By the way bluetongue causes horrible birth defects, so I postponed my breeding.
Robin Lynde
Meridian Jacobs
Vacaville, CA 
www.meridianjacobs.com 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Lynette Frick 
  To: jacob-list at jacobsheep.com 
  Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2008 9:22 AM
  Subject: [Jacob-list] Question on Choking


  I had a ewe choke on hay just two weeks ago, no grain here either. I have had it happen with my suffolks before, presumably because they are so greedy, but never with a Jacob. She had foam coming out her nose, and was caughing up foam for quite a while. I don't have a tube, so was pretty helpless. Looks like a new tool to add to the list. She managed to get it up, but had inhaled quite a bit of the foam. If anyone else has this problem, it would probably be a good idea to give a full round of Nuflor, to prevent pnumonia, asap. She did get pnumonia by the next morning, had a 106* temp, but was eating by the next day after her first shot of Nuflor IM. 

  Hope this helps,

  Lynette Frick
  IDEAL FARM 
  Jacob Sheep
  www.idealjacobsheep.com 


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