On 19th April a dear little lamb, Sunshine (now known as Sunny), joined Fleecehaven. In his short eight week life he had already endured a miraculous journey. He had originally been acquired to be fattened for the freezer, but his front legs were deformed and he had great difficulty walking. The farmer who owned him was treating him for joint-ill. However, his attempts to 'get him good' failed and he decided to dispose of him. Thankfully Trish, who lived next
Fleecehaven News
to the farm, knew about the lamb and said that she would take him on and give him a chance. Whilst he was with her he was assessed by a vet who thought that the lamb may have been premature and, as a result, his ligaments had not fully formed and needed to be stretched. However, he ultimately felt that the lamb should just be taken to the hunt. Trish ignored this advice and acquired an appropriate splint and antibiotics from her veterinary practice. A few days later, Trish contacted Fleecehaven initially for advice,
Inside this Issue: Hello Sunshine continued Meet the Zwartbles Hansel and Gretel Gallery Lucky, Rustle and Granny Gracie Thank Ewe Freddie - last one in Calendars & Cards
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and then asked if we would be willing to take him on. Thanks to her care Sunny’s legs were showing signs of improvement and splinting had definitely helped him. However, Trish wanted him to be with other sheep and somewhere where he could be given the specialist care that he was going to need. We prepared our utility room for him and arrangements were made for us to collect him. Once with us we arranged for our vet to assess Sunny, who confirmed the initial diagnosis of joint -ill. He was taken to the veterinary hospital where he had his knee joint flushed out with saline and antibiotics and then his leg was splinted. He was then put onto a strong course of IV antibiotics to help tackle the infection that had taken hold within the joint. Thankfully Sunny seemed none the worse for wear as a result of this treatment and once home enjoyed tucking into a basket of hay whilst sporting a rather fetching blue splint!
Home from the vets
Spring/Summer 2015
Emma with Sunny on the day that he arrived
Hello Sunshine!
‘ P R O M O T I N G H U M A N B E H A V I O U R T O W A R D S A N I M A L S B Y P R O V I D I N G C A R E , P R O T E C T I O N , T R E A T M E N T A N D S E C U R I T Y ’
Volume 8 Issue 3
Over a three week period our vet visited Sunny on a regular basis, flushing his joint out and injecting antibiotics directly into the joint. Slowly the joint swelling started to reduce and he was able to start taking more weight on his leg. Continued on Page 2