The Poultry Keeper

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6914 Location: isle of lewis

it's this

Polioencephalomalacia (PEM, CCN)
Also called polio and cerebrocortical necrosis
Polioencephalomalacia is a disease of the central nervous system, caused by a vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency. Since the rumen manufactures B vitamins, polio is not caused by insufficient thiamine, but rather the ability to utilize it. The most common symptom is blindness and star gazing. It most commonly occurs in lambs that are consuming high concentrate diets. Polio can also occur in sheep that consume plants that contain a thiamase inhibitor. Polio symptoms mimic other neurological disease conditions, but a differential diagnosis can be made based on the animals' response to injections of vitamin B1.

they get half a scoop each per day ,but the grazing on the croft is good ,vet lives across the stream from it so knows it and she thinks that my grass is good and the grass on the croft is good and that's what caused it Crying or Very sad

CP · Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2006 11:49 am Post subject:

Oh dear! Poor thing! Sad

Hope she gets better. Wink

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6914 Location: isle of lewis

thank you ,
don't know if she is going to get better ,she is partof what i hoped would be the start of a small flock ,she is stood now but that is all that could be said about her if anybody has sheep or goats or cows all of the above can get it so it might help if anyone keeps these if they read this and can reconise the symtoms as the quicker it can be treated the better,they call it pem on this ,i think it must be like the worst headache ever Crying or Very sad

,i'll keep trying with her another day of injections today Confused

PEM may be acute or subacute. Animals with the acute form manifest blindness, recumbency, tonic-clonic seizures, and coma. Those with a longer duration of acute signs have poorer responses to therapy and higher mortality. Animals with the subacute form initially separate from the group, stop eating, and display twitches of the ears and face. The head is held in an elevated position and there is a staggering, sometimes hypermetric gait. As the disease progresses, there is cortical blindness with a diminished menace response and unaltered palpebral and pupillary responses. Dorsomedial strabismus may develop. Head pressing, opisthotonos, and grinding of the teeth may be observed. The subacute form of PEM is frequently followed by recovery with only minor neurologic impairment. However, in a few cases, the subacute form may progress to a more severe form with recumbency and seizures. Animals that survive the acute form or advanced subacute form often manifest significant neurologic impairment that necessitates culling.
it can be linked with bracken

she is in the back of the car (an estate that doesn't move) strawed down going to syringe water down her ,the vet says that it means she carn't walk around in circles so might help
hope this doesn't help anybody as they won't need it Sad

,

NannyP · Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2006 8:24 am Post subject:

It doesn't sound good Suz, I hope she improves.

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6914 Location: isle of lewis

i'm trying to make her as comfortable as possible ,and just hope against hope ,i may sound silly but i've bawled my eyes out this morning about it ,i know she's just a sheep but she's lovely and apart from being ill is no trouble Crying or Very sad

NannyP · Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2006 8:31 am Post subject:

It's not silly to bawl your eyes out. I know if I kept sheep/pigs/cattle, they'd become pets and I too would do the same.
I hope you feel a bit better now you have though, it's a great release of tension!

Gilly C · Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 2359 Location: South Cumbria

Got everything crossed for you, take care

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6914 Location: isle of lewis

thank you

i really needed the support Very Happy

not a lot of sleep last night with turning her ,but i phoned the vet and asked if i could go another day with the jabs ,as i said before i hate doing them,,spoke to a few people and they wouldn't have tried ,the vet is surprised that from the way she was, she is recovering ,carried what looked like a dead lamb out of the field Crying or Very sad

,she can defintly see me out of one eye and she sort of fell out /jumped out of the car this afternoon and walked into the tree she couldn't see it out of one eye ,but we'll have to see how much damage has been done and hopefully she'll recover with no brain damage Confused

if there is damage i'll have her put down if she doesn't have the quality of life that she should do ,but we are both trying Very Happy

,and she baaed at me as well Very Happy

,dogs get this as well Shocked

very rarely though Shocked

NannyP · Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2006 6:56 pm Post subject:

So, if she improves a little, is there a chance she will fully recover? You must be knackered. Is there any other knowledgable people you know of on here that might have some help or advice to offer?

Issy · Joined: 22 Nov 2005 Posts: 371 Location: somerset

Sorry I don't know anything about the condition but it must be horrid for you Sad

. we all make pets out of our ''keeping'' girlies and life would be poorer if we didn't but it inevetably leads to heartache as well as good times. Good luck for you and your lamb the care she is getting is outstanding.

mojo · Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 9:50 am Post subject:

how is things this morning suz any improvement?...........p.s. heard from debs lately she ia absent from forum

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6914 Location: isle of lewis

peanut is out of the car ,where she was being kept as it ment that she couldn't hurt herself ,i'm going to do 1 more injection poor girl looks like a pin cushion ,she's out on the field and we've brought back ting tong who has escaped from the field 4 times this morning Rolling Eyes

since she has come back (she's looking for the boys Twisted Evil

) she drunk herself and eatten so hay ,so i think she might make it now ,she is on the field and it's a lovely day ,spoke to deb this morning Very Happy

,to be interupted by a lamb that had escaped and was baaing at the door ,and then a man who wanted to know if i had a billy Wink

NannyP · Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 12:56 pm Post subject:

Sounds like good news. Pleased she's out in the field enjoying some good weather.

CP · Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 7:59 pm Post subject:

Sounds like she's feeling better. Very Happy

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6914 Location: isle of lewis

just thought you would like to know ,she is better she is grazing ,no more injections ,don't know who is more relieved the sheep or me
she seems friendlier ,than she was Very Happy

there seems to be no brain damage ,(any coments about sheep being thick Wink

)