Does anyone have experience treating a sheep that has been attacked by a dog? I have a Corriedale ewe with serious wounds to her neck. She's on long acting amoxacyllin & a long acting pain relief/anti-inflammatory. I've taken to the wounds with a scalpel to open them up on the advice of the vet but there is a lot of dead tissue & the smell is awful. Anyone got any suggestions? Helen
Re: Sheep wounds help How awful for your poor ewe. I'm no expert on sheep, but my trusty old herb book says that the following are antibiotic: Aloe vera, Burdock, Comfrey, Echinacea, Herb Robert, Indian Ginseng, Kefir, Lovage, Milk Thistle, Nasturtium and Watercress. And for Wounds it prescribes Mallows, Mouse ears, Self Heal, Sesame, Southernwood, Turmeric, Wheat and Whitch Hazel. If it were me, I would be sheering the wool as close to the skin as possible, and bathing the wounds morning and night with a solution of as many of the above elements as I could find (probably make like a tea with them). I guess a saline solution would be a good idea too. Good luck to both of you; I hate hearing of an animal suffering. Paula.
Re: Sheep wounds help Honey will work I think and a herb mix from a mortar and pestle can be added to sorbalene and used as a dressing.
Re: Sheep wounds help Thanks for dong the research for me PP I'll get onto all the groovy stuff a bit further down the track but right now she needs something savage to eat out the dead gunk before it overwhelms her system. I've been using lots & lots of salt water to flush it & today started on bluestone in water & am syringing it into the holes. Disgusting. I think she's going to loose most of one side of her neck before this is over. One of the things I love the most about animals is how darn tough they are. If this was me the sheer horror of the injuries would have keeled me over. But they recover from some terrible stuff & don't make much fuss.
Re: Sheep wounds help I've been known to do this with cat abcesses. Really bad ones, the vet puts "drains" in, which are essentially rubber tubes which allow the pus to drain out and not allow the skin to close over the wound. I hope she survives!
Re: Sheep wounds help Hi Helen, 6% peroxide is a great thing to flush out a wound. It 'eats' away at any gunk. Dilute with rainwater -- if it fizzes it's working - if not it may be too dilute. Or unpasturised apple cider vinegar. This should only be done once - thoroughly - as disinfectants can prohibit healing, according to some schools of thought. It will clear the wound of all gunk. Flints oil works for keeping flies off to a point. Calendula is a good gentle rinse (more for later) also good ointment. Oral vitamin c (sodium ascorbate, not ascorbic acid) helps the body to clear bacterial infection in the blood etc - 1 tsp several times a day in a little chaff is good, or even water if things get desperate. Injected is best, but tricky as it can sting. you can't overdose -- too much just gives diarrhea. Good luck, Heidi
Re: Sheep wounds help Maggots will get rid of the dead flesh, just remove them when they have done their job. You could try a mixture of Manuka Honey from the Pharmacy and Common Ribwort (Plantago major). The Honey is healing and regenerative and the Ribwort helps reduce irritation by creating a gel like cover over the wound and also promotes healing. Raw honey is good, Manuka is better as it comes from specific Tea Trees (Leptospermum scoparium) that have increased anti bacterial and healing properties. Woz
Re: Sheep wounds help Hi woz, I wish I had the guts to let the maggots do it. I know that's the most sensible & practical thing to do but I'm just too soft. I'm using bluestone dissolved in water at a strength just enough to make the cuts on my hand tingle when I mix it up. I'm using a syringe to flush the wounds out. It's so bad that water squirted in one hole could come out any or all of several others. It also comes out her nostril which indicates that one of them goes through to the trachea. The vet says it's possible to recover from this!!!! One of the holes in the neck also bubbles out frothy stuff which is also indicating lung involvement. It looks like she's going to lose most of one side of her neck by the time this is over. I was hopeful the fact she's eating & drinking were good signs but got an email from a sheep owning girlfriend yesterday that they can eat up until the day they die. It's hard to know with animals when to draw the line between giving them the best chance you can at recovering & being cruel. I've seen them get over some unbelievable injuries. I hope this old girl gets through this. She's a fantastic mum & a "good old stick" & she deserves to make it.
