Pregnancy Toxemia

[matlock123]

I have a pregnant sheep who has been having trouble for about the past week and a half. I did not begin intervention until about a week ago because I thought she was going into labor but it turned out it was pregnancy toxemia. The first few days she would lay down a lot and I noticed decreased intake in feed. I bought ketone strips and have confirmed she has large amounts of ketones in urine.

Initially I was giving her injections of calcium gluconate but I have added crushed tums into her drench since there were no radical behavior changes after injection.

I have been giving her a drench every few hours initially of molasses and tums. On the positive side she was not getting worse, but she was not getting better. After I drench her I help her stand up because she can't do it on her own. Once she is standing she is able to limp around. Usually she will go get a bit of water and then lay back down. She is not taking food currently.

In an effort to get her ketones down I have been increasing the molasses content of the drench as well as adding a bit of gatorade powder. It is to the point now that it is causing diarrhea but ketones are not going away and are the highest level on the dipstick.

Right now my plan is to dial back the molasses content until the diarrhea goes away and keep it there until she gives birth. However this is my first experience with this so I want to get as much advice as possible. My best guess is that she is a week from giving birth but I am basing that on toxemia usually kicking in about 2 weeks before giving birth.

Thanks for any and all help/advice!

 

[Mini Horses]

Propylene glycol, alfalfa pellets or leaf alf hay, hi value vit B paste. Go to feed store! She prob needs IV of cal/prop glycol...by vet. She was prob either very thin or overweight at conception of her lambs (that's when this usually occurs) and an "easy keeper" who stays on the thin side. Sometimes steroids are given to increase appetite, again by vet (sometimes the B vit helps) If you have a vet you use, they may help you by phone. Increase calcium -- too much and she'll pee it out but, needs more.

As you know, this is serious. She's in real trouble. You're trying and doing right but, it's a situation needing more nutritional strength. There is risk of loosing her & lambs.

Basically, not enough carbs in late pregnancy.

 

[matlock123]

She definitely was not underweight, so its likely she was overweight. I will definitely have to keep better tabs on body score condition next breeding cycle.

 

[matlock123]

I have some propylene glycol being overnighted (Tractor supply doesn't carry it in store anymore) and I got some NutriDrench so hopefully that will work better than my DIY molasses mix.

 

[Mini Horses]

Wondering how your ewe is doing.... Update?

 

[matlock123]

It was a bad outcome. She did have massive amounts of subcutaneous and internal fat so she was definitely significantly overweight.

Lessons for anyone using the search feature down the line learn from my mistakes:

1) Tractor supply does not sell propylene glycol in store anymore so best to have some on hand so there is no delays in procurement. They do carry Nutri Drench which does have propylene glycol in it so you could try that, but I would recommend using straight propylene glycol so you can use the research literature for dosages for maximum effectiveness.

Also keep ketone strips on hand for this. If you notice elevated ketones in urine act immediately.

2) Before breeding make sure to keep an eye on body score. I offered way too much food (corn/alfalfa) thinking she would need it being pregnant. Next time if I do this I will only do it the last month of pregnancy and only if the body score is appropriate.

3) If possible try to track the conception date. Not having a due date made recognizing the problem more complicated. Also sometimes the only solution is inducing delivery but to do that you must know the due date.

4) If you do notice signs of pregnancy toxemia act immediately. No half measures, no home remedies, use propylene glycol and follow research based treatment protocol for best results.

 

[Mini Horses]

Sorry to hear but, we learn from our mistakes.