Black Sheep

Baa, baa, black sheep have you any wool?

No ma'am, no ma'am, only ten stitches full!

On Thursday when we brought the sheep into the corral to work, I noticed my little black ewe had a gash on the side of her neck towards her shoulder.  So we pulled the sheep into the shed, sorted her off.  I realized once I began to treat her just how large a gash it was.  Leaving her, I made a plan to call the vet in the morning (sorry, no emergency calls for sheep here).  

The only clinic in the area that deals with sheep is Uncas Vet (not my normal clinic), so I called, explained the situation and they kindly fit us in.  Once there little black ewe got a cleaning, hair cut and examination.  She ended up getting 10 stitches that we're praying will hold.  If the flap is able to heal it'll be fine, otherwise it'll pull back, and the stitches won't hold.  The gash is about 30 cm top to bottom and about 15 cm wide.  Basically, the skin was peeled off her.  Of course, she did it while she was out in the grassy field.  Go figure...

One of the vet techs suggested putting an old t-shirt on her to help keep the laceration clean and bug free.  Fingers crossed but it seems to be working.  With the help of my brother we changed t-shirts today and I put on some DermaGel because it looked a bit oozey.  I think I may be a bit twisted because at $180 I thought it was a cheap vet bill...