FW: SWEET PEA FARM UPDATE - ON WILLY - say a prayer for him

 

 

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From: Stacy Murphy [mailto:hppsco@optonline.net]
Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2007 8:27 PM
To: Abbie Zuidema; Anne and Luke Williams (burntcove@verizon.net); Andrea Hutter; Anne Davis (annekdavis@hotmail.com); ashby@ashbysedibles.com; Barbera Curry (bcurryjames@optonline.net); Brenda Fries; Bruce Baker; BFurgess@aol.com; tigerlilly2; Cynthia Brown (cynthiabrownstudio@yahoo.com); dmichelotti@aol.com; DeeDee; buzztri@aol.com; Affonso, George; hsd2005@optonline.net; Ines Matta (Ines_matta@hotmail.com); Jaques Dickinson (jbtrout@aol.com); John Hersam; Karen Moore; Katie Wanke (katieflagg61@sbcglobal.net); agaillard@optonline.net; Kris Livengood; Linda Valentine (homevalu@yahoo.com); Liz Byrne; Liz Munyon (hesterliz@yahoo.com); mitchedwards@rock.com; nancyharte@msn.com; Pat Creedon (pmcreedon@optonline.net); plern@aol.com; tmockbird@aol.com; Marguerite Aitken; Starmom29@aol.com; Rita and David Zuidema (mrsz01@cinci.rr.com); Sally and Andy Manesis (smampm@aol.com); shs1004@aol.com; Sue Morrow (susan@susanmorrow.com); Revspfeil@aol.com; Walter Misdom; Dan Hodges (danhodges@optonline.net)
Subject: SWEET PEA FARM UPDATE - ON WILLY - say a prayer for him

 

To all who know little Willie-

 

He has had a rough day – and he is a little trooper.

 

Willie suddenly showed signs of being quite ill on Saturday dinner. I noticed he was retaining fluid under his chin – which is a condition called Bottle Jaw.  I read up in my Veterinary handbook, and it referred to an overwhelming infestation of intestinal worms to be the cause of this condition. This didn’t make sense to me as I had already been treating them for parasites. But he was running a fever too.

 

It took me until Monday to obtain a Vet through Park Animal Hospital in Norwalk that performs house calls for sheep. He came to Sweet Pea Farm on Tuesday am.  We drew blood and did a thorough exam on both Willie and Rosie. As you can see, little Willie is being examined in the picture.  Lab results were due to arrive on Wednesday am.  Willie continued to eat and drink, but by Wednesday lunch I saw a progressive weakness I didn’t like. The lab results came in as we had already assessed, he was critically anemic.

 

The vet gave me a choice, basically he needed a blood transfusion to survive. We didn’t see worms in the lab results, which also didn’t make sense.  I called around to 7 other veterinarians to get a second opinion, and they were either away, or it was the same response, he needed a blood transfusion.

 

So, my good buddy Liz, came to the house, we loaded Willy and Rosie into the back of the Isuzu Trooper with Liz sitting in the back with them, and away we went off to Park Animal Hospital in Norwalk. It actually was quite comical, seeing the expressions on people’s faces as they saw little sheep heads peering out the window back at them. They made good travelers and were very quiet.

 

Rosie was Willie’s donor. We had no other source. There was, and is still a risk that Willie’s body wouldn’t accept Rosie’s blood, but we needed to try. Neither sheep liked being in an animal hospital. It was a tense 3 hours. They were baaaing and calling me, I had a meltdown, Liz offered her shoulder while the tears fell.

 

Rosie was fist, sedated and blood drawn from her. Willie was next, sedated to put the needle in, then awakened, and blood transfused into his little body over a 4 hour time span.  I am happy to say, thus so far, as of 8pm, he is showing signs of improvement, no reactions have occurred, and he is eating and standing up. It is a critical 48 hours that we will see what happens.

 

Luckily, the doctor ran his own fecal tests, and unlike the stupid lab, found Willie LOADED with little hookworms. He was swimming in them, and they were finally the discovered culprit that was sucking the life out of him.  Poor Willie!!!! Rosie too!!!!!

 

So, they have been given medicine to kill off those certain types of parasites, and we will see what happens going forward.

 

Please say a prayer for little Willie, he needs all our strength to get through the next 48 hours with no hitches.

 

Their “Mommy” wants them both back home at Sweet Pea Farm.

 

The house by the way is continuing to come along – the upstairs project is being sheet-rocked as we type away this letter. Soon, I will have a master bath and bedroom! Pictures another time!!

 

Oxox

Stacy