Thanks to everyone on the forum for all your research and advice and
kind remarks.
So, I almost ordered some formaldehyde, but did not. I thought more
about it, and figured, you know, a shot of ethyl alcohol in a cyst
would do the same thing, (formaldehyde is 10% alcohol anyway) or
iodine or most anything that would kill bacteria.
Plus, when I took Marleys' head in to be European mounted, the
taxidermist really steered me away from it. (I had no idea it was
illegal in California). I just injected the abscess on Lily's face
twice with Penn-G.
So, update. The main vet at our local place, Tri-County Vet in Gilroy,
ca. raises sheep and has had luck simply using penn-G in a high dose
for a month on his animals that get Coryne. It's totally off-label,
and, not a miracle cure.
The regimen is isolate the sick, and give 12ml per 100lb of animal,
sub-Q once a day and add a good bit of alfalfa to the otherwise local
hay to supplement the nutritional value. So, they not only get some
antibiotic help, they get a supplemented diet. On any other year, I
have not had to supplement the hay with anything. But in this case,
they get a good amount of alfalfa, every day.
Bear in mind, the non-symptomatic goats and sheep I have are plump,
spry and healthy. They eat only the hay/graze on my property. No
supplements, except garden clippings, and green grass from the mower.
Occasional treats of grain or peanuts.
The other thing I need to mention is: some animals have had visible
caseous abscesses and appear plump and healthy. Marley died with no
visible skin eruptions, and Lily, just got one, but has been getting
skinny for awhile--so she has had it internally for some time. From
what I have read, it is not clear how effective their own antibodies
are, to preventing further infection. For instance, if an animal
simply gets an abscess on the lymph node in the neck first, does that
mean it won't get it internally? Not sure. Also, there is a vaccine,
which is made from dead bacteria, and helps them develop antibodies,
but it's efficacy is not really known either.
After 2.5 weeks of single-handedly shooting 2 really sick, 1 maybe
sick, 1 with bad lungs and 3 that have had abscesses but otherwise,
look great, I got tired of that injection regimen of 7 sheep and have
narrowed it down to 3 animals, for the rest of the 1.5 weeks.
It will be interesting to discuss these animals on this forum, for
posterity. I don't expect a miracle, but let's see what happens.
Caseous is also called the "wasting disease", because, seemingly no
matter how much they eat, they still tend to wither away. Besides the
skinny ribs, the other place to look is their rear, is it sunken,
instead of plump? And the tail is like an empty sock. The disease also
effects their ability to make a good coat, and winter is coming, so,
we will see how they do.
Lily the ewe, about 7 years old, on a malnutrition scale of 1-10, with
10 being dead, she looks like a 8 or 9. Marley was a
10--appearance-wise. After her being in a pen with 3 other girls with
tons of penicillin and fed a decent amount of alfalfa plus local hay,
for 2.5 weeks, she looks about the same--but does not look worse. I
don't expect a miracle, but, I am comparing her to the next animal we
will discuss. Lily's the one who also had a visible caseous on her
neck which drained/popped last week and is drying out now. She
obviously has it in her body, since she has that wasting-look. Maybe
the abscess was taking a lot out of her system, and if she is
continued to be fed better-than usual food, she might gain weight
after a month of antibiotics. She is part wool sheep and usually is
our "Big Mama", but not right now. We will see how her winter coat
shapes up.
Verne the ram, also, about 7 years old, started as a solid 9 on the
scale, now looks like a 6 or 7! I am surprised. His rear area looks a
bit better and his ribs are almost invisible now, which is good. Tail
is still too skinny, though. He has never had visible caseous, but,
neither did Marley. We will see how his coat shapes up as well. We
have had 80-100*F days and barely 60*F evenings, so, no winter coats,
yet.
Harpo the ram, about 5 years old, has never had visible caseous, but
looks a bit skinny in his rear and tail. I normally refer to him as
my "rock star:" since his coat is usually amazing. It looks pretty
good right now, he's just a 3-4 on the malnutrition scale. He has
changed little since the regimen. Maybe I just never noticed he has a
skinny rear, and he has not lost weight. Can't see his ribs, because
his mane is actually pretty good.
The one I mentioned above, with bad lungs, is old Stella, no idea how
old she is, but she moves slow (can still run plenty fast, though),
and has always been deaf as a post, as I have had her for the last 7
years or so. The vet said her lungs sounded the worst, but she's not
skinny at all. She might have simply had real pneumonia. I think 2.5
weeks of 10ml penn G per day should be OK for that. I am d
