Well, this morning the sun finally decided to put in an appearance after a couple of days of rain and grey skies.
And just when I thought it was going to be a lovely, peaceful morning, the Gaucho appeared carrying a tiny lamb in his arms.
Unfortunately, this little girl was in a very bad way — and still is.
She was having what appeared to be seizures, and at first I thought she might be blind. But the blank, staring look can also be a symptom of polioencephalomalacia (PEM), which can be associated with a thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency.
She looks to be only about four or five days old. Her bottom teeth are through, although they’re not exactly looking good yet, and judging by the amount of grass and… well, other things… in her mouth she is a fighter.
So Kristen and I have decided we’re going to give this little girl a fighting chance.
She’s now on a very intensive feeding schedule, with milk and mineral supplementation every 20 minutes. It’s going to be a long day — and probably a long night — but we’re going to see what we can do.
At this stage, we’re estimating that she may only have around a 40% chance of pulling through.
Normally, the Gaucho doesn’t bring the lambs to the house when they’re this far gone, so the fact that she arrived here means she is one lucky little lamb.
And that means she’s got two humans fussing over her, a warm place to rest, regular feeds and probably more attention than any little lamb could possibly want.
Now we just have to see if that tiny body is prepared to fight.
So, if you have a spare little prayer, thought or bit of positive energy today, send it her way.
She needs it.
And I think she needs a name too…
I’m leaning towards Hope.
Because sometimes a little lamb doesn’t need much more than a fighting spirit, a bit of help — and lots of love.
