Scott: Little Orphan Lamby
Scott, like so many thousands of lambs on small farms in rural New York, was born sick and unable to nurse. He was a twin, and although his sibling was up and nursing, he was unable to even lift his head. He had a huge goiter, about the size of a lime, and his tiny body was slowly shutting down.
But thankfully, he had an advocate — someone who saw him as an individual and wanted to let him live. And so Scott was brought to Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY. When he arrived, we immediately took his vitals and found that this was a very sickly little lamb. Besides the goiter, he was in hypothermia, with a body temperature of 95°. His breathing was labored and his lungs were crackly and wheezy. He was limp and too weak to even lift his head or open his eyes.
We rushed him to the Nemo Farm Animal Hospital at Cornell University, where he was started on oxygen. Blood was collected, which showed a variety of health issues, including low total protein — suggesting a lack of immunoglobulins from the colostrum of his mother (which, of course, he had not received, since he had not been able to nurse). Colostrum has to be ingested within the first 24 hours of life in order to be properly absorbed, and sadly, Scott was already around 16 hours old when he arrived.
He was also septic — the cause of his pneumonia — and without antibodies from his mother, he was started on IV antibiotics and fluids for his severe dehydration. He was also given colostrum with iodine to help with his goiter.
Sweet baby Scott when he arrived home two weeks after he was surrendered to the shelter. (Photo by intern Christine Dobrick.)
So for the first few days it was impossible to know if he would make it, but by day three — he turned a corner. Unfortunately, there was a lot of back and forth and he had a few rough spots, but two weeks later, he was ready to come home!
With no other lambs or baby goats his age, we then needed to figure out the best plan for our little guy. He was very needy, as all babies should be, and so when left alone — for even a minute — the crying began. And not just a little crying.
