Newborn lamb with cleft palate...best management??

[Natalie strain]

Hi there.

We have a newborn lamb with a cleft palate...basically the roof of his inside of his mouth isn't fully fused together & he has a hole up into his nasal cavity. He's just over a day old & in every other way is appearing as a normal lamb. He is struggling to feed independently, when he does feed he has milk coming down his nose.

We are currently bottle feeding him, ensuring he has had plenty of colostrum & keeping him warm.

Just wondering other farmers management and feeding tips to help with survival?

The main risks seem to be not enough milk consumption being achieved, chest infections & pneumonia from the risk of milk entering the lungs etc.

I can find very limited information online for cleft in lambs.

Any ideas?

Many thanks Nat x

 

[gatepost]

Have seen it , unfortunately although the lamb did stay with its mother for a few weeks, it died, due to the milk getting into its lungs as it sucked causing pneumonia, if I got another I think I would put it down. sorry not to be more positive.

 

[ridger]

Have it in a calf, doing him no harm, he is over a year old now

 

[Natalie strain]

Have seen it , unfortunately although the lamb did stay with its mother for a few weeks, it died, due to the milk getting into its lungs as it sucked causing pneumonia, if I got another I think I would put it down. sorry not to be more positive.

Hi. Yeah, i understand, this is what we are fearing for this wee one. Many thanks for your reply. X

 

[Natalie strain]

View attachment 303892 Have it in a calf, doing him no harm, he is over a year old now

He's lovely!! Was it just his lip that had the cleft/hole though? With our lamb his lip is fine but the roof of his mouth has the cleft/hole... which worries us about his feeding & the risk of pneumonia etc. Many thanks Nat x

 

[Natalie strain]

This is close to what our lamb has on the roof of his mouth. This is a Google image if what is nearly a replica, as we can't really get a photo of thr inside of her wee mouth x

 

[Alan]

I think if I had a lamb with that I wouldn't be hanging around and swing it against a pole.

 

[ridger]

He's lovely!! Was it just his lip that had the cleft/hole though? With our lamb his lip is fine but the roof of his mouth has the cleft/hole... which worries us about his feeding & the risk of pneumonia etc. Many thanks Nat x

His nose starts in his mouth! Il take a photo today of him a year on

 

[spark_28]

We had a pet lamb like this before. Im pretty sure it survived quite a while. The only reason we noticed it was because she would collapse. Give it a chance, where theres life theres hope.

 

[Keepers]

Only lamb I know who had a cleft palate died due to milk getting into its lungs

However it can't hurt to give it a try, can you teach lambs to drink milk from a bowl like a calf? maybe that would prevent some of the milk going down the wrong way, I know a puppy at the vets which was given milk this way and it survived

 

[Natalie strain]

We had a pet lamb like this before. Im pretty sure it survived quite a while. The only reason we noticed it was because she would collapse. Give it a chance, where theres life theres hope.

Thank you for your reply. Yes absolutely, we are going to give it our best shot & as long as she's not suffering & is able to feed enough to be comfortable then we shall keep going x

 

[Natalie strain]

Only lamb I know who had a cleft palate died due to milk getting into its lungs

However it can't hurt to give it a try, can you teach lambs to drink milk from a bowl like a calf? maybe that would prevent some of the milk going down the wrong way, I know a puppy at the vets which was given milk this way and it survived

Thank you for your reply. Lambs can drink water from a bucket but I'm not sure if a young lamb would get enough quantities of milk from a bowl to sustain it. But it's worth a shot isn't it, even just in addition to some bottle feeding, thank you.

 

[bovine]

Calves seem to do OK, lambs not so. I also think euthanasia of the lamb is kinder than starving it for a bit then giving it a nasty aspiration pneumonia and then dying.

 

[Natalie strain]

Hi yea I understand. Many thanks Nat x

 

[Beck]

How'd the lamb with the cleft palate do? I've got a 12-hour-old Boer cross kid with a cleft palate.

He's not making any suction at all, though his little mouth keeps trying. I'm getting colostrum into him by squeezing a dropper into the side of his mouth, it's about even what dribbles out, what he swallows, and what comes out his nose.

He's doing far better than I'd expected this morning. He's not keeping up with his twin, but he doesn't have that blank listless look. Is there hope or am I just dragging this out?

 

[GTB]

How'd the lamb with the cleft palate do? I've got a 12-hour-old Boer cross kid with a cleft palate.

He's not making any suction at all, though his little mouth keeps trying. I'm getting colostrum into him by squeezing a dropper into the side of his mouth, it's about even what dribbles out, what he swallows, and what comes out his nose.

He's doing far better than I'd expected this morning. He's not keeping up with his twin, but he doesn't have that blank listless look. Is there hope or am I just dragging this out?

You're dragging it out. Do the kind thing.

 

[jemski]

If he can't suck I'm afraid he doesn't have a chance. Time to do the kindest thing [emoji22]

 

[Beck]

Thank you. Sometimes you just need someone to tell you to do what you know needs doing.

If I'd realized what the problem was before I started feeding him, it would have been easier.

You're dragging it out. Do the kind thing.

 

[Beck]

Again, I appreciate the support.

If he can't suck I'm afraid he doesn't have a chance. Time to do the kindest thing [emoji22]