# Epilepsy in Sheep?



## kmarcelliano (Aug 22, 2016)

Hello all:
I have a small hobby farm that includes 12 sheep (almost all are related in some way (cousins/half brothers/sisters, etc). Dorset mixes. This started a few years ago while eating hay, my one Obi would appear to be choking - turn head towards back end, close eyes, and chomp his jaw fast...then fall to his side on the ground, chomping quickly/oddly - I would run to him, rub neck and back and then he'd get up and be on his way. Then I saw another sheep, Damian, do the same thing, while eating grain. This has happened occasionally during the last few years (they are all between 5 and 8 years old now). Lately, I have found Damian down in the field near the hay - I look out window and see a sheep on their side, either thrashing, or lifeless. Instant I run over and touch him, he jumps up, and carries about his business. Two days ago, Sammy, was found in the field, in a huge muddy area, on his side, for probably hours. When I ran over and touched him, he jumped up, and carried about his business. 

When I release the sheep to my backyard to munch on the grass, seems like almost half the time Damian goes down within 1 minute of this occuring. I got video of this yesterday - [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE]https://youtu.be/JDYY-1_5rDU

Anyone have ANY ideas on sheep with epilepsy and causes/things to help? These are my babies, so culling is NOT an option.


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## Rectifier (Jun 12, 2011)

Have you checked your pastures for toxic plants? In late summer as the grass grows short they may be chewing on otherwise unpalatable brush and shrubs.


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## Von Helman (May 16, 2012)

Thanks for posting the video because it really helps A LOT when seeing what you're talking about. I've never personally seen that situation before where they're laying on the ground like that with seizure like symptoms. 

Very interesting. 

Then you said;



> my one Obi would appear to be choking - turn head towards back end, close eyes, and chomp his jaw fast...then fall to his side on the ground, chomping quickly/oddly


I have one ewe that does this too. It has convolutions and regurgitates its food and chokes. She does this most of the time while standing. She freezes up then its as if her airway is blocked and she tilts her head back really high and jerks it back and forth and then all of a sudden regurgitates with foaming mix of grass and hay and foam. 

In her case she has some sort of digestive or re-flux issue and has some reaction when eating certain grasses or Alfalfa. After about 15 minutes she is back to normal and drinking water and eating again. Even if we were able to determine exactly whats causing this the fact remains we can't change it or fix it. 

In your case the fact she is getting back up and seems normal is a good sign. Therefore I tend to lean on the theory that she might have some sort of negative reaction to one of the plants or grasses you have if you're sure this happens *after* she is let out to the grassy pasture area and *after* she's eaten for a little while, even if it's only minutes. Check your grasses and plants to know what you have in your pasture. Also make sure there are no pesticides or anything else that can cause an allergic reaction. 

Out in our open pasture where we have so many different types of plants and grasses there is one wild weed plant that as soon as a sheep eats it the animal becomes desperate and has an allergic reaction and begins to run in circles, gets confused and in some extreme cases will bloat up right there and die before you can react. Often time they will correct themselves before they die and whats strange is other sheep might eat the same plant and it doesn't affect them in any negative way. 

If you've eliminated everything inside the corral (which I lean to it being a reaction to the grass or allergies of some sort) then start looking at other things. 

Another very remote theory could be that she has some sort of nerve or epileptic type of reaction thats triggered when you are going to let her out to pasture where she is so excited that it somehow overloads her system. In the video it looked like the other sheep were being let out of the corral into the pasture area. 

I have a few sheep that as soon as we open the gate to let them out and they're all leaving the corral these few sheep get really excited and start jumping up in the air really high and jumping crazily in a sense of emotional joy. Maybe... just maybe your animal has some sort of situation where its emotions and excitement are triggering some sort of epileptic type seizure. 
You now when doctors are trying to diagnose a patient they look at EVERY option and then start eliminating things one at a time until they determine whats causing the issue. 

either way the fact she is getting back up is a good sign, just start looking at her and paying close attention to when these seizures happen and what could be triggering them. 

Good luck and keep us posted! 

PS I'd post videos too but I don't know how to do that yet. Never been able to upload or watch videos on my old dial up internet connection so I never even tried. :hammer:


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## kmarcelliano (Aug 22, 2016)

VonHelman - thanks so much! So the information about obi and how he chews and puts head to the side - and then you said your ewe does that and its some kind of reflux - when these animals go down like this, they ALWAYS start off that way. Sometimes they just do head to the side and then foam up and shake it off, sometimes they fall, and then get up, and othertimes it seems that they fall and stay on the ground until I "shock" them out of it by touching them. My lawn has not had any pesticides on it for at least 4 years (unsure what previous owner did). The hay they receive is a real mix of stuff - not sure what it really is in it. Perhaps I try to get a sampling somewhere or have someone come to my house and look and see if there is anything poisonous around. Or perhaps it's not poisonous, but as you said, some sheep have an issue whereas others don't. And yes, excitement seems to cause this "half" the time - opening up for brand new grass and one almost always goes down 30 seconds into it (like you just saw). Other times its mid day and they are chomping at whatever is left in their corral area. 95 percent of their food is from hay as most of my area doesnt' have grass any more (working to build up small areas for them with new grass seed). My biggest concern is "why do some stay down - and stay down for good, until I come over?" Sheep can die being on their side for an extended period of time - and I don't understand why they sometimes just won't get up without me running to them and touching them.


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## Von Helman (May 16, 2012)

kmarcelliano said:


> VonHelman - thanks so much! So the information about obi and how he chews and puts head to the side - and then you said your ewe does that and its some kind of reflux - when these animals go down like this, they ALWAYS start off that way. Sometimes they just do head to the side and then foam up and shake it off, sometimes they fall, and then get up, and othertimes it seems that they fall and stay on the ground until I "shock" them out of it by touching them. My lawn has not had any pesticides on it for at least 4 years (unsure what previous owner did). The hay they receive is a real mix of stuff - not sure what it really is in it. Perhaps I try to get a sampling somewhere or have someone come to my house and look and see if there is anything poisonous around. Or perhaps it's not poisonous, but as you said, some sheep have an issue whereas others don't. And yes, excitement seems to cause this "half" the time - opening up for brand new grass and one almost always goes down 30 seconds into it (like you just saw). Other times its mid day and they are chomping at whatever is left in their corral area. 95 percent of their food is from hay as most of my area doesnt' have grass any more (working to build up small areas for them with new grass seed). My biggest concern is "why do some stay down - and stay down for good, until I come over?" Sheep can die being on their side for an extended period of time - and I don't understand why they sometimes just won't get up without me running to them and touching them.


 Ok you have 12 sheep and this is happening to several (if not half) of them at different times, and they all seem to react the same by falling on their side with this seizure type of behavior. I highly suspect there is something in the grass or weeds that are causing this allergic reaction. 

You're right, sheep can die if left on its side for a period of time so you'll have to be vigilant. My one ewe that has this problem was always after it returned back to the corral in the afternoon when we were feeding a mixture of bean hay, barley, and alfalfa. As soon as she put her nose in the feed trough it was seconds later she would start doing this crazy behavior. We suspected it was something in the greenness of the Alfalfa. 

All we could do was watch her to make sure she didn't choke to death. In the beginning we even forced liquid medicine (for bloat) down her throat but we stopped doing that after 2 times as it was more of a reflux issue and not bloat and so we simply began just watching her. She would still have this reaction but we let her kind of deal with it herself and as I said she would be fine within 10 -15 minutes. 

[FONT=&quot]Again its strange for sure but at least you know you&#8217;re not the only one who has had this happen before nor the only one who has sheep that do this. Even after years of having sheep you&#8217;ll still learn new things every day. 

[/FONT]


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## Rectifier (Jun 12, 2011)

Not getting up until touched is odd, but I've also seen such a thing happen before to a "dead" sheep. I suspect they are probably capable of getting up but not highly motivated to do so until you spook them by touching them.

If you are feeding 95% hay and don't know the makeup of it, you should find out what you are feeding. Request test results from the seller or get it tested yourself and make sure it has adequate nutrition. Make sure it doesn't have mould in it! As you say it's a real mix, are you buying it from another farmer or from a feed supplier?

Purchased hay should not really be all that much of a mix, it should be alfalfa/brome or some other respectable hay crop, plus perhaps some weeds like dandelion or thistle in small proportion. At the very least, the buyer should tell you what the hay is supposed to consist of. People do occasionally bale "weed hay" off summerfallow but it's not common to sell it. I would not buy weed hay no matter how cheap it is, as you will import a ton of weed seeds and may have toxicity problems with unknown weeds. Also weeds tend to dry down unevenly and can have issues with heating and mold if baled while heavy stems and thick leaves are still uncured.


This may be a stupid question but as you mentioned grain: do you know your grain is clean? In our area, we had far too much rain 2 years ago. This caused a huge issue with fusarium in wheat and durum as well as ergot in rye. As I feed screenings I had to be very careful. Both of these can cause brain damage and seizures!


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## kmarcelliano (Aug 22, 2016)

Thank you so much! Honestly, I moved to this area 4 years ago and was recommended to buy hay from the supplier that he do. A local guy who works the fields in my general area. Perhaps it's not a big mix of things - to me, who has little knowledge, it looks like that. I know my guys are selenium deficient so I have to suppliment that, but its a common thing in this area (Northeast PA). I am going to be getting the hay tested for the bacteria that is possible. I am also going to get a nutrition test done to it as well.

As for the grain, I buy from Tractor Supply in bags. Producers Pride stuff - havent' heard any recalls on that, so I think I'm OK with that as well. But the hay, or even the small amount of pasture they get here, can def be a culprit.

Really appreciate everyone's time and advice!!! Having a vet come Monday for blood work on the three that have the issues, get the hay tested, and go from there.


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## feelingsheepish (Jan 18, 2008)

I had one ewe do this. Not often in the winter on hay, seemed to be on grass. Didn't matter which pasture, so I don't think that it was anything she was eating. Wondered if it was a mineral imbalance that was worsened on grass.

She would thrash a bit harder even than yours did in the video, but would get up and walk away unbothered when it passed. Biggest aggravation to me was that she would frequently end up having her seizure near the electronet fence which was both uncomfortable to her when she came out of it (although whilst in her fit, the shock didn't seem to register) and it would tear the fence down and all the sheep would be out.
I never did track down what caused it. She had lambing difficulties 2 years in a row and I culled her out for that and the seizures.

The gasping/coughing/frothing/holding head up weird but staying standing, is probably choke. Frequently happens when sheep bolt grain, but perhaps that sheep isn't chewing her alfalfa well in her greediness. Usually with grain, they will manage to cough it out, but I've twice had to massage their esophagus to break up the clump. They can still breathe, but if it blocks off their ability to belch, it will cause problems relatively quickly.


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## dsmythe (Apr 21, 2013)

This is a Long Shot, But, I had Goats a few years back. I had one female go down and was craning her head and thrashing about with her legs. I took her to our vet and he had no clue. I had her put down as I felt she was in pain. I had another one do the same a few months later. I had done some research in the meantime. I felt like it was Polio Encephalitis. This was caused by too much carbohydrate. I was feeding them cracked corn to get them to come when I called them. The carbs blocked the neurotransmitters at the base of the brain thus the craning of the neck.
I went to a sheep field day and they had a vet who knew a lot about goats and sheep. He agreed with me about my findings. I learned that Vitamin B Complex would bring them out of the seizure. I bought a bottle after the first incident and was prepared when the second goat went down. I gave her a large dose and she recovered quickly.
I know this may be a long shot for you but maybe it could bear some light on your case. Good luck with your Sheep. Dsmythe


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