Gigi's got it bad!

On Wednesday morning when i went up to the farm for the day, my friend was saying that she didn't come down last night with the others so there was possibly something wrong with her. After a quick look at her out in the field it was clear she'd been stricken by the flies! So, we caught her and brought her in to be treated. Upon closer inspection she'd also developed a lump on her belly which could possibly have been a reaction to the maggots as when shaving her, there was a large pocket of them on the surface of the lump. After having treated the maggots, we decided to keep her in overnight and see how she was in the morning.

Thursday morning came and the lump hadn't really changed so I gave her a dose of pen and strep (antibiotics) in case it was an infection. As well as this, we put some antiseptic cream on all her cuts/scars caused by the maggots.

After a bit of thought we decided it was best to call the vet just so we could find out what this mysterious bump was. When she arrived the vet had a feel of it and stuck in a needle. When nothing came out of the needle we ruled out the possibility of an abscess and the vet said it could possibly be a thickening of the skin as a reaction to the maggots. She gave us an anti-inflammatory for Gigi and also some more pen and strep to give her over the next few days.

After two days of pen and strep, the lump has gone and she's back to her happy self out in the fields!

Quick tip: When injecting something that's been kept in the fridge like pen and strep, it's a good idea to let it raise in temperature a bit before injecting as it's less of a shock for the sheep!