Sheep Eyes

So, where do you take your sheep when he has an eye problem? To an eye doctor, of course.



Who knew? I certainly didn't until it turned out that Slim's eye problem wasn't your everyday sheep eye problem.

Around here, the local sheep owners often do their own veterinary care as sheep doctors are hard to come by. When Slim started exhibiting an ongoing eye problem (watery eye, white cloud covering his cornea), we tried our usual contacts to see how to proceed. There is an ointment (Terramycin) that is commonly used. We tried that but to no avail. Then we did manage to contact a vet who does make farm visits and does like working with sheep. She had some thoughts as to what it might be but recommended that we take Slim to an eye doctor.

The next day, being full of rain, we loaded up Slim and Slam into the back of a borrowed pickup truck (with a cap). It was the same truck we had borrowed to bring them home last October.

We then headed down to Medford to see eye doctors, Drs. Clinton and Evans. The clinic was quited excited by our visit. They see llamas on a relatively regular basis (due to their tendency towards inverted eyelids or entropion). And they have worked on horses and monkeys, and cats and dogs. But they are interested in small ruminants (sheep and goats) and hadn't gotten many such patients.

Even though Slim was the one with the apparent eye problem, we took both Slim and Slam because sheep like to flock together. Slim and Slam are never out of each other's sight. Slam would have had a fit if we had left him behind. When we got to the clinic, we hesitated for just a moment about leaving Slam in the truck. He started getting agitated just by our thinking it.

After checking with the receptionist as to where they wanted us, we brought the sheep up the front steps into the waiting room.

Checking in


Here's what the waiting room looks like without sheep patients.

Here's the waiting room after there have been sheep patients.


It turns out that both Slim and Slam have a bacterial infection in their eyes, although Slim's left eye is the worst. We were given some new medicine - eye drops that need to be applied 3 times a day.



We're not out of the woods yet but Dr. Clinton believes that the eyes will recover without any permanent damage.