Leo needs surgery and a brace to help him walk.
Leo was born with contracted tendons in his front two legs. After casts and splints for the first year of his life, his left leg healed, but his right leg never healed and is unusable for walking. His left leg is now starting to bow due to his weight as he grows up. (He is just over 3 years old now). His spine is also starting to have a significant curve as he adjusts all his weight on his left leg.
Please click here to participate in a fundraiser to help provide a surgery to release the contracted tendon and purchase a brace that will support his weight as his leg heals from surgery and he learns to walk again.
Leo was born with contracted tendons in his front two legs. After casts and splints for the first year of his life, his left leg healed, but his right leg never healed and is unusable for walking. His left leg is now starting to bow due to his weight as he grows up. (He is just over 3 years old now). His spine is also starting to have a significant curve as he adjusts all his weight on his left leg.
Please click here to participate in a fundraiser to help provide a surgery to release the contracted tendon and purchase a brace that will support his weight as his leg heals from surgery and he learns to walk again.
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March 2021: We rescued Leo in February of 2020 at 4 days old from a woman who breeds her American Black Belly Sheep for meat. We were camping next door to her farm and were told that he was born with contracted tendons in both front legs and had been abandoned by his mother. He had crawled up a hill and was hiding behind a tree and the woman was just letting him die there. My daughter and I found the little guy cold and starving - bundled him tightly to warm him up, found some powdered lamb formula to bottle feed him and held him all night long. He is lucky he didn't starve or freeze to death or be eaten by a predator... We took him to our local vet and created splints for his front legs to help him stand up and heal. We fed him, and loved him and delighted in his progress as he grew.
Leo wore a diaper and slept with us for a while, then he found comfort in a dog crate, then he moved to a plastic baby pool filled with straw and seems to enjoy coming in at night to his little bed. He romps with the dogs and cats and joins the horses for grazing in the pasture. He has had many adventures with us humans, as well. He rides in the car for errands, comes on hikes and to the beach and the river with us, and when he was little, he even slept in a tote bag and went into the movies with us! Shhh, don't tell...
His left leg has healed now but the right one will probably never heal. However, he gets around very well. Still able to jump and run with the other animals. Right now we have created a splint using a pvc pipe split in half with rounded edges that fits over padding and is bound with vet tape. This seems to be working well, for now, but we are looking for a hinged brace for his leg when he has stopped growing. If you know of any resources for this brace we welcome your suggestions.
Since he was malnourished and deformed from birth, he will continue to have various medical issues throughout his life. Recently, he was having troubles urinating and after 2 vet visits and several tests, we determined he had a bladder/kidney infection that we treated with antibiotics and a 24 hour fluids IV. $850 later he seems to be doing well. But he's worth it! We truly love this little fella and are so happy he is in our lives. We call him many little nick names, so now he probably has the longest name in the history of all lambs: "Leodore the Little Lame Lamb Baby Boop Schmutz Muffin Graham Cracker Munch-ka-roonio McCoy" :)
Leo wore a diaper and slept with us for a while, then he found comfort in a dog crate, then he moved to a plastic baby pool filled with straw and seems to enjoy coming in at night to his little bed. He romps with the dogs and cats and joins the horses for grazing in the pasture. He has had many adventures with us humans, as well. He rides in the car for errands, comes on hikes and to the beach and the river with us, and when he was little, he even slept in a tote bag and went into the movies with us! Shhh, don't tell...
His left leg has healed now but the right one will probably never heal. However, he gets around very well. Still able to jump and run with the other animals. Right now we have created a splint using a pvc pipe split in half with rounded edges that fits over padding and is bound with vet tape. This seems to be working well, for now, but we are looking for a hinged brace for his leg when he has stopped growing. If you know of any resources for this brace we welcome your suggestions.
Since he was malnourished and deformed from birth, he will continue to have various medical issues throughout his life. Recently, he was having troubles urinating and after 2 vet visits and several tests, we determined he had a bladder/kidney infection that we treated with antibiotics and a 24 hour fluids IV. $850 later he seems to be doing well. But he's worth it! We truly love this little fella and are so happy he is in our lives. We call him many little nick names, so now he probably has the longest name in the history of all lambs: "Leodore the Little Lame Lamb Baby Boop Schmutz Muffin Graham Cracker Munch-ka-roonio McCoy" :)