While Annie’s been mildly weight-bearing on her front-left leg, she really isn’t getting better despite this long stall rest period and daily pain meds. Her vet assessment pointed to a soft-tissue injury, so we wanted to give Annie a chance to heal without invasive treatment (as long as we could keep her comfortable) and without travelling (as that can be incredibly stressful and end up causing more issues).

However, with no sign of improvement after a long stall rest period, we decided to speak with AVC about Annie yesterday. They felt that Annie really should be seen sooner than their next available appointment (Jan 7th) and brought in to their emergency clinic.

After checking with the surgeon, the best time to bring Annie in would be today for an assessment, diagnostics, and if needed, surgery.

Tim and I quickly realized that, with him still recovering and me with a bruised rib, it would be extra hard for us to load Annie this morning. While Annie is super friendly, she’s 260+ lbs, has an injured leg, and is unable to jump the short distance into the trailer without help.

We also needed to bring another sheep with her, as she would be far too stressed without a companion.

Annie’s best friend, Punky, is unable to travel with Annie due to her incredibly high risk of bloat; this health condition plagues Punky due to damage she received as a result of neglect as a young lamb before coming into our care.

Since Punky can’t go, and Gracie, who Annie is also extremely close with, is too sensitive a soul to endure the stress of travel, easy-going Sid, who took Punky and Annie under his wing when they arrived at the sanctuary, will go with her.

Thankfully, volunteers Lindsay, Joseph, and Meghan responded to Robyn’s urgent callout for help yesterday evening and arrived first thing this morning, ready to help.

Annie and Sid both got loaded without any fanfare and settled into the trailer for the ride to PEI. We’ve cared for Sid since the fall of 2019, and Annie since the spring of 2020. Not having them here makes me sick to my stomach with worry. As I write this, they are on the way to the large-animal hospital.

Annie is scheduled for diagnostics this afternoon, and the surgeon is on shift today in case she needs surgery.

Please keep both Annie and Sid in your thoughts today. They will both be stressed about being away from home, their friends, and everything they know.

I’ll post an update when we get news from the large animal hospital.