Tim got to AVC with Annie and Sid safe and sound. When Tim opened the trailer, Annie and Sid were standing there looking at him calmly. Annie was lifted out of the trailer, and Sid just hopped out. Both sheep walked well on their leads, following sunflower seeds. Annie walked all the way to the back of the hospital to the small ruminant room, although she was slow going and limped. She seems more stressed than Sid. He motored to the back and right in the stall like he knew what he was doing at a manageable speed. 

Annie then had X-rays and bloodwork done.  X-rays showed arthritis in both of Annie’s front legs, which we already knew. However, the arthritis on her right side is actually worse than the left—even though it’s her left leg that’s been bothering her. As a result, arthritis was ruled out as the cause.

An X-ray image from another angle clearly showed the problem: Annie has a fracture in her ulna, just below the joint. There are visible signs that her body has been trying to heal itself for some time, which, again, isn’t surprising, as she’s been on stall rest due to her leg bothering her. Even though her body has been trying to heal, it’s very unlikely that this kinda of fracture will ever heal on its own. 

What they can’t say for sure is how Annie’s fracture happened. One possibility is a pathological fracture, meaning the bone broke not because of a major injury, but because the joint was already compromised. Advanced arthritis can limit normal movement, change how force moves through the joint, and place increased stress on nearby bone. In that situation, a routine, low-impact movement—such as standing, turning, or shifting weight—can be enough to cause a fracture, even without a fall or obvious trauma, and injuries like this often can’t be traced to a single moment.

The other possibility is trauma from an impact, but there’s no way to know for sure what happened. 

We were told that normally, amputation would be considered. However, Annie is not a good candidate. Because of the severity of the arthritis in her other leg and her size, she may not be able to get around ok post-amputation, and the doctor didn’t think that would change even if prosthetics were introduced. 

That left three options:

• Surgical stabilization using a plate

• Surgical fusion of the joint so it no longer moves, but is no longer fractured

• Or euthanasia 🙁

The first two options would be off the table if her bloodwork showed issues with her kidneys. They were concerned that her kidneys might be compromised due to the medications she’s been on for pain management. If her kidneys couldn’t handle surgery, we would be faced with the worst-case scenario for sweet Annie.

Thankfully, shortly after getting this news, her bloodwork came back, and she’s cleared for surgery. 

A group of specialists are now reviewing Annie’s diagnostics to decide whether a plated repair or joint fusion will give Annie the best outcome. Surgery is expected to be early next week, followed by at least a week of intensive post-operative care to manage pain and support healing at AVC.

Sid will stay with Annie at AVC. Before leaving the hospital, Tim visited with Annie and Sid again. When Tim left, Sid, who had been coping well up to that point, became visibly upset. He began making low vocalizations and repeatedly hit the gate, presumably trying to bust Annie and him out of there and follow Tim. 

What Sid doesn’t know is that the rest of the sheep in the main herd stood outside all day, right by where Annie and Sid were loaded into the trailer, waiting for their return. They reluctantly came in when the sun had set so that I could close the barn up. There are a lot of sad sheep in the barn tonight 🙁 

Please keep Annie in your thoughts – she’s got a long road ahead of her.