3 November 2023: Saving Ferdi
“It is a small thing to help one animal, but to that animal it is a big thing” – Gene Baur
Tonight, at midnight, young Ferdi begins his journey from Queensland to Melbourne for life saving surgery. Ferdi has a cleft palate that will require surgery to correct. His current carer Ebony, along with her husband Dave, will leave their home tonight to transport Ferdi to one of our skilled carers in Victoria. This will be a long, but well planned, journey that will include a stop over at one of our carers on Saturday night.
“He gives the best cuddles” – Ebony, speaking of Ferdi.
We would like to show our appreciation to Ebony and Dave, not only for the care they have taken of Ferdi so far, but for being willing to give up someone who is so loved as Ferdi is. In a world where too many people put themselves before anyone else, what a wonderful act of kindness Ebony and Dave are showing their beloved Ferdi in giving him into our care. They exemplify the catch phrase of LCA – In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”
4 November 2023 The Journey Begins
“I will forever be inspired by a little lamb who didn’t know he was different and despite neglect and a rough start, fights every day with a spring in his step to live his best life.” – Ebony
Last night Ferdi’s carer Ebony, and her husband Dave, left their home in Queensland to begin what we all hope will be a life saving journey for their precious little lamb who needs surgery to repair his cleft palate.
The planned sleep before leaving did not happen as their minds were too alive with thoughts of Ferdi’s future. At 8.30pm they began the long drive that would take them 13 hours. The roads were quite rough so Ebony spent much of the time reaching back to give Ferdi, who was safely installed in a carrier on the back seat, reassuring face rubs. With great relief they found him so calm and relaxed for the entire journey. After giving Ferdi a chance to stretch his legs and have a drink in Armidale, the long journey continued.
As the drop off point in Gundagai slowly drew closer, Ebony’s thoughts became filled with the moment she dreaded and she fought to hold back the tears. At Gundagai she gave Ferdi one last feed and could no longer hold back those tears as she knew she was about to give up her lamb into the care of strangers. Ferdi had been a constant in her life for 5 weeks. She had inevitably formed a strong bond with him and she knew how deeply she would miss him.
These strangers turned out to be so lovely they instantly made Ebony feel at ease with their warmth and kind words that were so comforting and reassuring. They took away any doubt that Ebony may have been harbouring about giving Ferdi over into the care of LCA. Once they were driving away, despite sobbing tears of grief, she felt relief that he was going to get the help he needed.
We would once again like to thank Ebony and her husband Dave, who Ebony has said she couldn’t have done this without, for contacting us and being willing to put their trust in us to do our best to save this little fellow’s life.
5 November 2023 The Journey Continues
“It was a pleasure to meet Ferdi. He is a very unique and special character and it is easy to see how he stole Ebony’s heart and made her goodbye so difficult. I am going to miss him and it’s only been one night!” – Leah, Free Hearts Sanctuary
Yesterday we brought you the story of the first leg of Ferdi’s long journey from Queensland to Gundagai. It was there that Ferdi sadly said goodbye to his carer, Ebony, as his journey continued to what we hope will be life saving surgery to fix his cleft palate.
Ebony was met at Gundagai by one of LCA’s Initial Carers, Angie, and her mum Sue. After some sad goodbyes and the shedding of tears by Ebony, who loved this little lamb deeply, Ferdi continued on his way.
At first Ferdi was a bit confused by his new surroundings and new humans. As he anxiously looked for Ebony, the bond they had shared was unmistakable. He let out a few quiet baas as he looked around for his mum so Angie and Sue stopped and gave him lots of reassuring cuddles. This seemed to settle him down so they continued on their way. He slept, nibbled on fingers, cuddled his bunny and ran his head along the side of the carrier he was in when he felt he wasn’t getting enough attention. After 2 transport legs and 19 hours on the road, Ferdi was very happy to stretch his legs when he final reached his overnight destination at Free Hearts.
Ferdi continued to relax more with his new humans, especially after having a drink of milk. He realised that he was safe and that they were there to look after him. After being taken outside to meet the other animals it was bed time for this tired little boy in preparation for the final leg of his journey on Sunday.
Ferdi, however, had other plans!
Now he was not restricted by the carrier and the car, Ferdi decided it was playtime! After pretending to his new carer that he was going to be a good little lamb and sleep the night through, the midnight zoomies began. Sleep was the last thing on the mind of this frisky little lamb. After much running and bouncing up and down the hallway, Ferdi was finally exhausted. This time when he went down to sleep he slept right through the night.
This morning, after much playing and running around, Ferdi was once again put in the carrier and loaded into the car for the final leg of his journey to Melbourne.
LCA would like to thank Shear Existence Sanctuary and Free Hearts Sanctuary for their assistance in Ferdi’s long journey from Queensland to Melbourne.
6 November 2023 Safe in his New Home
“As Ferdi arrived and was placed in my arms my heart melted for this beautiful boy. His eyes looked at me with such love and trust that right then l promised him our home would be safe and full of love.” – Tracey, LCA Initial Carer
Yesterday afternoon Ferdi finally completed his epic journey from his home in Queensland to the home of one of our Initial Carers, Tracey. It is here he will stay until he is old enough for surgery to repair his cleft palate. The journey, that took 23 hours and covered 1562kms, is a first for LCA to undertake and the number of people who gave their time to make this happen has been inspiring.
When Ferdi arrived his eyes were wide as he took in everything in his new home. He immediately started to explore and meet the other lambs and dogs that he will now share a home with. His afternoon consisted of a feed, meeting more new friends and a crazy zoomies session that we think he will become famous for! He then fell asleep in Tracey’s arms and later slept through the night with only the odd baa.
Today Ferdi will have his first visit to one of our wonderful vets at Seville Veterinary Surgery where plans will be put in place for the weeks prior to his surgery.
7 November 2023 Ferdi’s first vet visit
Yesterday Ferdi had his first consultation with one of our wonderful vets, Matt from Seville Veterinary Clinic. Matt was amazed out how healthy Ferdi is considering how severe his cleft palate is. He was impressed with what a great job Ebony had done at looking after him.
A cleft palate is when, in Ferdi’s case, the tissue inside the mouth has not fused properly. The result is that the roof of the mouth is open. The danger with bottle feeding Ferdi would be the risk of inhaling the milk via the nasal cavity, which is open due to the cleft palate, making chest infections and pneumonia a likely result. One of the reasons for today’s appointment was to check if he needed a gastric tube inserted for feeding pre surgery but Matt felt it wasn’t needed as he is coping really well with syringe feeding. So at this stage we are going to continue to feed Ferdi with a syringe as this is working well for him. Ferdi’s nasal passages are currently clean but if any sort of infection were to begin then he could have antibiotics. He will be able to eat grass and hay but we will avoid anything like chaff and pellets that could be inhaled due to their size.
We now have the long wait for surgery which could possibly occur in January once Ferdi is 3-4 months old. This will be a job for a specialist as it involves such a large cleft palate. We will keep you informed on Ferdi’s progress with regular photos and updates of this beautiful boy over the coming months.
13 November 2023 Ferdi settles in and makes new friends.
Ferdi saw his surgeon today for the first time. The news that Ferdi’s cleft palate is extremely large, making surgery not a viable option, is not the news we had hoped for.
To fix a cleft palate, skin is usually taken from another area such as the cheek and stretched across the hole in the roof of the mouth to form a new roof. In Ferdi’s case, however, the hole is too big for the amount of tissue that can come from such an area.
Prosthetic tissue can sometimes be used instead but there is not a solid area in the roof of Ferdi’s mouth to securely stitch it to. This would mean that over time it would detach itself and require more surgery to repair. As a result, infection and nerve damage is a high risk.
Due to the size of the cleft, to even gain access to the roof of his mouth his bottom jaw would need to be broken and nerves cut in 2 areas.
From day one we knew that Ferdi’s outcome might not be what we hoped for but we were willing to do whatever we could to enable him to achieve a long and happy life. With the surgeon today advising against operating we are currently letting that sink in before considering our next step. Any decision that is made will be made with Ferdi’s best interest as our priority.
24 November 2023 “In the midst of darkness, light persists.” – Mahatma Gandhi
It would be an understatement to say that, at Lamb Care Australia last night, we were all feeling very low. The news that surgery is not an option for Ferdi hit everyone hard because we had such high hopes for the healing of this young lamb.
Today, after a discussion with Matt at Seville, we are feeling much more hopeful for Ferdi’s future. Ferdi’s carer discussed options with Matt who is of the opinion that there is no reason why the strong and healthy lamb cannot go on to live a quality life in much the same way as some dogs with cleft palates do.
As with all lambs, Ferdi will need to stop drinking milk at some stage but it is important before that happens that he is drinking water. The problem with drinking water like other lambs is the danger of aspirating the water. Pneumonia can result if too much liquid gets into the lungs. Ferdi has been drinking milk from a syringe to avoid that happening. So we are going to try to get him used to drinking water from a water bottle used for animals such as rabbits that have a long mouth piece similar to a syringe. Only time will tell if this will be successful.
Ferdi will need to be fed good quality grass hay and lucerne in addition to long grass. He will need to avoid smaller foods such as pellets and chaff and (we are yet to break this news to him!) the much-loved favourite of all sheep – weetbix! These types of foods can become impacted up into the cavity. There will always be risk of infection in his sinuses, however this can be monitored daily and the appropriate treatment administered if necessary.
It will be a wait and see game with Ferdi and we still have no guarantee of his future. As with all lambs who come into our care, however, we are willing to go to whatever lengths we can to ensure Ferdi has a happy and rewarding life. If ever the tide turns and we have to make a difficult decision then we will, as we do with all lambs, put his welfare first. For now, though, Ferdi’s future is looking much more positive than it was 24 hours ago.
7 December 2023
Ferdi is progressing very well. He has started to eat lamb pellets and chaff and has even stolen a few forbidden weetbix from other lambs! He really is handling the hard food as if the clef palate is non-existent. Occasionally food manages to finds its way into the cavity but Ferdi is becoming the expert at removing it by sneezing. His carer is very pleased about this except for when she is in the firing line of the sneeze!
Ferdi is becoming very mischievous. His favourite trick is to sneak inside when no one is watching, head straight for the toilet and pull all the paper off the roll! Ferdi loves a head and butt scratch and will stamp his feet to get her attention if his carer does not oblige quickly enough.
28 December 2023
We are pleased to say that Ferdi is progressing very well. He has reached 11kg and gets very vocal when nearing his milk time. He and his carer are mastering his milk drinking so that he doesn’t inhale it through the cleft palate. Ferdi has a slight reaction to the small amount of milk that inevitably comes out of his nose but his carer is applying a cream that helps to soothe and repair the irritated area. Ferdi is eating hay and grass to supplement his nutrition intake. This is great news as this will be the food that will gradually start to take over from the milk once he reaches a certain weight and age.
Ferdi loves nothing better than to sit on his carer’s lap in the evenings and have a cuddle that he makes last as long as possible.
7 January 2024
“My heart is in my throat – it is like a light bulb has switched on. Ferdi is drinking water from a bowl!”
These were the words of Ferdi’s carer that suddenly had all of us eagerly awaiting her next message.
After weeks of Ferdi learning to adapt to life with the cleft palate he was born with, one that was too large for repair by surgery, our final concern was that he was not drinking water independently. For weeks now his carer has been feeding him water via a syringe whilst trying different methods to get him to drink on his own. The question on all our minds was that if he wouldn’t drink water independently what would we do next to enable this young lamb to live the happy and independent life he so deserves.
We were getting to the end of the road knowing how to solve this problem and fearing what that might mean for Ferdi, who otherwise is healthy and loving life just like any other lamb without his physical issue. When the words of his carer came through accompanied by this video, we were all amazed and tears of joy and relief were shed. Ferdi was drinking from a bowl with no aspiration and no sneezing like any other lamb! Although he will always be a special needs sheep, we now have such high hopes for a long and happy life for him.
This is the reason we do what we do and why we suffer through the down times and the losses. A victory such as this makes everything worthwhile.
23 January 2024
We are very pleased to say Ferdi is doing extremely well and now has a BFF called Blaze!
