Save Marcus: A Lamb in Need of Care

Firstly, I’m Leanna Perez-Padron, currently attending high school. At my high school, there is a veterinary assisting magnet where students in grades 9th-12th can explore and discover whether they want to continue this career. I am a senior and I’m going into my 4th year in this magnet. Throughout my 3 years so far, I have only worked with small animals such as dogs and cats. Reflecting on how I’m going to be a senior, I realized that I could push myself further and take on livestock. So I chose to do a show lamb/sheep, and challenge myself even further.

When choosing the lamb, I had heard about a very sweet lamb. He was a bottle-fed baby and was very small. Just prior to transporting the lambs to Miami, we were notified one lamb had shown signs of anemia and was treated just prior to coming, I chose to take on the challenge of raising this lamb for competition, not knowing if he was going to survive. I named him Marcus. Since I've had him, we have been trying our best to aid and care for him. We later found he was suffering from severe parasitism. We gave dewormers, probiotics, and countless medications.

It has been three weeks since arrival day, and his health has been slowly declining, causing me and the members at school to have to buy hundreds of dollars' worth of medications. On July 21st, as I entered the barn that morning, I found Marcus on the floor, barely responsive. His eyelids and gums were paper white, and he had no strength in his body. He couldn't walk himself to his water bowl or feed bowl, nor could he just stand. Despite our efforts of us attempting to get him to drink or eat, nothing was helping. I had to rush him to an animal clinic for a blood transfusion and emergency fluid therapy. Setting us back more hundred dollars. Since that day, he has been doing better and may possibly need more transfusions. To be able to support Marcus and his show career, I need to be able to support him financially.

Any help is appreciated, please help us save my lamb and have him have a healthy life and a show career!!