Film Shepherding

CNN

Cerebrocortical Necrosis (CCN), or polioencephalomalacia, is a severe and often fatal neurological disease in sheep and lambs caused by thiamine deficiency. It leads to brain cell death, resulting in blindness, head pressing, incoordination, and seizures.

Leonie Blaire-Cooper

Nov 6, 2025

CNN — Awful all the way to the captive bolt

Charlie said the mother ewe was getting worse, and that it would take time for the injections to help. After twelve hours trying to ease the lambs’ suffering, I ended up in tears yesterday. Charlie came home from a ten-hour shift to find us all miserable and worn out.

Watching both the mother and the lamb die made me cry.

After an hour of talking it over, we agreed to put the mother ewe and her lamb to sleep. Keeping them alive any longer would have been cruel. They were both in the last stage of CNN, and the medicine from the vets wasn’t helping. Sometimes, life forces us to make hard decisions.

The knacker man arrived and put down the mother ewe and her lamb. I felt relieved that they weren’t suffering any more. He said he’d never heard of any sheep recovering from CNN. Afterward, we drove to Hawick to buy lick buckets and ewe pellets, and then Charlie went to the supermarket.

I talked briefly with my friend about the Ancrum bonfire. With everything going on today, I’m glad we didn’t go this year. The stress there would have only added to our problems. It’s still surprising that no one was ever held accountable for the fireworks display a few years back.